The protagonist of Nehera’s fall menswear collection was the flaneur, a leisurely stroller exploring the city and drinking in its sights. The ready-to-wear collection was built around the character of the flaneuse, but given the state of the world, her roaming cannot be aimless, suggested CEO Ladislav Zdút. “Flan in Old Nordic means to wander with no purpose, but the ‘gastronomy of the eyes,’ which is how Honoré de Balzac translated that word, [doesn’t apply now]. We feel that people are forced to wander…because our usual certainties were unrooted,” said Zdút, referring to the current political situation. (It’s less than a day’s drive from Bratislava, where Nehera is located, to Kyiv.) “We are really shaken,” he added.
This collection outfitted the flaneuse for her travels with a focus on the outdoors and outerwear. A burgundy faux-leather trench was unbelievably light, and so-called urban button-front jackets with high collars were shown with water-repellent pleated skirts. Faux alpaca was used for a youthful jacket with a matching muff; it was one of the many soft textured materials employed in this collection, along with chenille knits and velvet. Tailoring, the house’s forte, was played down this season but put to good use in a double-face alpaca wool jacket with a fold-over pocket detail. A striking pencil skirt had a similar crease detail.
Playing on a wall in the showroom where the garments were presented was a short collection film in the form of a (finally requited) love story. Something similar was going on with the clothes. The same sharp double-collared wool twill coat shown for men’s appeared in the ready-to-wear; similarly, a charming animal-pattern sweater (representing a Slovakian species) was carried over to women’s. The idea seemed to be that just as collections can intermingle, so must people. Said Zdút: “We are coming to the conclusion that the only tangible value is, again, family, friends, and love, and we wanted to express that with this collection.”
