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Zwart Winter 17/18 Walter Van Beirendonck
Walter Van Beirendonck called his fall collection “Zwart” — Dutch for black or dark. Perhaps it was chosen to reflect today’s somber times. Or maybe it referred simply to the line’s prevalence of camouflage prints, masked models’ faces and leather details contributing to its fighting feel.
“It’s a very positive ritual,” he said. “They look all scary, but they get away the previous season, they get in the new spring. It’s healing the world and bringing back the good spirits, and getting rid of the bad spirits.” The mix of military and naïveté were perfectly on-trend for fall. Plus adding to this collection’s strength was Van Beirendonck’s sharp tailoring — apparent especially in blazers and coats, which come both finely constructed and deconstructed (he’s a master of both). These included a wide variety of fabrics and colors, such as orange velour, gray tweed, green leather and camo prints. WalterVanBeirendonck.com p .
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photo courtesy of WALTER VAN BEIRENDONK
There has been plenty of glumness this men’s fashion, held at a perilously uncertain moment for the world, and much hand-wringing in the stands about what, politically and otherwise, is to come. Designers have responded in their own separate ways: Many have simplified and practicalized their designs; others have sailed blithely on. Only Walter Van Beirendonck, the bearish Belgian designer and head of the fashion department at the Royal Academy in Antwerp, has taken matters into his own hands and set out to banish the dark spirits that have taken up residence on our doorsteps.
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