CHRISTIAN WIJNANTS CHANNELS HIS ADOLESCENT YEARS FOR FALL MEN’S COLLECTION

by Stephen Garner

As memories have served as the thread connecting Christian Wijnants’ most recent collections, his winter 2021 menswear line was no different as he narrowed in on his adolescent years, revisiting them with a whole new outlook.

The patterns this season tell this story, referencing stripes that Wijnants’ remembers from his father’s ties, reimagined in various ways; exaggerated and manipulated, seen as a magnified stripe on a two-tone turtleneck and patterned for a checkered trench coat. The knitwear introduced mohair pieces, a first time for the brand, along with jacquard jumpers that reference Pointillism, the use of the mouliné knit technique in chunky separates, and the ottoman knit, a twist on a traditional rib pattern that is instead horizontal. The color palette varies from deep tones of Bordeaux, dark navy and forest, to icier brights, amethyst, sky, and teal.

The collection finds a balance between leisure and sophistication, ease and tailored, exploring the growth through those prominent years of childhood learning. It is curated and thoughtful, offering a narrow selection of silhouettes, produced in a variety of patterns and fabrics, each taking on its own identity. The same classic shirt is produced in both silk and viscose and trench coat in cotton and checkered virgin wool.