New York – On day 2 of New York Fashion Week: Men’s, designers displayed how
traditional men’s formal offerings have evolved.
First off, Mr. Joseph Abboud opened up the morning shows, and he brought
Milan and Paris level patterns and detailing to his exquisite suiting
pieces. There were floral patterned suits reminiscent of Alexander McQueen,
effortlessly tailored blazers, and well-fitted trousers in the
predominantly neutral colors of grey and brown.
Abboud also showed us that men have way more for them going now in the
realm of formal wear versus just a black suit, white shirt, and black tie.
Creative design is now at the forefront of men’s fashion offerings, and
suiting has transformed to emphasize a designer’s creative eye. This show
marked the brand’s first return to the runway in 15 years, so he had to
make sure it to pull out all of the stops.
As the opening show for the second morning of New York Fashion Week: Men’s,
he really set the bar for the day, but there was certainly competition to
be had.
John Varvatos’s presentation in the evening displayed his taste for the
darker more gothic inspired side of fashion, and seemed like something
straight out of American Horror Story. There were dummies with the heads of
animals like horses and rabbits on them, all while adorned with the
designer’s patterned suiting, signature leather jackets, leather pants, and
even a floor length cardigan sweater.
One of the signature looks of the night was a burgundy suit with svelte
black lapels that dared men to not be afraid of color in their formal
offerings. While the collection put a lot of focus on the dark and gothic,
even Varvatos sees that in men’s fashion and formal offerings today, there
has to be room for a bit of color.
At first, it seemed a bit too dark for John Varvatos, whose theme for the
show was #RockIsDead and #LongLiveRock Going for darker, edgier, more
gothic side of fashion did him justice though.
This season, Zachary Prell was in the realm of brands who were trying to
fuse comfortable trends with more formal offerings. Knit sweaters and
simple button-ups were very prominent in the collection this season. While
many other designers were going for very fitting silhouettes this season,
he had a more relaxed look to his that would be very fitting for the
younger gentleman. Think about the type of man who would’ve picked up a now
defunct copy of Details, because that is definitely the guy for this
collection.
The younger stylish gentleman of today doesn’t necessarily want the most
fitted silhouette for his trousers, and a bit of breathing room is
necessary for that type of customer. If that’s your style, Zachary Prell is
your guy.
The brand, which added former Hugo Boss executive Chuck Lucia to their team
last year, is continuing to elevate their offerings and position themselves
as a lifestyle brand.
The designer of the day who was in need of some serious polishing however
was Brett Johnson. While the looks in his presentation did look very
wearable, there was almost no cohesiveness. One second you would be looking at
trousers with a fedora hat, the next you’d be looking at a red suit that
looked like it was on Pharrell’s potential looks for the Grammy’s.
A photo posted by Brett Johnson Co. (@brettjohnsonco) on Feb 2, 2016 at 4:54pm PST
While the designer was clearly trying to think about the younger hip
customer, the type of customer that is buying Pharrell’s music on I-tunes,
the looks seemed to distant from each other, and lacked anything really
unique to help them stand out. If Johnson is going to really make a name
for himself as a designer, he will first have to figure out what he is
going to design that won’t look like like 50 percent of what’s in mid-level
department stores like Macy’s when he is retailing at high-end department
stores like Neiman Marcus.The award for originality for the day would have to go to General Idea.
Designer Bamsuk Choi is a master of small details with elements like zipper
detailing on sweaters, eccentric embellishments on sweaters, and leather
moto jackets reminding us that minimalism doesn’t have to mean boring. Choi
is one of the several designers this season bringing more Asian street
style influence to the American market.As New York Fashion Week Men’s rolls along, we’ll see how else men’s wear
has evolved this season.Photos: via Fashion GPS, Vogue and John Varvatos Facebook