It was only natural that MCM Worldwide would present their clothes underneath a “rain room” style downpour. The 42-year-old South Korea-owned, German heritage brand is best known for their high-end monogram backpacks and luggage popular with millennials in East Asia (K-Pop stars like G-Dragon and CL are longtime fans), making them essentially a travel brand. For the past few years, their collaborations (Christopher Raeburn in 2016, for one) and fashion lines have shaken up expectations, because who doesn’t like to look as good as their luggage while on the road? Even Beyoncé’s latest video has her in a matching MCM bodysuit and hat combo.
Last Tuesday night in Florence, they presented a new collection of chic, unisex, travel-friendly clothing at Italian menswear summit Pitti Uomo. Travel and mobility always inform their collections, and this one, nicknamed “Luft,” the German word for ‘air,’ is no exception. Their plastic crop-tops could be worn in the rain of a cyberkinetic Seoul; long-line PC raincoats with straps fashioned after skydiving gear look like extreme sports for time travelers; shimmering technicolor T-shirts sparkle like rainbows over Miami waters; and flowing parachute cargo pants are as perfect for jungle walks in the Seychelles as making your way through Berlin on a drizzly evening on the way to Berghain. The “rain room” element accentuated the clothes’ all-weather, eco-friendly materials. At the finale, models danced under the rain and a soundtrack of sharp electro cuts—Herbie Hancock, Boys Noize, and Simian Mobile Disco. Of course, the models toted backpacks and duffels, some made from versatile honeycombed neoprene because for all this punky travel wear, let’s not forget we have to pack it somewhere.
