GANT BY MICHAEL BASTIAN SPRING 2013

The scene, imaginatively at least, at the latest Gant by Michael Bastian presentation was the Galapagos Islands. «It’s so funny, because everyone’s saying, ‘When did you go to the Galapagos?'» Bastian said. «The answer is never. But sometimes your idea of a place is even better than the reality. I did see the documentary on BBC America, which I encourage everybody to watch.»

Bastian dreamed up a pair of young backpackers making their way through the islands, dressed in a combination of their preppy best, their new island finds, and the technical gear necessary to weather the clime. That new technical gear, in the form of nylon windbreakers with Aertex linings, represented the newest category addition to the label. As for the rest, it was the better-than-basics it has been for several collections, with highlights including the camouflage cargo pants, knits (like a reversed Fair Isle), and Baja hoodies with South American motifs. Bastian has been designing the line for several seasons now—seven, precisely—he said as he surveyed the scene. It was meant to be one or two. 

That’s a measure of the sweet spot he’s hitting, as well as the good time he’s having doing it. No wonder he chose a voyager theme. «Gant’s like my vacation,» he said. «There’s never a very heavy emotional subtext to it; it’s just cool clothes.»

RALPH LAUREN SPRING 2013

You may never walk a mile in Ralph Lauren’s shoes. You may have to walk a mile to Ralph Lauren’s shoes. A fashion spectator, invited into Lauren’s sweeping Madison Avenue showrooms, has a long journey ahead of him. The trip through the worlds of Purple Label, Black Label, Polo, and RLX—plus the Jeans iterations of at least a few of the preceding lines—seems to encompass at least one city block. Bring your hiking boots. Or borrow a pair of those on display.

First, Purple Label, the toniest jewel in the RL crown—the chairman of its board, if you will. The highest rollers won’t be disappointed by the three-piece tailoring and tailcoated evening options, though they may be surprised to find them newly snug, thanks to a slimmed silhouette. The sportswear offerings have been much expanded, from floral pants to hazard orange, bonded slickers, for the CEO who peacocks when he’s off the clock. Or perhaps just in acknowledgment of the fact that today’s CEO isn’t necessarily hoary. This is the age of the Instagram millionaire.

At Black Label, the story is brown. It’s the label’s new neutral, and it looks great against the country club pastels like lilac and sea foam that are RL standards. The Black Label denim gets in on the story, too, in weather-beaten sand tones.

ARTHUR SALES (SOUL ARTIST)

Polo is more relaxed, the college boy of the bunch, with natural shoulders and softer materials to match. The RL team has begun to mix it in with the technical-sport RLX collection, a move that’s brought a bit of freshness to both. The vibe is Outdoorsman in the Off Hours—which translates pretty directly to Men’s Fashion Editor in the On Hours. Leave on those hiking boots, in other words, but put on your blazer, too.

ZERO + MARIA CORNEJO SPRING 2012 MENSWEAR

CLEMENT CHABERNAUD (WHILHELMINA)

YURI PLESKUN (REQUEST)

 

PERRY ELLIS SPRING 2012 MENSWEAR

SEAN O’PRY (VNY) 

PERRY ELLIS SPRING 2012

Remember when the only men who wore capris were stylish Euros? Well, these days American guys are a lot more style-savvy. «I knew I was taking a risk with the capris,»Perry Ellis‘ creative director, John Crocco, said post-show. «But we had a few capri options for men in stores and they were selling really well, so I thought, Why not?» 

FRANCISCO LACHOWSKI (FORD)  

Cut cleanly in sand and white linen and ending a few inches below the knee, they were a nice companion to the salmon, mustardy ocher, and periwinkle jackets and knits. The colors were inspired by his recent travels to the Painted Desert in Arizona. «It’s about the traveler, the road trip meets safari,» Crocco explained.

SEAN HARJU (SOUL ARTIST)  

With plenty of linen, cotton, and an intriguing chintz-linen blend, plus roomy uncomplicated cuts, there was a pleasant, airy feel to the collection. Crocco added some approachable tailoring touches, such as suit trousers that hit at the ankle and a handsome white-on-white seersucker sport coat.

DAVID AGBODJI (REQUEST)  

When he did venture deeper into trends—a couple of color-blocked sweaters might look cheekily right on a svelte downtowner, but you could see the potential for disaster in the wrong hands—it was with a likable, gentle nudge most shoppers will likely respond to.

GANT BY MICHAEL BASTIAN SPRING 2012 MENSWEAR

DAVID AXELL (CLICK)

Hawaii, not Manhattan, is officially the island of New York fashion week. All right, perhaps not officially, but it’s above and beyond the preferred destination this collection season. Add Michael Bastian to the luau-loving bunch, even though he has never actually visited the state. «What I know of Hawaii is from watching the Brady Bunch shows from the seventies,» the designer said at his Gantpresentation. «But sometimes your idea of something can be even better than the real thing.» Bastian’s dream combination of Hawaiian fever and seventies love translated into a hippie-dippie version of all-American classics. 

Even the models were cast with Marcia and Greg in mind. «This collection is about being happy and fun,» Bastian said, grinning ear to ear. «It’s about what you can throw into your bag for a summer weekend and just go.»

FRANCISCO LACHOWSKI (FORD)

For women, there were sweet sundress renditions. One saccharine frock had embroidered watermelons, smocking on the bodice, and straps that tied into floppy bows. Another floral-printed version was more attractive, if not for its roomy tunic fit, then for its nickname: the «Drunk Mommy dress,» Bastian called it. But it wasn’t only girly girls who were catered to. Tomboys also had options, in a rainbow-striped vest and cargo pants.

RODRIGO CALAZANS (NEXT)

Predictably, the men’s designs were stronger. Denim, in candy colors, was nicely tapered and rolled just above the ankle. Camo, amped up in red, was layered in with the requisite Hawaiian flower and tiki motifs. Bastian also showed a knack for tweaking rugby shirts with agreeable details such as an exaggerated contrast placket, or lacing instead of buttons. Swimwear, though, was where things really got fun. A pair of pink swim trunks with a hippo print was merry enough for both Maui and East Hampton. Meanwhile, one beefy male model seemed to be wearing nothing but a mint green Gant logo cotton tank top (if you looked closely, you could see tiny swim briefs underneath). If anything, it brought plenty of smiles all around.

ELIE TAHARI FALL 2011 MENSWEAR

Alert the Commander in Chief: There’s been a military leak. Thankfully, it’s mostly of blankets. The iconic stripe covers favored by the armed forces have been exerting a strong influence on menswear of late. Styles inspired by them turned up at Iceberg, at Tommy Hilfiger, and again this week at Elie Tahari. The label’s creative director, Kobi Halperin, at least, has a better claim on the style than most. «I was in the military,» he explained during a presentation at the Tahari showroom. «It’s nice to be turning a very dusty and unpleasant experience into the beautiful glamour of fashion.»

Military influence in menswear is nothing new, but here it was managed ably. In a palette of tobacco, charcoal, black, and gray, tailored takes on army gear predominated. Stripe details, often in mixed materials, appeared on vests, work shirts, jackets, and as tuxedo piping on flat-front, slightly tapered pants. Outerwear is one of Tahari’s strongest men’s categories for sales, and two car coats—one in that dusty tobacco, with a contrast collar, another in black, with contrast leather sleeves—were worth saluting.

DNKY FALL 2011 MENSWEAR

DKNY opted to present its latest men’s collection on a brigade of models at a pawn-shop-cum-restaurant on the Lower East Side. The setting was baroque, but the clothing was, for the most part, streamlined and austere. The palette didn’t stray far from cityscape colors—concrete grays and silver, dusky slate blues—that lent focus but left the whole a little light on spark. «Modern military» was the theme of the season, expressed by the panels of nylon trimming polos and sweaters and the polyurethane coatings that lent outerwear an all-weather sheen.

BUCKLER FALL 2011

Give him points for showmanship: For his Fall 2011 presentation, Andrew Buckler shut down an entire block of Soho and walked his darkly dressed boys through the street. (Apparently, getting approval is a long, rather than difficult, bureaucratic process.) The setting was important, Buckler said after the show, because of the theme of the season: the artists «using the streets as their medium to communicate messages.»

No more of the 1930’s German students who’d occupied him for Spring, in other words. And none the worse for that, really. The mostly somber color scheme put Buckler way afield of many of his compatriots in menswear this season, but basic black isn’t bad business. Neither is repeating what’s worked before—specifically, a long, layered silhouette, anchored by narrow pants, some skinny through the leg; others with more volume up top before tapering around the knee. They came topped with long, cabled cardigans or tailored jackets that ranged from the casual cotton slub to a few more refined tux options in wool gabardine.

The clearest hint of any street-art style was in the blast of highlighter yellow that came near the end, in paneled jeans and a blazing parka. And like street art, they had an aggressive insistence—even a welcome sort of vulgarity—that the well-behaved rest seemed to lack.

BILLY REID FALL 2011

When we last left Billy Reid a season ago, the Florence, Alabama-based designer had scooped up the GQ/CFDA Best New Menswear Designer in America award and was short-listed for the CFDA/VogueFashion Fund prize. Now he’s taken that one, too (and in a competitive field, which included Prabal Gurung, Altuzarra, and other big names). Last season, Reid showed in a bustling room on the eighth floor of Milk Studios. This time it was the penthouse. Hard not to read a little something into that.

The man’s star is on the rise, and he knows he’s got more eyes on him than ever before. Make no mistake: He didn’t disappoint. The menswear on show was classic Reid: masculine suiting mixed with more workmanly pieces, cut on the slightly looser side—a little rope in the shoulder and a slight boot-cut to the pants. Reid’s fabrics are those of traditional menswear: wool and tweed, camel hair and moleskin, cotton and cord. He’s not above a luscious (if subtle) flourish, like a formal dinner jacket in un-dyed velvet, but his aesthetic is masculine and untrendy. Like the designer himself, it’s tried-and-true.

Reid did himself a service by refining the Southern twang of his show, which always resided as much in the spirit and the staging of his work as in the clothes themselves. That even extended to the set, pared down this season from the mud-and-all Alabama haul-in antique doors and weathered floorboards he used to use. Here, the sparer environment refocused attention on the clothes (including, for the first time in a Reid presentation, a few women’s looks, which had a slinky appeal of their own).

The one potential quibble is that the offering might have been a bit too tried-and-true; this wasn’t a season marked by change. But perhaps that’s just how Reid needs it to be right now, given that plenty of the visitors dropping in are playing catch-up to his work. (The South, where he has several stores, has been on the bandwagon for years.) Reid showed the best of what he does tonight. But here’s the tricky thing about the spotlight: Next season, people will be clamoring to see the next twist in the tale.

GANT BY MICHAEL BASTIAN FALL 2011

Gant is a historic American label—full name: Gant of New Haven—but the second-act success story of its revival owes as much to the Swedes as to the WASPs; it’s now Nordic-owned. The label’s dual citizenship gave Michael Bastian a jumping-off point for Fall. «We’ve been spending so much time in Stockholm,» he explained. «We really wanted to celebrate the two sides of Gant’s life: the whole U.S. heritage, but also now this cool, modern, sexy Scandinavian thing that has crept into the label in a big way. What you’re seeing is a hybrid of America and Scandinavia.»

The individual pieces—sport coats, parkas, puffer vests, embroidered khakis, camo pants, and so on, for men and for women—are true-blue U.S.A. But the styling, according to the designer, comes from the Swedes. «Swedish winters are not for the faint of heart,» Bastian said. «It’s dark, it’s freezing, but somehow they manage to look cool, chic, and sexy while totally layered up—which is hard in a big parka.»

A big parka’s not the half of it. It wasn’t uncommon for looks to include three or more shirts, plus a coat, plus hats and belts, watches and ties, color piled on color, print on contrasting print. But take off any piece, put it on a rack, and you’ve got what smells like a sale. And, even layered nearly to the point of exhaustion, the pieces did have the kind of off-kilter, cocky cool that’s native to rambunctious kids. What sort, exactly? «We thought of the guy as part of a cross-country ski gang—which is kind of funny, because cross-country skiers don’t form gangs,» Bastian mused. «Then these girls were schoolgirls who were almost abducted by this gang.» Freedom fighters, meet the Winter Olympics. Stranger things have happened.