Long derided for flashiness or faded grunge,
Los Angeles and a new generation of designers are bringing a new brand of
chic
to American menswear.
It’s only the second edition of New York Men’s Fashion Week, which kicked
off Monday and ends Thursday. But already the capital of American fashion is
recognizing that innovations on its runways often come from the West Coast.
Boutique brands CWST and Chapter have reinvented surfwear and the ska punk
looks of the 1990s. Refined streetwear labels John Elliott and Stampd —
which
has co-sign deals with Kanye West and Justin Bieber — as well as the casual
chic Simon Miller and Second/Layer are all bringing the “made in Los
Angeles”
vibe to New York.
“LA is having a big moment,” said Noah Zagor, owner of the multibrand
menswear store Meyvn in Chicago. “There is something about an ease, a
drapyness, a casualness, all things that are very appealing.”
It’s these qualities, paired with a palette of muted ochre, stone and sand,
that translate well to current trends. The menswear market is in
upheaval. There’s
no successor to the suit and tie uniform of the last century, and the
demand is for something that marries elegance with comfort and a laid-back
touch.
Designers in the California city are trying to meet this challenge with the
finest materials. “People are afraid to wear shorts in the wintertime,”
said fashion blogger
Jordan Boothe of ambitiouscommanders.com. But if “you have a blazer on top,
you have a pair of shorts and you have a pair of leggings and some nice
loafers… It’s still professional.”
These new looks owe much to the mild Los Angeles climate, according to
observers, but also exude a “California cool” lifestyle that meets the
expectations of an ever more demanding clientele.
“There’s something going on with menswear,” said Chris Stamp, artistic
director of Stampd, which he founded in Los Angeles in 2011. In 2015, he was
named one of the top menswear designers by men’s fashion magazine GQ.
“I’ve seen it over the last three to four years,” Stamp told AFP. “It
really started building up and now we are at the epicenter where there are
like major runway shows going down in LA and these bigger designers moving
in
like Hedi Slimane,” of Saint Laurent.
Designers who have held shows in Los Angeles include Burberry and Tom Ford
in 2015 and Louis Vuitton with its 2016 cruise collection. Saint Laurent
will
have a show Wednesday at the Hollywood Palladium theater, days before the
Grammy music awards.
Experts say the fashion boom in Los Angeles stems as much from the city’s
concentration of celebrities, whose social media influence is important to
brands, as its cluster of garment manufacturers and wealth of creative
talent.
Lower living costs compared to New York are also a factor.
“Lots of creatives are going to LA because a lot of them are stuck in
outskirts of Brooklyn” and are attracted to a more affordable lifestyle on
the
US West Coast, said Michael Stember, a “food artist” who divides his time
between New York and Los Angeles. “In terms of intellectual firepower, more
and more are finding a home in the LA area.”
And of course, there’s the attraction of something new and fresh in the
fashion world. Paris, New York and Tokyo are hubs of menswear innovation,
but
that’s not enough. It’s a great opportunity for the City of Angels to
shine.
“LA is just finding its voice,” said Zagor, the Chicago store owner. “It’s
young, it’s progressive and it’s easy. It takes in an influence of skate and
surf cultures, which is very streetwear-driven, which really has infiltrated
fashion to the fullest.” ( Prune Perromat, AFP)
Photos: AFP