Gunther, Doublet and Nahmias streetwear is taking over Paris Fashion Week

Throughout a weekend full of menswear shows, Paris dedicates a special place in fashion week to streetwear culture. Creative and dynamic movement within the industry which attracts expert buyers as well as journalists and celebrities, especially from the United States and Asia. Creative approaches and marketable designs are presented by some of the top rising brands in this booming segment.

Gunther is all grown up

Founded in 2019 by designer Naomi Gunther, this Parisian chic streetwear brand showed its maturity at Paris Fashion Week with collections reminiscent of the 90s, featuring more sophisticated and sophisticated streetwear. Her fashion show gathered a huge crowd last Saturday morning on the brightly lit top floor of Garage Amelot in the Marais district.

Sharing the same space as the Tranoi trade show, the men’s show combines a unique vision of classic streetwear with a touch of contemporary tailoring. This hybrid vision has, for now, allowed Gunther to court French rappers such as Hatik, SCH, Soolking, and footballer Djibril Ciss, who modeled for the brand’s final Fall/Winter 2022 show.

On Saturday, a barefoot model wearing a black suit emblazoned with a small round metal plaque bearing the brand’s logo opened the event. Next, a long, vintage-inspired tweed coat was paired with the same chunky shorts and a similarly designed two-piece suit.

Unstructured cotton shirts, in white or striped versions, to which brand names are added in various formats; wide ties with crystal details give a preppy touch to a collection or a complete knitwear offering that includes a long fringed jumper, wide scarf or striped shirt and trousers. The final look was worn by celebrity rapper and brand ambassador Franglish, who closed the show in a long, wide-collared coat to match his tie and casual sunglasses.

“This is a 90s-inspired collection. I want to pay a little homage to the year I was born, 1995, by going back to all the images from my childhood that inspired me: from fabrics to the early days of the internet, to sportswear on that era and rebellious bad boy style,” the designer, who studied at Parsons School of Design in New York, where he lived for three years and where his successful relationship with streetwear was born, told FashionNetwork.com.

And on the existence of a logo that defines the brand name itself, he adds: “It seems logical to follow this path, given that this is a decade defined by logomania. I wanted to do it in a subtle way, in small details like a coin on a suit, or graffiti which was very visible, underscoring the ‘bling bling’ side of the era. Ultimately, this was a way to reassert ourselves and present Gunther as an established brand.” The Paris brand’s future plans include the continuation of its local production, collaborations with artisans and artists, and a “total commitment” to its “evolving” creative community.

Doublet presents Freak Parade

Statues of Vauquelin and Parmentier, two famous French pharmacists, have probably never seen anything like this before. On this chilly Sunday morning, the bronze statues sitting on thrones in the courtyard of the entrance to the Faculty of Pharmacy in Paris carried inflatable balloons saying “I Am a Balloon”, like leftovers from an evening party. Undoubtedly the most luxurious experience that has ever taken place within the walls of the institution.

A queer group, dressed in latex animal costumes or cheerleading looks, first ended their nightly dance in front of an arch and the dumbfounded audience were tucked under a fleece blanket. The Doublet group participants, not minding the bad weather conditions, left through the main door of the faculty at high speed.

Masayuki Ino, designer for the Japanese brand, has been fascinated by underground communities and galleries of quirky portraits ranging from punk to macabre for the past ten years. For this Fall/Winter 2023-24 show, he’s envisioning a freak show, or a radical approach to inclusivity in a very lonely left bank of Paris. The ringleader crossed the courtyard dressed as a giant pink and white rabbit that had endured the torment of a sleepless night, clutching the rabbit’s head under his arm.

Behind him, several models had removed their tops, revealing only a shirt, a tired young man wearing a public school uniform over trousers with long hair. Oversized leather jacket worn over a fuchsia hoodie and black straight wide pants with a panda head bag. All body types are represented in this character gallery, with slender young women wearing green skirts over gray terry tracksuits or oversized blazers over denim skirts and a pair of Furoshiki, a footwear brand inspired by traditional Japanese sandals.

Among flashy looks (such as a frightened child in a jumper upside down on his head), the Japanese label features pieces such as a bomber jacket with tone-on-tone embroidery, a dark green jacket worn over shorts and plaid. . sneakers or, for women, a white turtleneck jumper with sleeves ending in pleats creating layers of ruffles, over extra-wide ripped jeans.

For some bourgeois, in jackets and shirts, or more working class for others, in yellow vests and work clothes, attendees of these parties come from all walks of life, erasing social boundaries ostensibly through excess. In the end, it’s a supercharged parade, like a destabilizing injection of adrenaline on a Sunday morning.

California poetry and hip-hop Nahmia

The last day of men’s fashion week still holds some exciting surprises. This was the case for the fashion show held at the busy Palais de Tokyo of American brand Nahmias, which, despite being the brand’s third fashion show in the capital, this time was conducted with a clear ambition for international growth thanks to its casual, streetwear clothing designed to seduce rappers and jocks. Celebrities such as Justin and Hailey Bieber and Lewis Hamilton have become loyal customers.

On this occasion, American rapper Kodak Black signed a joint capsule collection and took to the catwalk to provide the ending music to the show, while Ferrari’s Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc from Monaco captured the moment from the front row with his own camera. Of course, both of them wore clothes bearing the Doni Nahmias brand logo.

If pink bunny suits are one of the stars of the Doublet show, Nahmias is full of references to small mammals: from balaclavas with long drooping ears, to hat prints or even fluffy doll slippers paired with baggy cargo pants. Likely a tribute to Chinese New Year, celebrated in Paris with events around the Place de la Rpublique and dedicated this year to the rabbit, which also serves as a nod to potential Asian streetwear-loving buyers.

Check out the catwalks

“In every collection, there is an element of homage to California, and this season I am inspired by the culture and style of 90’s hip-hop. The era when hip-hop style was so endemic in youth culture,” Doni Nahmias, head of the brand founded in California in 2018, told FashionNetwork.com.

“I took from my personal archive and my personal clothes what I was wearing at the time and tried to translate that into modern times by using basic 90s style silhouettes mixed with current manufactures,” he adds, of references in his latest collection.

Inspired by vintage pieces, the American designer created silhouettes that are comfortable and casual, with a flowing approach to streetwear. Hooded coats in synthetic fur, bucket hats, graffiti prints, baggy trousers and shirts, some in silk, emblazoned with images of poppies as a tribute to the brand’s DNA and its native California. In an informal look, denim is reinterpreted in patchwork, while tailoring, a must this season, is seen with a plaid coat or suit jacket.

Based in Los Angeles, Nahmias currently has an international retail network with 75 points of sale in Europe, North America, the Middle East, China and Japan. Her clothes are sold at well-known retailers such as Maxfield, The Webster, Saks Fifth Avenue, Browns, and Harrods.