The Men’s Resort And Summer Collections Might Inspire Your Next Extra-Curricular Activity
Hands up if you’re sick of working from home, socialising from home, and just being at home, generally. (Same, same.)
There’s only so much screen-time one can take, whether it’s committed to Zoom calls or online shopping, and the designers of men’s resort and spring/summer 2021 collections, shown online (where else?) in the past few weeks, clearly share that view.
These were clothes made with extra-curricular activities in mind: knitting, fishing, skateboarding and martial arts. Cooking and gardening, too - anything that doesn’t require being tethered to a device, or hunched over a screen like Quasimodo. (How considerate of designers to think about our posture.)
Look books were packed with dynamic imagery, rather than static ‘hot model looks-to-camera’ shots, featuring resort and spring/summer 2021 styles on men doing karate and dancing, or in some cases just gesticulating wildly on the spot (hands thrown in the air in resignation, perhaps).
London-based menswear designer Nicholas Daley, one of this year’s eight LVMH Prize winners, took inspiration from a hobby taken-up just before lockdown restrictions took hold in the UK, due to the Coronavirus pandemic. His tie-front jackets and quilting are a tribute to martial arts, photographed on a side-kicking, yama-zuki’ing former world and European karate champion, Jordan Thomas.
A post shared by mrkimjones (@mrkimjones) on Jul 13, 2020 at 8:12am PDT
Dior Menswear designer, Kim Jones, celebrated the art of painting, collaborating with Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo on vivid jacquard shirts and jumpers, featuring Boafo’s finger-painted portraits as spirited prints.
Elsewhere, Japanese designer Junya Watanabe showed his new season styles on a model tooting a flute, while Californian brand The Elder Statesman featured the design team doing just about every extra-curricular activity you can think of - tending to succulents, picking veg, hiking and reading outside.
A post shared by The Elder Statesman (@theelderstatesman) on Jul 17, 2020 at 4:20pm PDT
Celine designer Hedi Slimane, renowned for his indie skinny-jean clad muse, also made an unexpected pivot to wild colour, referencing skateboarding with a collection named The Dancing Kid, shown on a racing track in France.
Slimane, it seems, has also been thinking of outdoor pursuits, describing his spring/summer 2021 collection as ‘a candid portrait of a generation that took advantage of confinement and isolation’ - a generation kick-flipping its way out of boredom on skate-decks, wearing tie-dye t-shirts and board shorts, and dancing for TikTok. (The show was soundtracked by Tiagz, a 22 year old hip-hop star known for his viral hits on the social media app.)
TikTok can vouch for the growing appetite for taking up extra-curricular activities. You only need to look at the viral knitting challenge, started by crafty Harry Styles fans wanting to recreate his JW Anderson cardi, for proof.
We’re clearly not that sick of screens then, engaging with the men’s collections online, and sharing our newly acquired craft skills and hobbies on social media. But you know what they say: everything in moderation. The hobby-appropriate attire is there waiting to be worn when we’re ready to try something new though - even if it’s just a new sweater.
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