Soulland

Soulland showed for the first time at the Paris men’s shows, beefing up the Scandinavian fashion quotient to three after Vibskov and Acne. This season's collection was inspired by the Leonard Cohen poem ‘The suit’ (read below) –and in more ways than one. Designer Silas Adler played with the symbolic meaning and seriousness a suit can give the person who wears it. Moreover, the collection literally included a suit, the first in Soulland history. "The poem by Cohen is about the thin line between the well-established, mature and controlled versus the need to break free" said Silas Adler. This particular mood influenced the collection, which had more mature items such as trenchcoats and blazers than ever before, without loosing the Soulland touch. The suit being the ultimate item within menswear, it conveys a strong symbolic power and authority and it requires a very high level of craftsmanship. Apart from working with the poem and using the title in a very direct way, the designer also used it as a way to get a direction of where he wanted the collection to go, trying to make a collection that looks more mature but still has the youth and playfulness that Soulland also represents. With slate gray short suits, classic two-button ensembles and more casual reinterpretations of gentlemanly attire (including the Soulland version of the Texan tuxedo-long denim tunics for boys), if we had to be locked into a three-piece, then Mr Adler’s offering plenty of options. Thanks.