Guests take to catwalk at Dries Van Noten’s autumn-winter menswear show

Paris’ autumn-winter 2016 menswear season is all about staging a good show – and some designers took it quite literally. Dries Van Noten, who is master of contemporary subtleness and sensuality, invited his guests to join models on stage for a night at the Opera Garnier in Paris.

“It was really good for me to be able to show here on the stage of the theatre,” says the designer, referring to his unusual setting where the audience is not seated but part of the show. “In a way it turned the world a bit upside down,” he adds. The particular dramatic impact of this theatrical showcase was also Dries Van Noten’s starting point when he explains that the show “has only been possible with the help of Robert Carsten”, the reputed Canadian opera director, and a major source of inspiration.

Embracing the modernist flair of art nouveau-inspired details, Dries Van Noten did what he does best: creating a timeless yet utterly contemporary collection imbued with cultural references and one-of-a-kind surface embellishments. Picking up on last season’s collection in which he made a tribute to “iconoclasts and provocateurs” by staging “an imaginary chat between Marilyn Monroe and Salvador Dali”, Van Noten still had the term “iconoclast” in mind when he designed this collection.

The Belgian designer channelled the deconstruction of ceremonial uniforms and their flamboyant decorative elements with a psychedelic twist, clashing robust fabrics and cuts with a dandified, regal attitude – and it made for another great Van Noten signature show.