Julian Klausner’s Dries Van Noten Debut Was a Deal with For the Senses

When Dries Van Noten introduced he was retiring in June of final yr, the style world was understandably each stunned and devastated. By way of virtually 40 years (and plenty of ups and downs throughout the trade and the world) on the helm of his namesake model, Van Noten by no means wavered in his pursuit of real authenticity and uncooked creativity. He drew up traits as an alternative of following them and saved style feeling enjoyable and experimental, assortment after assortment.

Happily for followers of the model, Van Noten’s successor comes from contained in the enterprise, having spent six years on the Belgian label studying from its founder himself. Julian Klausner was named its new artistic director in December, and on Wednesday, in entrance of an intimate group of Paris Trend Week attendees, he debuted his first assortment. Trace: Folks preferred it.

Altering Areas

One of many greatest speedy contrasts between outdated Dries Van Noten and new Dries Van Noten was the look of its present venue. Previously, runway exhibits have taken place in uncooked, industrial areas, the place the garments had been the clear centerpieces within the room. Klausner, nonetheless, selected a way more lavish locale, welcoming his visitors to the Palais Garnier, an opera home that opened in 1875 within the ninth arrondissement in Paris. The house is lavish inside and outside, with massive chandeliers lighting the catwalk and ornate work and architectural options in all places the attention can see. “The gathering was created with the venue in thoughts,” Klausner wrote in a press launch. “I imagined ladies passing by means of the opera, grabbing materials and objects, tying them with a shoelace whereas on a quest to seek out the reply to an unknown query. Behind the scenes, the place creation and observe occur.”

Craft Stays Paramount

Craft and a focus to element have all the time been codes of the Dries Van Noten model, they usually’re not ones leaving anytime quickly. In a latest interview with I-D, Klausner instructed Steff Yotka that he, after all, needs to maintain issues, from the textures to the colours to the prints. “The craft … we have constructed superb relationships with a variety of suppliers and craftsmen,” he mentioned. “That’s what I need to proceed engaged on.” Within the assortment, this intention may be seen within the type of multi-colored tassel-embellished clothes that had been little doubt sewn on by hand. Tops made solely of string and mismatching beads had been styled beneath tailor-made fits, whereas clothes lined in massive paillettes required little in the way in which of equipment to seem full.

Spherical Toe’s Renaissance

For years now, pointed-toe footwear have reigned supreme, leaving no room on the prime for some other form. Then, in 2024, we noticed almond shapes ease their manner in, adopted by some square-toe choices, and at last, full-on rounded toes. If you happen to’re not a fan, effectively, that is too dangerous, as a result of the toe form was all that was proven in Klausner’s debut, and with the type rising increasingly fashionable with all the highest manufacturers, it is time to face the music. Pointless toes are right here to remain, and I for one, cannot wait.

Opulence! Opulence! Opulence!

Final September’s exhibits marked the start of the top for quiet luxurious, ushering in a brand new, opulent, and maximalist aesthetic that is set to outline the second half of the 2020s. This Dries Van Noten assortment solely acted as additional proof that our predictions about the way forward for loud luxurious had been spot on. Clashing, jacquard prints, jewel tones, and exaggerated silhouettes, mixed with the Palais Garnier present venue, made for a wealthy (and costly) deal with for the senses.