Clean, Clear & Abstract

The eyes always react to pattern and color, but lately designers have been arousing the senses by exaggerating proportions in silhouettes that are interesting in beautiful and insouciant ways. Nicolas Ghesquiere @ Balenciaga always seems to build on ideas that extend beyond the mere conceptual novelty and stimulate fashion intellect by challenging what we "think"we know about design.

The variant proportions of the topcoat (above) combines the dexterity of street wear and the formality of gentlemanly essentials. As Spring roll outs are preparing to ship to stores worldwide it's exciting to know that there is something to look forward to for a change.

We saw a lot of skins covered this Fall/Winter in every market so expect more of the same in the form of theoretical updates for Spring/Summer 2011.

A very simplistic yet disfigured stripe (pants, shirt) takes on the exotic qualities of an animal skin by delicately pairing positive & negative tonalities for a superlative graphic effect.

*Style Note

"Menswear is looking to overemphasive the mid-section with visibly dramatic belting added above the waist & to outerwear."

YSL: Paris in Spring 2011

Fashion Week NY is right around the corner so I thought I'd trump the situation and report Men's Spring/Summer 2011 which showed way back in June 2010.  If you were't thinking about Fall all summer then you may as well bundle up and forget about it, because the Spring 2011 collections are casting as we speak.

Fashion is always desperate for something new & YSL always rises to the occasion to appease the anguished style enthusiasts around the globe.  This collection is a fraction more contained than usual in comparison to the languid silhouettes presented to us in the past few collections.
Jackets cinched & tied with the standard male elegance of a sash feeling of a cumberbun.  Smart and tailored if you're rocking washboard abs & a  30 inch waistline.  This look is definitely on the stunning side and reserved for the gauzy guys who put the skinny in and on the RTW convention.
As usual, Stefano Pilati (Head Designer YSL), is right on the mark with the latest in textile innovation with the unbalanced feeling of an abstract plaid.  It creates a casual mystery of texture and color that adds a quiet subtlety to bold idea.  
The color palette is chic and functional and will prove to have a long wearability factor with the stylings of today's modern man.

VICTOR GLEMAUD: Knows Modern Men

Clean, graphic, fresh, timeless....and NEW.  Victor Glemaud puts sexy into summer .  He has delivered The Look is that is shockingly appropriate.
Above the knee is the new men's mini that is sure to draw attention to the fact that, its very "OK"for a man to look alluring and in some cases, beautiful.
 In regards to heat, for those events where the weather is extreme this season, a neutral palette paired with minimal graphics is a necessary look as well as it is a  charming and debonaire one.

So 60's...so 80's.......so RIGHT NOW!

Gucci Pants

Since taking over the house, designer Frida Giannini has taken the Gucci brand in a much more leisurely direction for the luxury consumer. This season she took a whimsical idea and intertwined a serious textile pattern with sophisticated colors to create looks that are distinctly her own in menswear.

The subdued floral wallpaper pattern (above & below) is a subtle tropical scenario that plays on a masculine yet romantic theme for a look that will turn heads. The idea of mens trousers playing host to a print is a novel idea in the market place, but Gucci is quickly putting an end to that age old concept and hopefully making it commonplace.

"New But Old"... Is The New "Old But New"

The Kris Van Assche Collection Spring 2009, is like opening your grandfather's vintage cigar box and finding a fresh batch of gummi bears. A well designed vintage floral stripe (above) has given Spring foilage a growth spurt. Noticeably, a refreshing yet masculine take on the floral trend that is gaining momentum in the men's market.

The abstract watercolor board shorts (above) are a fun and sporty twist when paired with a well tailored jacket.The choices to pair the old with the new seem to click in a way that relates to the metropolitan"fashionisto" who wants to be appropriately hip and stylish.

Notable: The Runway presentation also had a "fannypack" (below) and a "tote"(bottom) stamped with this same print and it gave this show just the right amount of iconic zest that's missing in mens fashion. These are must haves for the "guy-on-the-go" whose day requires him to carry more than just keys and a wallet.

Play A Classic Please

Just like a favorite Rock-N-Roll tune, John Varvatos cranks out recognizable ideas that appeal to the nostalgic persona and the rebellious type. Traditionally, etoile is story telling on fabric that connotes a classic reverence and marks definitive moments in textile history.  Above, an ordinary pair of trousers takes a dramatic turn down memory lane for a juxtaposed feeling of rebellion and Varvatos style.

Remaining true to the more regal qualities of this print, B. Michael(above) creates a more subdued interpretation by using it to give his classic tailoring an intricate sense of male elegance.  From opposite points of view, both designers were able to take an obviously archival print and play it on an updated silhouette to make it relevant to their respective customer bases.

A Look & A Jacket

Living in the era of "casual chic" it is imperative to find a balance of being comfortably appropriate and at the very least, dashing. It is very possible to pump a little personality into your Spring looks by adding some texture to the basic black jacket. Below, Comme de Garcon delivers a horizontal variable by printing the illusion of tie dye for a play on convention.

At Alexander McQueen, "extreme chic" is always the inspiration. The hombre feeling applied to the jacket below instills a sense of fearless style for the adventure seeker in all of us. This technique is nothing new, but, the vertical application is eye-catching and is among my favorite interpretations of this trend.

Make It Pop.

Sometimes.... it looks a little adventurous or maybe even a tad bit retro when prints are incorporated into the today's male wardrobe. It is, however, becoming more prevelant for men to show just how masterfully they have harnessed the ability to stylishly accessorize a look to garner fashion points on the style meter. 3.1 Phillip Lim is perhaps the season's runway favorite daredevil to defy convention. The house constantly reinvents the laws of design by overlooking the principles of proportion and creating contemporary formulas that are up-to-the-minute decrees of trend for the new-fashioned man. On this already great suit, we see just how powerful the hint of a pattern tranforms an ordinary look into a quiet statement that calmly whispers, "I have style!" This brand of expression and stylish tailoring is already taking a global and definitive stand and will hopefully govern mens design for years to come.

Him, Her, She, He........

Sometimes it is rather obvious that a print is either male of female simply based on the elemets used to render the overall layout. For example, butterflies & flowers tend to tell a feminine story while sports themes & stripes have a masculine appeal. However, the abstract side of things seems to be a prevalent look for the past couple of seasons and is steadily gaining momentum. Several brands have indoctrinated the policy of runnnig prints that have only one distinction of gender, the colorway.
This brand of merchandising is seen mostly in the European market where basic prints are brought to life by a sophisticated color palette that adds a twist to the typical metropolitan silhouette. Patterns are surfacing in the most precarious ways lately as designers are focused on giving the customer more options to express style and personality.