SOLID HOMME FW23 Wants You to "Enter the Void"
Reximing traditional prep with contemporary cuts and graphics inspired by Spanish Basque artist Eduardo Chillida.
Inside the 19th-century ballroom of Élysée-Montmartre, Woo Young Mi’s SOLID HOMME sent an old-meets-new Fall/Winter 2023 collection down a runway that rejected any semblance of linearity. Steeped in darkness, models traversed a pathway filled with unexpected gaps and obstructive appendages, lighting up the set with each step to instrumental techno sounds. Exuding a liberated attitude, the walkway’s intentionally-broken cadence is a metaphor for the line’s breaking from tradition — a theme that permeates Mi’s FW23 designs, under the apt moniker “Enter the Void.”
Inside the collection, Mi reprograms nostalgia with a modern design language, updating the label’s Bauhausian base with illustrations inspired by Spanish Basque artist Eduardo Chillida. At large, vintage prep gets new life: tops reach mid-length across cardigans and outerwear and wide-set pants adopt curved silhouettes, while letterman jackets and boat shoes curate a true varsity wardrobe. Collars go high, covering models’ faces, and beanies are layered for the drama — both offering contemporary takes on otherwise traditional style tropes. In the details, zipper pendants and collegiate lettering, inspired by Chillida, put the period after prep.
Antique textiles, including bicolor and washed corduroy, moleskin, velvet, Casentino wool, chenille, tweed, and homespun, offer an eclectic mixing of textures across layered ensembles. Accessories are made with the same fabrications, too. For Mi, who became the first female designer in Korea to make men’s ready-to-wear upon founding the label in 1988, the collection is a testament to her pioneering efforts in masculine style.
SOLID HOMME, launched in South Korea, initially capitalized on a wave of economic expansion that aligned with the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, which ultimately transformed the imprint into a leading menswear brand in the country. The label thrived in its native market for almost three decades before expanding its catalog to global customers, thanks to COO Caroline Kim, who led the brand’s movement into the worldwide market upon taking the position in 2013. Now, on the Paris Fashion Week stage for the third time, it’s evident that SOLID HOMME has succeeded.
Take a look at the SOLID HOMME FW23 collection in the gallery above, and discover more Paris Fashion Week FW23 content on Hypebeast.
Elsewhere, HOMME PLISSÉ ISSEY MIYAKE steps into a technical world for FW23.
