Dries Van Noten Menswear F/W 2025.26 Paris

[yslforever]

Wasn’t he JUST appointed last month??? I understand he’s internal but still, the amount of time he had to create a debut collection is insane. Don’t get me wrong. It’s bad. And it’s not reading DVN. Like at all. But also, what do you expect from someone who had FIVE weeks?

Michele had 2 and a half weeks for his debut collection at Gucci

 

[velvetandsilk]

A very bad direction that is starting to become out of fashion and a bit archaic, most of the common designers live in a bubble and do not see the changes.

 

[perhydrol]

I feel like the man of Dries Van Noten had always had a strong queer undertone, but this new direction is just too costumey, too overpowering, too... almost too detached from reality in a way. There are some nice pieces, but I would never guess it's a Dries Van Noten collection. It definitely feels like a commercialised version of Galliano's Margiela mixed with some Erdem here and there.

What actually bothers me the most is the disconnection between the s/s 25 womenswear show and this offering. It's like two extremely different creative directions, clashing with each other. When you add the last collection designed by Dries, it's giving customer alienation.

I know that Dries wanted to find a designer who would shake the brand, but I'm not sure if this is the right way to do that.

 

[Phuel]

...No show to redeem this fanboy Galliano x Margiela tribute...???

Let’s not pretend that Dries had never left the building long before this: There was that weird soft rebrand back in 2019 that had the charming and gentlemanly romantic’s wardrobe replaced with shapeless, unisex stuff and a headcount cast of gormless children; then his last remaining collections never did quite capture the quiet confidence, subtle exuberance and down-to-earth opulence of his best days. What’s insulting about this is not that this person took the Dries man in a different direction and evolved the Dries sensibility— because he did none of that. It’s that he has betrayed, and is determined to destroy the image of the very distinctive gentlemanly romantic that Dries created— one that was never costumey nor relied on gimmicks/tricks, only to be replaced by an image that isn’t even of his own— but a blatant ripoff of Galliano’s Margiela male, wholesale. What a way to burn that was absolutely unique and of an individual, and tell the loyal Dries customers to fcuk off and debut oneself as a Galliano fanboy and a hack. It’s just so pathetic LMFAO

 

[LadyJunon]

The copywriting for this collection is more pretentious that the collection itself:

The collection captures how contrasts turn complementary, and how artistic influences can alter masculine archetypes.

 

[Phuel]

^^^ This person is quickly shaping up to be Sabato v2.0

 

[Monsieur Cristobal]

^^ The collection rather captures how spectacular was John Galliano's tenure at Margiela, and I can understand the hommage, because it was fashion heaven.

I like the pull with boat neck and slightly puffed shoulders combined with the mao collar shirt. I like the purple lining of the jackets.

I would like to see in better definition the multicolor patchwork coat but the blurry romantic photo à la Sarah Moon makes it difficult.

I will wait to see more of J. Klausner to form an idea of how he imagines Dries van Noten.

 

[Lola701]

I hope that they will respect their clientele enough to not scare them. Presentation is super important, even more from a brand that sells majority clothes, doesn’t do advertising and all the fashion game.

If they are clever, they should include some men’s looks in the show in March and maybe show a less dramatic version of those silhouettes.

 

[Ives927]

It's concerning that the studio team and the new CD promoted from within put out such a collection that is so disconnected from the history and archive of Dries.

When I look back at Dries's collections, his clothes are always rooted in reality. I believe in his clothes having a purpose in the customer's wardrobe. I never questioned whether something can be worn off the runway. Nothing about this collection reads practical and I see no real life situation for any of these clothes. It's playing dress up. The Dries men aren't cosplaying in real life. Even when Dries dabbled in streetwear in the last few years, there were still a lot of wardrobe staples begin offered.

The SS25 women's collection still felt true to Dries. I don't know what happened with this mens collection. There is so much archive to work with and yet they just disregard all of it. That doesn't make sense to me. Let's hope they is a one off and they recalibrate.

And these younger designers need to stop with the queer, androgynous, "altering masculine archetypes" aesthetic. Just design good clothes for you male clientele.

 

[Xone]

To see more details

 

[Salvatore]

Reading that the studio designed this makes me a little less nervous, but the new CD directed it which gives pause for concern.

 

[Monsieur Cristobal]

I liked it better in this last video.

 

[Royal-Galliano]

i hate the styling gimmick.

 

[HigthaVandah]

I love it! beautiful pieces.

I don't hate it either. But I don't put much stock in fashion houses' legacies from a customer's perspective. It's a pot of money that's now investing in a different designer's work. That's all. At best, it's a pot of money that brings some technical skill or established relationships with materials manufacturers with it. (I do understand it looks very different from a business perspective.)

 

[LadyJunon]

So according to WWD, the collection was designed by the studio, with Klausner only being involved in the art direction of the shoot and the presentation. His debu collection will be the women's runway show in March.

While something of a placeholder Dries Van Noten collection pending the official arrival of Julian Klausner as creative director of the Belgian house, this fall effort surprised with its daring, cinematic romanticism.

Klausner, who will make his debut as Van Noten’s successor with his women’s fall 2025 show in March, was implicated only in directing the men’s look book shoot and Paris presentation, where about a dozen looks were displayed on mannequins lined up on a plinth.

What jumped out were the feminine flourishes, including lavish floral brooches and prints, jutting p*ssy-bow collars, duchesse satin coats and demonstrative leg-of-mutton sleeves. These were blunted — slightly — by the rustic hunting fabrics, sailor pants and peacoats, and an undercurrent of bike messenger, felt in the black leggings, the makeshift shoelace belts and tough-minded boots.

A more intensive focus on crafty fabrics also came to the fore, vaguely military jackets lined in bright purple or amber fil coupé; poplin shirts realized with removable, hand-embroidered collars in contrasting colors, and woolen coats bearing ghostly, air-brushed thistle patterns, or mottled velour textures.

According to the collection notes, the Van Noten studio was inspired by the William S. Burroughs novel “The Wild Boys” and its 2017 film adaptation. It also sampled a variety of historical periods, stretching from the Renaissance through to the 1930s.

The team explored “how artistic influences can alter masculine archetypes,” which yielded the “youthful, rakish gang” captured in atmospheric photos by Antwerp’s own Willy Vanderperre.

A new era is unfolding at the house that Dries built, and it intrigues.

 

[jeremydante]

This collection crushed me, guys.
It truly grounded me in the reality that Dries' exit is real. I feel a disconnect from the Dries we knew, and what it will come to be. It feels like imitation Galliano in the worst, most copy-and-paste way. In the saddest way, the most heartbreaking and grief strickening way possible for a label that has had such a gorgeous archive up to now.

All drama, all truth. My feelings, I did not like what this was. It diminished the Dries we know and love, as a label.

 

[90sfan]

OLD FASHIONED GALLIANO TRASH... HATE IT

 

[proseccotabis]

So according to WWD, the collection was designed by the studio, with Klausner only being involved in the art direction of the shoot and the presentation. His debu collection will be the women's runway show in March.

Still, a very weak outcome for a group of people that had an opportunity to fully immerse themselves in the process of closely working with DVN himself for perhaps years… unless they’re trying to soft launch some sort of rebrand before Klausner starts idk