IN CONVERSATION WITH TIMOTEJ LETONJA ABOUT MEN’S FASHION WEEK 2024

Interview by Samo Šajn
Edited by Diamonique Oseana

In the aftermath of Men’s Fashion Week 2024, the echoes of creativity linger, leaving a lasting impression on the world of menswear. Dive into this special interview with Numéro Netherlands’ Editor-in-Chief, Timotej Letonja, to explore his unique perspective on the menswear trends he witnessed during Milan and Paris Fashion Weeks.

What were some of your favorite or memorable shows you attended this past men’s fashion week? 

Some of my favorite shows I attended this season would first be with Milan since that is where it started. Pitti is where it started, but I did not see all of those collections. From what I have seen, I really liked Achilles’ collection, which is his first runway debut, I would definitely like to highlight that. 

For MFW, on the first day already, Gucci was extremely strong and desirable with their menswear collection. I loved MSGM! Prada had a solid collection as always. I would also mention Fendi, which had a colorful and detailed showcase of the new collection with many accessories and a variety of different silhouettes. Emporio Armani had an extremely big collection and there were a lot of amazing looks that I adored. Overall, these would be the ones I would highlight in Milan.  

While in Paris, where there were tons more shows, Rick Owens was undoubtedly one of the main highlights. I love the collection of Dries van Noten as well, it was very strong and beautiful. I really liked Egon Lab. Dior Men had one of the best collections; Kim Jones designed for the brand so far, in my opinion, it went from ready-to-wear to couture throughout the showcase. Also, the new collections of Hermes and Valentino were quite cool. My favorite collection in Paris was LOEWE. 

What were the trends you noticed on the runway for the fall-winter season? 

There were so many. It was a very strong season overall with some incredible collections and some not-so, but there were many details that could relate to trends.  

What we have seen throughout, in one of my other favorite collections from Acne studio, also seen in the JW Anderson collection, and multiple other collections – including Givenchy – were cat prints. As a cat owner and lover, I’m very happy to have seen this come up as a trend. Another trend I noticed was the variation of caps and accessories, jewelry with multiple necklaces, for example.  

One of the main trends that everyone has been talking about is extensively long coats. For footwear, nothing specific stood out, of course, boots for fall-winter, but there was a variety of different types of shoes as well. I would also like to highlight a new type of fabric that a lot of designers have been using, imitating fur-looking coats or outerwear, which was not faux fur, it was a new type of fabric played with. 

Ties. Prada made sure that the ties were in focus, which a lot of other brands did as well, so I feel like ties are coming back into season. To go into bags, I would like to mention that a lot of brands have been showcasing a lot of tiny bags or extremely big bags; so, the contrast between those. Still an ongoing trend are crop tops and high-waist pants. I think that would summarize the trends I would say for this coming season from my point of view. 

What brand surprised you the most with their collection and why? 

I will say MSGM in Milan. Why? I was not expecting what I saw on the runway. First, the show was presented in a metro station, which was cool to begin with. The collection was just so playful, modern, sexy, and formal. It had so many diverse components that I feel are very relevant at the moment, from the fabric choices to the cohesiveness to the color palette, it was something that I would wear and would love to see displayed in my magazine. 

If you compare Milan and Paris shows, what do you think are the biggest differences? 

It is kind of hard to answer this question. Obviously, Paris has more shows you can go to, so there is a lot more going on, there are more collections to adore or appreciate and you get more impressions. In general, Paris has more brands for men that are based there or brands that are French, but also international brands that are showcasing there. So, all these things I have mentioned are what distinguishes the two.  

There were a lot of different colors and materials on display. Which ones do you think stood out the most? 

For the fall-winter color palette, we have all the colors that are commonly used throughout the previous years and for the coming years as well. From black to gray to beige to white and brown, there was a lot of brown this season. However, it was probably one of the most colorful seasons, especially for fall-winter collections, there was a lot of green, burgundy, red, and blue. There was a range of different fabrics, from leather to faux fur to cashmere to literally almost everything. In terms of fabric, I would not really emphasize any, I would focus rather on the extremely colorful collections. 

We saw you wearing some amazing outfits. Do you have a favorite? 

Naturally, for fashion week you want to wear cool outfits. Not only for Fashion Week, but for sure then it comes to mind more. I wore quite a few cool looks; I was dressed by Givenchy and AMI PARIS, as well as Balenciaga.  

I would say the Balenciaga look was extremely special because it had double pants. You have to see it in the pictures below, it’s hard to describe it in words, but pictures will show you exactly what I mean. The pants were really high-waist denim and then the jacket, which was truly the most special piece, was made out of leather pants. You can see the details on the arms and the back and front of the jacket. Plus, it had extremely oversized shoulders which truly made a difference to it, and I really loved wearing it next to their accessories. The whole look itself was very cool and modern.