Quiet luxury is having its moment in fashion, but one would hardly expect Philipp Plein to embrace it, not even for the Billionaire brand that has been filled with loud, bombastic takes on sartorial style ever since.
The designer confessed backstage he’s having a fun time toying with traditional tropes of masculinity and pushing fabric research within the boundaries of the brand’s key tailoring codes and niche clientele.
“Once you grow bigger you start to become more mainstream, in craft, quality and distribution. We like to have a niche,” he offered.
Save for the exotic skin bomber and biker jackets, the collection looked credible and more in tune with the current quest for soft-spoken elegance — and “old money” status.
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Wearing or holding straw fedora hats, the silver-fox models strode past the Champagne-sipping guests gathered in the courtyard of the Four Seasons Hotel. They telegraphed a businessman-on-vacation mood.
They donned windowpane double-breasted suits — the occasional crest a branding exercise — over fluid shirts with safari-inspired prints or sleek denim sets with gold buttons as the only accent, and tailoring crafted from jersey, meant for the business folks flying across the Atlantic for a 24-hour gateaway in Capri. The chalky pink linen shorts and tan shirt ensemble looked chic, ditto for the tapestry-patterned bomber jackets, while hints of sunflower yellow and red spiced up the earthy palette.
It was a nicely put-together effort catering to conservative fashion customers. Yet as the men’s pack spotlights ease and comfort, the look here was rather stiff and suited-up.
Plein took his bow trailed by a marching band playing the “Pretty Woman” theme.