Dries Van Noten's Fall/Winter 2024 Menswear collection appears as a quite minimalistic stance from the designer, known for his mixes of animal patterns and usage of shimmery materials. This season, Dries reflects on contrasting notions and explores the bridges between tradition and modernity, rusticity and refinement. Indeed, the Belgian designer tends to reference techniques and imagery from the past to create contemporary design, finding elegance in the unexpected. In this collection, the clash between dichotomic concepts resulted in harmony.
The show started with neatly structured looks. Coats are long, layered on top of shaggy oversized knits and paired with black leather opera gloves, elongating the silhouette. Heritage fabrics from British mills and military materials are used together in the tailored looks of the show – once again, contrasting. The second half of the collection introduces colours and modern textures such as light-blue washed denim, used in a trench coat or a double-breasted blazer. The colour palette is surprisingly composed of muted tones. Acidic hues of corals, yellows and greens slowly appear alongside pixelated prints which feel aged and distorted. Safety pins are used as brooches, referencing the underground scene of the nineties – the era of the emergence of the Antwerp Six, and Dries himself.
Words by Marien Brandon
