White Mounterneering. Men's Fall 2020 - Paris Fashion Week

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

Yosuke Aizawa is the collaborative master, with slew of well known companies under his belt as White Mountaineering X deals, he is also a prolific fashion designer who continues on setting a standard for the outdoor, formal/causal styles of the urban adventurer. Which was one of the past trends of 2018 that has been overshadowed by the tailored, thrift mix and match, suiting styles going into 2020.  The recent showings of all the Fashion Week men's Fall collections have maintained the masculine aspects, with experimentation at times of softening or at least obscuring the lines of traditional male styles, which is warranted, particularly when a creative director of a iconic fashion house is able to achieve this with a finesse.  However, Aizawa, with his own brand, has kept in line with his benchmark styles of the tough and hardy male looks, which has included his flair of subtle prints, layering and stylization of the urban agonistic in all of his paradoxical cues. 

Climate change of our cities will not just bring long dry and hot summers, but also harsher winters, outdoor attire does not mean a homogeneity of styles, but rather, under environmental consequences an adjustment of aesthetics.  Which in turn may reflect newer ideas of wearable materials, to which Aizawa has always utilized, particularly with his collaborations of the Gore-Tex fabric companies – a layered and breathable material, that at times can be inflexible in styling into an garment, yet it can be cut back into less insulated styles, while setting it onto an array of vests and sleeveless jackets. 

Aizawa's Fall 2020 collection has embraced the floral and neutral tones as a base for the coverall color palette mixing in some interesting fabric combinations like polyamide, wools and denim, seen with muted camouflage patterns - enabling Aizawa to create subtle cloud like imprints onto  some of the pants and jackets.  Yet, the struggle with bunched up fits ala heavier synthetic materials can be a hindrance, more so when a brand tries to formalize into runway looks.  White Mountaineering is a fashion label beyond any adventure wear company and you can see with the overall collection Aizawa has attempted to tame the outwear styles, to create a more streamlined look.  He has also had the models wear hanging necklaces of ornamented trinkets.  I feel this is great to see jewelery used as an accessory via fashion designers, adding that extra dimension to their collections.