As well as British jazzman Yussef Dayes playing up in the bandstand—awesome—this Amiri outing featured plenty of performers from across contemporary culture who were here just to watch and listen. Christian Nodal seemed especially taken with both Dayes’s flow and Amiri’s show. We were back in the Jardin des Plantes. Following last season’s old Hollywood production, the designer tweaked his focus from screen to stage to build new medleys over his rapidly expanding catalog of house standards.
His big bandleader jackets were wide of shoulder and low of skirt, providing drape and movement down from high-tied shirt ribbons to mid-thigh on skinny-hipped bootcut pants. This silhouette epitomizes the 2020s remake of a ’90s movie about the ’50s approach that works so well for him.
Exploring the birth of cool (Miles Davis was mentioned) through a contemporary prism, Amiri applied crystal detailing over patterns on tailoring and knitwear. Embroidered florals were layered over tonal monogram print on camp collar shirts. Smart two-tone loafers gleamed with keepsake hardware. The intense pastel accents on knits and outerwear contrasted with monochrome, camel, and washed indigo. Amiri is not too shy to play his codes on repeat, and there were new versions of his drum bags and embroidered satin jackets.
Said Amiri: “We can sell clothes, which is great. But the goal for an artist is to create emotion. I want people to look at something and make them dream a bit.” Dreamy as look was feel: A quick backstage check confirmed the lightness and flex of tailoring that was the equivalent of a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air retrofitted by Tesla. It was fun to see the designer’s sons at the show, collating their own mixtapes of future-memories and codes.
