Romain Kremer Paris AW10 review for Dazed Digital

http://www.dazeddigital.com/Fashion/article/6396/1/Romain_Kremer_AW_10-11

Romain Kremer has made a name for himself during the last few Paris seasons as being just about as avant garde as anyone can be. A year or so ago we saw neon dresses on his catwalk, and his spring summer collection boasted body socks. So of course everyone was surprised when what came out on the Garage catwalk on Sunday afternoon was, you know, wearable!


Fairly sporty and casual fabrics and silhouettes in beige and black dominated. Sure, Kremer played with the length of his tops, making some of them very short. But that was adjusted with trousers with a high waist. After a while we launched into a section with stronger colours; turquoise and bright red shone a bright light from the catwalk. But the clothes were still not too extravagant. Mostly they were long jackets and coats, all of them collarless, track suit-looking bottoms and great jackets with subtle leather details.


Towards the end, though, Romain Kremer couldn’t resist the temptation to shock us a bit. Out came – first in the shape of jumpers – a plastic fur fabric. Soon the coat version followed. Most models also wore sunglasses that also functioned as a protective plate for their foreheads. Everyone – those who craved a more mainstream direction and the ones who cherish Romain’s undeniable individuality - left satisfied and fulfilled.


Dazed Digital: It was very wearable compared to previous collections!
Roman Kremer: Yeah, I was just in a situation where that was possible. I have always wanted to develop the collections in this way, and now I could!


DD: What inspired you?
Roman Kremer: The transformation from wool to plastic, from matte to shiny, human to robot and flesh to machine.


DD: What was that plastic fur on tops and coats?
Roman Kremer: It’s a special development we did for this season. It’s fake fur made out of Latex.


DD: What’s your favourite piece from the show?
Roman Kremer: The sunglasses!

Romain Kremer SS10 Dazed Digital Review/Interview

The term ‘directional menswear’ were just about invented for Romain Kremer’s designs, and even though he had powerful adversaries on Sunday evening – extreme heat and a severely delayed schedule – he managed to captivate his audience and kept them focused to the bitter end. He did this by creating a grim and futuristic vision of a world where masks have to be constantly used for protection.

Of course, the next model wore swimming trunks – still with mask – so no one doubted that there would still a time and a place for fun in the future. And that is just what Kremer is good at; fun. At the end of a hectic week, this was just what the doctor had prescribed; shutter sunglasses, layered fabrics that was cut out to form circles, strong tones of purple and red, lighter tones of mint and white. Dazed & Confused own menswear editor Robbie Spencer stylishly put the show together, and the pair actually managed to make some of Kremer’s outlandish looks wearable – we all need swimming trunks, but let’s hope the masks will not be necessary any time soon! Dazed Digital had a quick chat with Romain after his show…

Dazed Digital: What was the idea behind the masks and body socks?
Romain Kremer: It was about exploring, but also protecting us from, the toxic world we live in.

DD: What materials did you use?
Romain Kremer: It was mostly Lycra, I often use a synthetic fabrics.

DD: Which piece is your favourite from the collection?
Romain Kremer: I really like the last look. The model wore a blue grey outfit with a mask that had a white top half and white ears attached to it!

Backstage photography by Steeve Beckouet.

PARIS IS BURNING

You know that scene in The Devil Wears Prada when Meryl Streep AK47 Anna Wintour talks sense into a giggling and, apparently, naïve Anne Hathaway.

She was laughing at two belts that looked identical to her and got a lecture on the importance of fashion and how that Yves Klein Blue Dorothy Perkins (insert any American cheap, ugly, boring and what-your-mum-wears label) top she was wearing have been a few years in the making. More exactly since Babadim used that colour for his AW0304 collection and Babadom showed a similar fabric the season after, or something like that.

Her conclusion: catwalk fashion matters because colours, fabric, hemlines and other details will find its way in to your (and Hathaway’s) high street wardrobe. And she’s right, of course, but what ever you do, don’t tell Romain Kremer that!



I’m sure Paris has been used and abused before. Fashion Week, and especially in the French capital, is often used as an excuse to impose scary, horrible and revolting fashion statements on us. We accept this, or at least learn to live with it, because of all the beautiful, inspiring, wearable and gorgeous things that also come out of it. But, by God, this has to stop.



Let’s hope that none of Kremer’s colours, fabric, hemlines and other details will find a way into our wardrobes. Why?

A. Not many look good in dresses made out of pantyhose fabric.
B. It looks even worse when they come in fluorescent pink, green and yellow.



And look at Kremer’s protective American Football gear. Obviously, Romain bats for the other team, but that’s no excuse (see what I did there). Bernard Willhelm has been equally inspired by American football in the past and even though you won’t find me wearing it, I can still appreciate his imagination and craftsmanship.



A catwalk collection must always have a few show pieces to keep the audience interested, and fair enough, Kremer had my attention – but for all the wrong reasons.