GAMUT. Men's Spring 2020 - Paris Fashion Week .

(Images from the designer and the public domain. Credited to the photographer/company where applicable: WWD )

I have always found collectives, particularly in fashion design more or less a launch pad for the said designers to move on at some future point despite the early connotations of non verbal (and non binding) agreements, that, in lieu of the idealism, usually ends in some sort of rift.  Cynicism is necessary here as the term 'collective', apart from some way ward university socialist tinge, in the business world – doesn't work that well unless there is clear understanding of positions within the business structure.  High interest repayments on credit lines, overheads, taxes and bills.  The reality is harsh and as a mistress at times painful.  Yet, the idea holds merit on paper when it delivers a moment of shared values, but it is the individual that reigns from enduring, which can be daunting for so many inspiring young designers that have lived through the insulation of academia, it is when they leave  these institutional confines are the lessons of a brutal awakening. 

Gamut is the newer of Parisian brands formed in 2017 as a collective of 6 French designers, split equally between three men and three women, all maintaining a mysterious cue, in an apparent self funded venture that also relies on social media crowd funding – in the truest sense it is a independent brand.  Admirable, when utilizing a cross section to finance the product, yet, over time, if they gain transaction as far as the selling of their designs it may morph into a more serious venture. 

Gamut are producing some very interesting styles.  There is a slight Vetements second hand store fusion, that either looks like it has been ill fitted from a Thrift store in some anti-fashion stand or in Gamut's direction a more fitted and professional stylization without the hype.  Which is important, as the thrift shop mix and match styles are now running front and center on the runways moving into 2020.  However, there is some confused tediums that, as seen with the Gucci 2018 show when they tried to pull an amateurish post graduate in-joke, which was quickly restructured thereafter, as challenging convention (via billion dollar companies) is tiresome.  Gamut seems to be, at this point in time, tied to the residual immaturity of visual shock value (they're fresh out of University).  But, through process of continuing to learn, if they last the distance, may refine the brand into something unique.