By Jesse Scott
During the hottest Paris Men’s Fashion Week on record, Julian Klausner delivered precisely what the moment demanded. For his third menswear collection since taking over as creative director at Dries Van Noten, Klausner drifted into an enchanting reverie inspired by Stéphane Mallarmé’s 1876 poem L’Après-midi d’un faune (The Afternoon of a Faun). The faun, experiencing a lazy, hazy, delightfully half-delirious summer of his own, muses: “If only they would stay forever—nymphs whose rosy flesh can spur the drowsy air to dancing. Did I love a dream?” He has just awoken from a nap; in that exquisite place between sleep and wakefulness, he ponders what is real—and whether reality is worth experiencing after all.
Klausner loves to inhabit these ephemeral periods of transition; his F/W 26 men's collection, which celebrates those halcyon days between youth and adulthood, is a case in point. Yet this was his most cohesive vision yet, right down to the beer caps, keys, twigs, and screws that danced on found-object charms as if stolen by a bird while a nymph slept. The models wore a uniform of sensual, lightweight clothing that flowed across the catwalk as if buffeted by a gentle breeze. Lingerie-inspired details heightened the sensuality. Shorts dominated, appearing in various patterns and constructions but almost always ending several inches above the knee (Looks 14, 27, and 43). In a season when heavy layering seemed almost de rigueur, this was quite literally a breath of fresh air; indeed, I would have gladly changed into one of these ensembles immediately after the show.
Silk and cotton fabrics, paired with a relatively neutral color scheme, suited the silhouettes. Klausner stepped back from the vibrant shades and bold combinations that delighted in past seasons, embracing instead a relaxed cream-and-tan palette ideal for a summer in the mountains or the low-key luxury of an “if you know, you know” seaside village (Looks 2 and 37). That said, the show blossomed into a playful cornucopia of color and pattern over the final twenty ensembles, with Looks 46, 50, and 56 standing among my personal favorites. Look 53 is also worth mentioning for its unusual silhouette, cinched by a high-waisted belt.
Klausner and the Faun Choose Fantasy
At the end of a contemplation as profound as it is ephemeral, Mallarmé’s faun proclaims: “This numb body and this vacant soul succumb to the spell of afternoon: forget such blasphemies in sleep. On the thirsty sand, stretch and yawn, mouth open wide to wine’s still-potent sun.” At the conclusion of this sartorial narrative, as the faun allows his consciousness to dissolve into dreams, Klausner’s protagonists seem to dissolve into the nymphs who dance through them. A mesmerizing final walk, in which the models crisscrossed through the airy Paris Tennis Courts space, left the star-studded guest list enraptured. As we emerged into a beautiful Parisian evening—with, yes, just a hint of a breeze—we were grateful to Klausner for inspiring us to dream.
