With much talk about quiet luxury recently, Dries Van Noten takes a spin on “subtlety” for Spring/Summer 2024.
It seems that Dries Van Noten has also been hearing talks of quiet luxury. The Belgian designer, known for being a master of prints and juxtapositions, took the drama down a notch with this season. He was particularly invested in finding out what elegance means for young men today and continued his study of masculinity. While streetwear has taken much of the public spotlight within menswear over the past few years, Van Noten sought to showcase a balance of strength and gentility for the modern day through tailoring and restrained ornamentation.
Staged within a cavernous room of an abandoned building, the dilapidated beams and walls presented a stark contrast against the louche and languid collection. The first model appeared — marching to the drumming beats of Soulwax in an elongated camel trench coat, with shoulders that command attention, paired with black trousers and leather sandals for an updated take to a wardrobe staple styled for the summer seasons.
What transpired afterwards built upon the basis of the first look. In an education of contemporary elegance, garments were considered and designed to keep the overall lightness and sensual approach of the subject through materiality, and the pulling back of embellishments that one would have expected from Van Noten instead diverts his attention to construction. The silhouettes were kept capacious yet still defined, with suits punctuated by a prominent shoulder, in textiles that fluctuated between opaque and transparent but with the occasional peek of extravagance through glittery shorts or sequinned shirts that managed to create an overall sense of lightness and romanticism — as per look 52, a personal favourite if I dare say so myself.
Renowned Dries Van Noten hypnotic prints were kept subtle — so subtle it rarely appears — opting for a print-on-print technique to produce a suggestion of a shadow motif. As always, Van Noten’s colour choices were unrivalled and unconventional, in rich and varying hues of rust, ecru, lilac, ink and olive, with some looks being styled in signature Dries Van Noten colour blocks and accessorised with delicate chain belts and tiger’s eyes jewellery. Shoes that exposed the feet, such as sandals and slippers, were favoured footwear choices, adding levity to the overall look and making it practical for the summertime.
In his search for the meaning of elegance, Van Noten charted paths of quiet luxury but landed on a destination that kept to his maximal sensibilities. The 65-year-old designer continues to deliver a collection that speaks to the current zeitgeist of young men who are unafraid to bend the binary of menswear through garments that deliver discreet elegance. And for that, we cannot thank him enough.
Once you’re done with this story on Dries Van Noten, click here to catch up with our June/July 2023 issue!
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