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 pussy-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.
