TranoÏ Paris Men's Fashion Week: New Additions, New Discoveries

Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, world of colour and light.

“…Colors are the children of light and light is their mother.”~ Johannes Itten, (1888 – 1967) The Elements of Color

2016 Tranoï Event during Paris Men’s Fashion Week

The scintillating Seine at my departure.

Tranoï team, during Paris Men’s Fashion Week, presents a strict selection of over 310 international contemporary and avante-garde men’s and women’s wear designers, and brings together representatives from over 30 countries to present their ready-to-wear, footwear, leather, jewellery and accessories at Cité de la Mode et du Design (CDLM), in the 13^th arrondissement, and again at the Palais de la Bourse in the 2^nd arrondissement. Note, the departure is far more appealing than the approach. For a good view of the Cité, see the Tranoï official site. This photo story of Tranoï Men’s 2016/2017 Winter Collection and Preview brings delightful new discoveries, and as you see here a beautiful new and iconic location in Paris that inspires colorful and interactive installations.

2016 Tranoï Event during Paris Men’s Fashion Week

Practical, informative and fitting for the ‘Dock’ theme. No delicate or fancy banners here.

2016 Tranoï Event during Paris Men’s Fashion Week

Still practical at the entrance to the event format …

Yet inside the installations are delightful, and the Starch Foundation, a not for profit incubation format to support emerging designers from Beirut, Lebanon, is presented as part of the Tranoï commitment to support emerging designers. Additionally, welcome the the world of parfum (perfume), another sensorial art to complement the creative world of design. Also, we will have a look at the ‘Iconic Italian’ contributors, as well as be pleasantly intrigued by the new contributing designers.

2016 Tranoï Event during Paris Men’s Fashion Week

Again fairly practical, symbol of masculinity – also entirely creative and appealing to curious minds.

2016 Tranoï Event during Paris Men’s Fashion Week

Worker’s well-worn blue jeans that almost always cost extra unless you create them yourself with effort and ‘elbow grease’.

2016 Tranoï Event during Paris Men’s Fashion Week

Eye candy display of form, color and texture represented by emerging designers ‘ creations entered in competition.

2016 Tranoï Event during Paris Men’s Fashion Week

… an interactive design tool, that changes the form of the article as one moves around in front of it; for example, if you spread your arms to the sides, the design sketch accommodates the newly proposed shape. One can see how movement affects the original idea, and therein aids practical adjustments. Starch Foundation, Perfume and Iconic Italian contributors – including a little honorarium to California, of course, follow.

2016 Tranoï Event during Paris Men’s Fashion Week

Starch Foundation crew, including designers, founder and designing architect for the installation. ‘Starch’ is pure, odorless, with molecular structure that holds form and lasts.

The annual program hosts a rotation of debut collections from four to six young designers. During the year, the collections are presented at the Starch Boutique in Saifi Village in downtown Beirut. Within the program, each designer is guided to develop his or her collection, and is supported with assistance in cultivating skills in communication, marketing, branding and public relations. Design related workshops, seminars and collaborations are included in the programme. This year, participating in Starch Foundation Programme, are Bashar Assaf, Eliemetni, Exocet, La Terre est Folle, (Joe Arida), and Nour Najem.

In speaking with three designers I learned that Bashar, center, also works with the Starch Foundation. His garments tend to accentuate the female body with sophisticated yet demure silhouettes, solid colors and clean cuts. His oversize collection this year includes subtle stitching to remind us to acknowledge the human body. In 2012, he was chosen as one of the Starch Foundation’s designers, where he produced three collections, “Metamorphism”, “Open Heart” and “Hallucinations”. The latter two were showcased at Fashion Forward in Dubai. He was also nominated by Elle Style Awards for “Best Upcoming Fashion Designer in the Middle East” that year.

2016 Tranoï Event during Paris Men’s Fashion Week

Nour explains to me that while she dreamt of entering the world as a fashion designer, and has interned with Elie Saab, Rabih Kayrouz and Caroline Seikaly, she hesitated, feeling a value-added soul-full component was missing. In 2014, Nour launched the Kenzah foundation, in parallel to her luxury fashion brand. Through this NGO, she works with talented artisans using overlooked craftsmanship with the hope of empowering women who come from underprivileged backgrounds. Nour is commited to having a sustainable, reliable and responsible company, and this engagement is part of the brands’ codes.

2016 Tranoï Event during Paris Men’s Fashion Week

La Terre est Folle (The World is Mad) is a distinctively designed body of eclectic products, including furniture, objects and clothing. Joe tells that his principal inspiration is influenced by his grandparents. The colours and patterns he finds in and around his grandparents home, are reflected in his designs. He exhibits an expansive playful and joy-filled spirit. He likes to imagine how his grandfather would be as a young man these days, and then is inspired to create his imagined spirit in clothing. His designs remind me of colours and patterns of exotic palms and florals, akin to the colour and form one might feel comfortable wearing in the Hawaiian Islands or Southern California. Indeed he dreams to visit and have is designs be appreciated in California.

Above, Yasmine Jaber (not present) presents a line of hybrid hand-bags appealing as much to craftsmanship as to 3D printing. She and her colleague, Morning Lau from Hong Kong, merge their two cultures and their shared love for nature and animals. Exocet is a union between fashion and technology, mixing traditional savoir-faire in working with leather goods and an avant-garde technique, 3D printing. The name EXOCET signifies a flying fish. The symbol reflects inspiration from the mythical metis of ancient wisdom and deep thought, and lends unbridled freedom to the spirit of the brand. The aesthetic representation emphasizes the great role that technology plays today, and reminds us that as technology invades our lives we start to lose our animal spirit.

Elie Metni (second from right) is the architect of the Starch Foundation installation. Elie studied architecture at the Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts (ALBA) where he is also a part time instructor, and he interned for a year in Switzerland, where he participated in the design of various projects. Elie constantly explores a project’s conceptualization by experimenting with materials and ergonomics. He believes that a project doesn’t end at the completion of its construction, but continues as the user starts interacting with the product. He co-designed the Orient Express, a café bar in Beirut that has been opened to the public since 2014.

It was a joy to meet these inspired, creative and devoted young designers participating in the Starch Foundation programme, and to learn of this organizational format that serves to incubate young talents. Thank you, Tranoï. À mon avis – in my opinion – exposure to people and places otherwise unknown inspires and illuminates life in general. I think these are (some of) the people here to do that. It feels like there is a functional spirit of devotion involved in the self-development of the emerging designers that includes consciousness of past and awareness of the future. This combination encompasses awareness of civility in society and in turn that ignites and sparks the same to the world in general.

On a lighter and more fragrant note, Parfum (Perfume) comes to make a debut in this season of Tranoï. The infinite inspirations for fragrances and the colorful and imaginative installations create a veritable playground for the olfactory as well as visual senses.

2016 Tranoï Event during Paris Men’s Fashion Week

Wild silk.

2016 Tranoï Event during Paris Men’s Fashion Week

Blue ?

2016 Tranoï Event during Paris Men’s Fashion Week

Ancestral Linen and vegetable-dyed leather.

2016 Tranoï Event during Paris Men’s Fashion Week

Somewhere, sometime, it is likely that one can identify the smell of ancestral linen.

2016 Tranoï Event during Paris Men’s Fashion Week

The history of perfume: just my style – the mad librarian – appreciating asymmetry.

2016 Tranoï Event during Paris Men’s Fashion Week

I just like this image: the scene, the scarf, the sac, the golden tones in triangular arrangement from the lit scarf to the golden highlights in the hair to the gold-tone perfume bottles, the center golden light in the frames, then the angular crossing red scarf of the delighted woman, to the red paraphernalia in the foreground, and the bookend blues from background to foreground at the right (One often looks at an image and rarely looks into it !).

…And Iconic Italians.

2016 Tranoï Event during Paris Men’s Fashion Week

Avant Toi, fabric colors and textures speak – the image. (carried by H. Lorenzo in LA)

2016 Tranoï Event during Paris Men’s Fashion Week

Giorgio Bratto, classic vegetable dyed lamb leather – soft and warm. Sorry for the lamb 🙁 (carried in LA H. by Lorenzo, Traffic, Robbins Jean, Ron Robinson)

2016 Tranoï Event during Paris Men’s Fashion Week

Roberto Collina, Roberto Collina company started as a family business in 1953, in Crevalcore, a manufacturing area near Bologna where the headquarters – a company-loft characterized by the atmosphere of a big country-house – is still situated.