It was Plein Time in the Allianz Cloud arena tonight. Around 4,000 Plein people—with many more left pining outside awaiting the after party—came to this late-night but not too late running show. Plein came out at the top with his ten-year-old son Romeo, and apologized for the delay. Then he said: “This is the 25th anniversary of Philipp Plein… The reason why we exist is because of you, our clients. You have been with us since the very beginning, and this is something that makes us so powerful in the market today. We are a family company: I have two sons, with another coming in a couple of days, and you are all part of the family. So thank you. Now enjoy it!”
As Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” fired up, the first model walked through the stationary carousel in the pit’s center wearing a cropped tailored jacket and miniskirt with a bubblegum graffiti print, over Swarovski-plastered platforms. The crowd whooped as the first of a phalanx of talented roller disco dancers rolled out in rainbow paillette dresses and tracksuits and sporty underwear and jeans and T-shirts, throwing shapes on their LED-illuminated urethane wheels attached to Plein sneakers. As the bangers played on—“Take On Me,” “99 Red Balloons,” “Walking On Sunshine”—a candy floss collection that was high energy and straightforward to process played out.
In menswear some surprisingly unbejazzled tailoring (which Plein says is his fastest growing mainline category) was complemented by more typical fire-lapel tux jackets, biker pants and jackets, Miami-style sets, and intricately battered and blinged denim. Womenswear contained most of these accents, and added old-Cavalli butt-skimming minis, ruffled boudoir frocks and fitted knits. It was gaudy, and it was kitsch, and it was knowing. It was not for some. However, as the chair-dancing crowd demonstrated, it is for others. Plein’s anti-fashion fashion show ended with his cast spinning fast on that carousel, lifted way up into the air, clearly having a blast.