Givenchy’s creative director, Matthew M. Williams, has created a new concept of tailoring for his Spring 2024 collection, inspired by conversations he had with his 14-year-old son.
These conversations influenced his design process, resulting in a tangible interaction between what appears mature and what is maturing in this collection. It could be seen that it could be worn by children who wanted to look more like adults and adults who wanted to look more like children.
The runway show took place in the courtyard of the Musée de l’Armée at the Hôtel National des Invalides, showcasing broad, softly shouldered double-breasted jackets, loose yet square-shaped, paired with wide and silky trousers. Sleeveless jumpsuits and precisely tailored seamless evening suits were also featured.
In addition to these “dadcore” delights, there were many other seemingly “basic garments” – essential pieces of men’s fashion in the real world – reinterpreted in an extraordinary way. Williams’ strategy was to go beyond comfortable banality by altering proportions, materials, or both. An oversized lamb leather field jacket, perforated leather track jackets, a fine and crisp elongated yellow checkered shirt, cropped MA-1 bombers, and oversized Harrington jackets all appeared “average” until closer inspection revealed otherwise.
As for accessories, only two handbags were seen. The rest were attached to the back through aesthetically functional decorative harness arrangements. The shoe collection included a new low-profile sneaker with a padded, soft upper similar to ballet shoes seen in Alyx. There were also low and elongated loafers with extended toes based on vintage shoes Williams had collected in Japan. “They’re called ‘Cockroach Killers,'” said Williams, “because the toe really leans down towards the ground to kick insects out of your way.”
