What is it with fashion designers and navy sweaters?
No matter how many pink fiberglass coats or feathered floral gowns they just sent down the runway, you can nearly always count on a designer to take their bow in a dark sweater (mostly navy) and dark pants (jeans, or easy black trousers).
Among those that lived up to this standard over the past week or so: Erdem Moralıoğlu, Raf Simons at Prada, Louise Trotter at Bottega Veneta and Maximilian Davis at Ferragamo.
These designers are upholding the Zuckerbergian principle of wardrobe simplicity. Under pressure to project something new for their customers, they give themselves fewer clothing options.
And, to be fair, there are some outliers who sustain the eccentricities of their collections, like Patric DiCaprio of Vaquera who took his bow on Monday in plaid Hanes boxers, ballet flats and one of his label's stomach-baring button-ups. And Rick Owens? Well, he's always his best model.
But mostly, it's navy and black, knits and jeans. Listen, it's a good outfit! I couldn't tell you the number of times I've left a show and thought, "Well, the best outfit was the one on the designer." And shouldn't it be? These are people who have considered every possible configuration for pants and every sweater shade on earth. We could all do much worse than copying their bow standard.
Yet, days into Paris Fashion Week, I've started to feel that seeing so many designers dress so much the same undercuts the whole fashion week conceit.
I certainly felt that with Louise Trotter at Bottega last week. Her show of fuzzy-as-a-Furby coats and blazers blown up to peacoat proportions was so full of body-swallowing shapes that when she came out looking unburdened in her kicky jeans and V-neck sweater, I wondered, "Why wasn't the show more like that?" If designers don't subject themselves to what they just presented … well, why should we?
Last season, I was speaking with Jonathan Anderson before his Dior men's show. He was wearing a navy sweater, and up close I could perceive its chunkiness, really see how well it fit. I noticed a beefroll stitch at the side, which delineated it as stemming from Anderson's other brand, JW Anderson. Months later, I'm still thinking about it.