Wooyoungmi, Homme, Printemps-été 2013, Paris

 

[L'auteur recommande les voyages aux enfants] pour en rapporter principalement les humeurs de ces nations et leurs façons, et pour frotter et limer nostre cervelle contre celle d’aultrui

~ Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, Essais, Livre I, Chapitre XXV

After delving into the film noir world last season, Woo Youngmi and Woo Janghee pack their cases and go on a summer of travels to faraway cultures. Asia, South America and Africa form a mass of unformed images, sounds and bold colours, stitched across collective imagination.

Silhouettes have slimmed down, hems have gone up in response to the growing heat. But despite this renewed pledge to classic male elegance, it is the prints and colours that grabs the attention.
Here a rich yellow or a brick red remind of National Geographic’s features on faraway destinations. Is it a passing cloud, or a traditional Asian motif that inspires the print seen on a suit in blue, then later on in taupe? A strong piece is a varsity jacket dressed up in the season’s floral print and fits in with the relaxed silhouettes pairing crewnecks with stricter tailoring.

A strong offering by the Korean sisters, who celebrate this year their tenth anniversary at Paris Fashion Week and twentieth show, an occasion to look back on their work and place in menswear, as one of the few female led brands that speak to the male aesthetic in such a limpid way. For them a celebration, and for us guests, a splendid journey through the creative maelstrom of the Woo family, which includes another duo, the designers Woo Kyungmi and Woo Hyunmi under the name Allée.

Photos: Kay-Paris Fernandes pour Mademoiselle à Paris