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DRIES VAN NOTEN MENS FW26: THE COMING OF A NEW MASCULINITY

Sometimes it is incredible how great fit a designer can be for a namesake label that was not founded by him. Julian Klausner represents the new age of Belgian fashion by taking over Dries Van Noten in such a well thought and manner. Capable of convincing a loyal consumer base into his fresh vision, revamping the meaning of managing a brand that is part of The Six Antwerp. A collective that was born out of the necessity to establish Antwerp as the fashion capital of Belgium in the 80s, breaking with opulent trends and establishing the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp as a cutting-edge fashion center with their conceptual and handcrafted designs. 

With his second collection of menswear for the brand, he is expressing the joy of new beginnings navigating the collective thought of what masculinity can mean when naivety and honesty is at the center of the conversation. The narrative involves graduates entering university and what they can hold from the past to construct their future. As the designer himself expressed in the press release: “I was thinking of the emotion of being attached to a particular garment and the spontaneous ways to wear it.” How we can elaborate our past in front of others just by wearing or being recognized by certain pieces, acting as a souvenir from the life you left behind at home. The song “Yo Ga Aketara (When Dawn Breaks)” by Maki Asakawa is what evoked his research for this new attempt of redefining the male gaze from an independent fashion house.

Across 66 looks, there is a blunt juxtaposition and a sense of warmth, and sharp casualness, that differentiate this collection from the rest presented during Paris Fashion Week. The exploration of self-expression in the making has been a constant in the work of Klausner for the maison, a personal input into the strictness of prints and manipulations that was consistent before the arrival of the new creative. Tailored school uniforms focused on creating a military sense over the troop of models. Education aesthetic as a way of instructing a new masculinity over the youth. Knotting as a practice to keep in place the learning and the memories. There are also the accessories that act like an archival take on fashion, a reinterpretation of the bowling boots (once again, an evolution on his first menswear show) and funny/odd glasses that seem to come straight away from an 80s sitcom.

His whole world building takes place around the spontaneity of characters developing his own world, connecting with their true self. That is why he proposes for the next winter a selection of archetypal shapes that can be freely mixed & matched to construct a curated wardrobe. We cannot forget the sexiness that the knitwear pieces add to the collection, making sure we put our eyes in the right place of the finest and nerdiest cast of the whole season. Even released in 1969, a song can encapsulate intrusive and cathartic thoughts that evolve into a collection made by the future of the industry for the future of it.

Words: @alraco43