
Dan Kling made his debut in spring 2011 and became an instant phenomenon that many wish to be. This indie-rocker turned model has walked for Dior Homme, Kris Van Assche, Damir Doma and Thom Browne. He became the face of Damir Doma’s Spring/Summer 2011 lookbook. Hot off the heel of his debut season, Dan was photographed by Craig McDean for his first major editorial for Interview magazine August 2010, alongside Freja Beha Erichsen.

The Young Road to Luxury–Bringing Paris Fashion Week to a close, Swedish label Acne embarked on a collision course of young and old for a collection that peppered the classics with a free spirit. With layering playing a key component to the season’s wardrobe, interesting fabrications were utilized. From quilted shirting employed underneath a boxy short-sleeved sweatshirt to pleather worn with a formal overcoat, a rebellious quality was achieved with great subtleties. Piling on the sweaters and producing tops with varying sleeve lengths for the ultimate combination of pieces, Acne brought together tapered trousers, oversize blazers as well as suiting shorts for a highly wearable feat.

Combative Fashion–Following an impressive showing for his namesake, Kris Van Assche returned to the runway for his latest collection for Dior Homme. Another inspiring lineup for the season, Van Assche let the focus on tailoring take a backseat with a fully fleshed out motif that emphasized sportswear with a militaristic flair. Hidden under caps and shades, the men of Dior took to the runway with a strong stance on suiting, giving way to more relaxed pieces. Donning low slung trousers and oversize outerwear, cut to maximize powerful movement, garments in an army green gave the season a life dramatically different from previous collections. Playing with shearling, piping and technical fabrics, crisp combative silhouettes were at once fresh, marking a successful overall outing for Dior Homme.

Psychedelic Elegance–A keynote of any Dries Van Noten collection, prints really spoke great volumes this season. Taking Oscar Wilde’s dandy and lending him an attitude befitting of music artist Frank Zappa, the season was Van Noten’s canvas. Keeping fall’s inspirations on a tight leash, the backbone of the collection was entrusted to sharp overcoats and pleated trousers, narrow and wide. With fine form at the collection’s heart, next came exciting prints in vivid colors. Dressing sweaters and pants for a psychedelic reemergence, Van Noten no doubt made a loud statement, but also delivered charm subtly with finer print motifs and luxurious fabrications such as velvet driving his effortless elegance home.

The Dark Arts–Rick Owens’ man finds himself somewhere in between fencing and racing for the designer’s latest chapter. Kicking off the season with fitted ensembles, high-waist trousers made the perfect companion to narrow tops, cut to perfection. Moving on to suiting as a more traditional turn for Owens, jackets were fastened with one button for an asymmetrical close, while the fit on trousers indicated a subtle shift in the collection. Embracing a wider silhouette for trousers and readying the runway for his beloved work with leather, a cropped jacket appeared with a fantastic silhouette, that gained momentum against later voluminous looks that employed quilting and other techniques for a strong dark finish.

Models in Paris–The new season is nearly here again and you know Paris Fashion Week is looming because all the boys are back in town for castings before heading to Milan and coming back to Paris for the shows … So here kicks off the second season of an exclusive ‘Casting Call Diaries’ story at the men’s Paris Fashion Week castings for The Fashionisto ! For this first day of model ‘hunting’, the targets included the castings for John Lawrence Sullivan, Balenciaga and Damir Doma … Walking between the different casting places in pretty miserable winter rainy weather didn’t actually prove to be as enjoyable as my first experience in that matter last June, but with luck and patience I finally ended up catching some very relevant preys who regularly grace the international runways and magazines such as Jacob Coupe, Dan Kling, River Viiperi, Sebastian Sauve, Harry Goodwins, Adrian Cardoso, David Agbodji, Joan Pedrola etc, along with new faces Dominic Nutt, Miguel Batista, John Tuite, Andras Kajari or Jake Shortall amongst others … To be continued …