After braving the year-long pandemic, the American designer (and Givenchy’s new creative director) Matthew Williams is now yearning for some form of change. Enter the new Fall 2021 collection for his own lauded label 1017 Alyx 9SM, exploring the oh-so-familiar formalwear and utility tropes but with a lot more color than usual — fire engine red, to be exact. Don’t get me wrong — the blacks and pastel-colored neutrals so well-liked by the brand’s founder still made an appearance (it is still Alyx, after all) but they didn’t have as much of a presence as they usually do, that’s for sure.

Continuing on the familiar theme of celebrating the individual and promoting freedom of identity, the new co-ed range from the house challenges and redefines the codes of traditional wardrobes, both men’s and women’s. From the EVA-soled slides and mules adored by Gen Z superstars to shape-shifting takes on puffers, parkas, body-con dresses and suiting, the entire collection reads like a collage of genre-bending classics — adorned with new hardware developments and industrial buckle accessories, as per usual.“Alyx always keeps evolving the same silhouette and the same materials. The hardware is consistent,” the designer told Vogue. “It’s a stripping-back to where we began, and defining those codes again, and making them more consistent and solid. Because we weren’t doing a show, we wanted to reduce it down to exactly what was needed.”

With his fabrication-focused design methodology, Williams is championing something that will very likely re-shape the fashion industry in years to come. In addition to helming Givenchy, he is also working with Moncler, creating one-of-a-kind capsule offerings for their Genius line. In essence, it’s all about merging the conventional dressing codes with progressive values most appropriate for our time — something that has been a theme in many menswear collections as of recently and will hopefully continue its evolution in seasons to come.