Although Jeanne Lanvin was among the first couturiers to introduce men’s clothes, around 100 years ago, there’s very little to go by today. “We have an incredibly rich archive for women but we don’t have the same for men,” said Peter Copping ahead of the house’s presentation in their new offices.
What might have been a downside happens to be serving the designer well. Given that Lanvin’s richest language has always been feminine, Copping has been exploring what happens when some of those women’s standbys are transposed to men’s clothes, as with Art Deco-inspired strass embroideries applied to a shirt or playing with slender silk scarves for a touch of insouciance. Beyond this, Copping has considered creative adjacencies, as in some of the Parisian artists and thinkers whose style stood out during this fertile time—the likes of Jean-Paul Sartre, André Breton and Tsuguharu Foujita. “I think these are probably clothes that will appeal to a creative mindset,” he said.
In that vein, the jackets—whether single-breasted in dusty rose or double-breasted in powdery blue—would bring equal parts polish and novelty to the daily wardrobe rotation. Yet beyond the fluid tailoring were well-developed sport and workwear pieces that seem destined to draw a new wave of guys towards the label. Even reworked classics such as a windbreaker in cotton and nylon finished with leather, a beautifully knit fisherman sweater or a removable cotton poplin hood accessory seemed covetable for their usefulness.
In a short time, Copping has done wonders for the women’s eveningwear and he’s now applying his touch by paring back the strictness for men; a sharp white tuxedo jacket worn with jeans, for instance.
“Ten years ago, I probably would not have felt so comfortable doing this,” he said. So what’s changed? “I think the way men dress and what’s acceptable now,” he replied. “The codes are being broken down and the rules are pretty much out the window. I think men are embracing much more of their feminine side; and being a designer who has come from women’s and is probably known for designing quite feminine womenswear, some of that will come with this.”
But there will be some welcome surprises for Copping along the way, too. The heritage English knitwear brand John Smedley has produced a capsule of jumpers in lively bicolour stripe combinations that complement the patterns elsewhere in the line-up. “They approached us and I didn’t hesitate for one moment,” said Copping of the brand that not only dates to 1784 but has been bestowed with a royal warrant. “I was really flattered and it made me think we must be doing something right.” Indeed.
