Inside a seven-story industrial building in Paris’ 14th arrondissement, Julian Klausner presented his sophomore menswear collection for Dries Van Noten. As guests took to their seats, the music of Japanese singer-songwriter Maki Asakawa filled the show space, her track Yo Ga Aketara – translating to When Dawn Breaks – was an apt title for a collection focusing on new horizons. 

This season, Klausner’s Dries boy was a graduate leaving home, embracing life in a new city, his wardrobe carrying the comforts of home. Exploring the attachment one has to certain pieces of treasured clothing, Klausner referenced father’s overcoats, jumpers adorned with brooches passed down through generations, the familiar feeling of an oversized parka worn since youth, and the cosiness of a grandmother’s knitwear. As per the show notes, Klausner said, “I wanted to explore the idea of coming of age. Not in a dramatic or romantic way, but praising the joy of new beginnings. The unfolding of possibilities; the naivety and the honesty of the first experiments with self out of the comfort zone… I was thinking of the emotion of being attached to a particular garment and the spontaneous ways to wear it.”

A study of contradicting proportions, the rigid tailoring of school uniforms met the slouchiness of a cosy winter wardrobe. Sharp pencil coats, tailored kilts and billowing capes reminisced on classroom dressing. Knitwear remained a constant, working from a vibrant colour palette of FairIsle, cable, striped and arygle prints, walking alongside padded patchwork jackets knotted at the neck and the waist. Muted shades of blues, browns and greys slowly melted into vibrant hues of pastels, particularly brought to life through the designer’s recurring floral motifs, printed out of polaroids. Iterations of gym bags, satchels and school bags were nonchalantly thrown over the shoulder, filled with reminders of home, a companion for the journey into adulthood.