Paris Fashion Week Men’s: Kartik Research, Bianca Saunders & More

WORDS Brett Staniland

As the curtains close on another stellar season of Paris Fashion Week Men’s, BRICKS regular contributor Brett Staniland shares his favourite Spring Summer 25 collections.

Kartik Research

While Kartik provided a subtle, soft and quaint show for Spring Summer 25, the spectacle featured powerful products and messages. The label’s designer Kartik Kumra leans into something many emerging independent creatives are discovering; the pursuit of excellence rather than growth and profit. Acknowledging that whilst money is important, it’s this pursuit that drives the artisans. 

Less of a show note and more of a rant, Kartik explained the identity of his young brand. Denoting the noise that ensued being the first Indian brand on the Paris Men’s calendar, the designer instead proclaimed the risks of building a brand based on a specific cultural identity. “While I do think the collections so far have been a real personal reflection on what it means to be Indian today, I can’t help but think that sometimes we lean into romance too much.” As he puts it, wearing an Indian brand shouldn’t become a gimmick, “I sometimes joke that India is the new Japan, in that foreign tourists can come for a couple months, take nice photos and make it their personality.”

AuraLee

AuraLee sits in an exciting realm of menswear in Paris amongst the other new but already esteemed Asian designers like Sean Suen, System, Sulvam, Juun J and many more. Whilst others have a certain classically Japanese inspired feel to their collection AuraLee sit in their own aesthetic. Colourful and playful, elegantly and smart, cute yet mature, the collection was expertly styled by Charlotte Collet.

The Spring Summer 25 collection took inspiration from the many characters you’ll find crossing a verdant park at any given time of day. This is a new and interesting take on what seems like a preppy style but with a lightness, sensuality, and greater volume. 100% cashmere knits were draped over the shoulders of check shirting and around the waist of flowy womenswear, beneath clean pastel outerwear. It looked easy and wearable whilst also being effortlessly cool. The short suiting came more elegantly at AuraLee than anywhere else, with a luxurious navy, long suit jacket with a beautiful roll on the lapel that finished lower than the shorts underneath, paired with a lace up shirt reminiscent of 50’s football shirts. Layered styling predicted precarious summer days, AuraLee proved it’s best to be prepared for any seasonal outcome. 

Bianca Saunders

Fresh from receiving the BFC GQ Designer Menswear fund in London, Saunders showed for the first time in 18 months. But it’s not been time off, “I’ve been working non-stop” she says. “It’s such a privilege to be able to show in Paris, and the reputation it has means I need to keep finding ways to make the brand interesting”. Whilst building a brand based on a specific reference or cultural identity may be risky for some, Saunders has been able to mix her heritage into the core of her brand whilst developing it into a story-telling tool based on craft and quality.

Her latest collection captured what she would depict as the tourists’ lense when visiting new places, inspired by Bradley Smith’s photographs of a Jamaican resort in the 1940’s. Titled “The Hotel”, Saunders played on the uniforms of luxury resort characters. She debuted a new amorphous ripple print, and an all blue sequin tracksuit, reminiscent of the Jamaican night sky. She spent time developing and refocusing her tailoring, adding new thought to the drape and silhouette. “The bags” for her are the stand out piece to the tourists’ eye, but the shoes captured attention too.

This season, Saunders debuted her first full footwear collection. Collaborating with the Portuguese Association of Footwear and Leather Goods, Saunders launched six designs including sleek modern mules, calf-length leather boots and square-toed knit slip-ons, a welcome new step into Bianca Saunders world. Flowing from previous seasons too was her collaboration with LVMH-backed deadstock platform Nona Source, reissuing overcoats and storm-wear from previous collections in new colours. A responsible and remarkable story well-told, and Saunders’ brand is still gaining momentum, despite the intermission.

LGN

“To be precise and radical, more and more radical!” is what Nouchi said to me when I asked what’s important to him now, given his clothing and runways are so recognisable, season after season. “We have less colours than before but we’ve developed better material. It’s about having texture and it’s important to me for people to see things they want to touch and have an emotional connection with”. This emotional connection transcends the clothing though, Nouchi has spent years showcasing to us that his brand is about family. His catwalks are filled with not just models, but footballers, actors, athletes, customers and indeed many friends strutting in support of one another. “I cannot even really call it a casting and we’re very proud of that”.

This season Nouchi landed collaborations in the form of footwear with Puma. Reinventing the iconic zig-zag strap Mostro into a sleek slip-on backless mule, an au pair for his dramatic tailoring. Further collaborations came with the leather by Ecco Kollective alongside Craig Green and Ottolinger, as well as art gallery Almine Rech on the jacquard working with artist Sasha Ferré which appeared in a dramatic red and black overcoat and single breasted suit, with a wide cropped leg and LGN’s signature tailoring cues. The tailoring for SS25 was particularly flowy and light but extremely sensual. Key pieces were a red, wrap suit with a shawl lapel and single button fastening, a black field jacket with an oversized shoulder, and a his & hers floor length white coat with wide butterfly lapels which flowed behind each model equally as sensual as it was striking.

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