PFW | The Best of Avant-Garde - Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, Thom Browne Menswear FW14 Review

Avant-garde shows are so good for people who love window shopping and seeing all the things you wouldn't really wear. No really I love watching the menswear shows at Paris FOR avant-garde. It's really interesting to see what's going on and because they're often so iconic and instantly recognisable, they can mark times in fashion and it's quite fun to talk about them. In experimentation, there's such a fine line between new, refreshing, quirky, special, and being too conceptual and poorly received. In any event, the more experimental styles are best in Paris, home of fashion and haute couture. These shows are often very theatrical and special in its themes and so they're really really enjoyable.

The best avant-garde AW14 collections at Paris Fashion Week were from Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto and Thom Browne.

Issey Miyake
Although not strictly stepping away from ready-to-wear, the house is known for its experimental side. There were many modern and stylish ready-to-wear pieces but it was the eye-catching colours and silver creating those marbel painting like effects which stole the show. The prints - a little (no, VERY) psychedelic and furturist. Metallic colours were at the forefront of the show. On top of that, the crumpled tissue paper textures elevated fashion and innovation to another level. The show held together very well and the looks worked together. Love some of those outers.

Yohji Yamamoto
Playing up with disproportionate looks and embracing a darker side, the fashion house decorated an elaborate show with leaves, chains, petals and skulls. A little reminiscent of old Japanese paintings, glimmers of colour in darkness add to a mysterious and somewhat celestial presentation of fashion. Beautiful robes in a thematic mix of grace and destruction swept across the runway with other loose fitting garment. Some pieces were explosive in colour like fireworks or sakura season. I liked that it was a little bit on the dramatic side, reminding me of Meiji swordsman especially with those loose fitting silhouettes and earthy colours.

Thom Browne
I know we're all thinking about this tea party and how we can get an invite. Although on the face, the garments and installations (on the models heads) were 'cute', the grey really adds a sombre mood. The twisted notion of mystery and quirk blends into the show an eerie darkness. It's easy to be carried away and be distracted by everything going on in the set and the show but the label really showed off its knack for tailoring. The show kicked off with classic fittings and cuttings with classic patterns like pinstripe and houndstooth, and moved onto Betty Francis in Mad Men Season 5. The exaggerated and experimental designs highlighted the designer's versatile ability - and the hard work of the models and dressers I presume. No, grey is not boring.