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There’s something amazingly nerdy about Kris Van Assche’s work. Because he rarely works with historical or fictional references, but prefers to delve into social codes and the meaning of clothes, his collections are pretty much porn to fashion geeks, who can spend hours analysing every garment to pieces. Based on the meeting between sportswear and formalwear – a recurring discussion in the designer’s work – Friday’s KRISVANASSCHE show at Palais de Tokyo was the king of such collections. “It’s the literal meeting of different codes. It’s sportswear meeting tailoring but in a very confrontational kind of way. It’s about not being one and not being another, but deciding that you can actually be both,” Kris told i-D backstage. By literally sewing together the top part of a hoodie with the bottom part of a blazer, or the top part of a cable knit with the bottom part of a formal shirt, Van Assche pushed his message of versatile clothes as the future of men’s fashion, while playing with a two-tone element that, quite simply, just looked really right. “It’s really about ‘the clothes make the man’ and ‘you are what you wear’. Menswear is so full of rules, and I was thinking of this new generation, who don’t want to obey those rules,” Kris said. In working with defiance, Van Assche – always a quiet rebel – seemed to speak up in a louder and more explosive way that really suited him. “I really wanted it to be about positive energy. It’s really about choosing life, choosing to go for it. I’m tired of this depression mood,” Kris told i-D. “My very close friend told me I should be having more fun with my label, and that was actually the best advice I got in years.”
Text: Anders Christian Madsen
Photography: Mitchell Sams
