Embellished Men: Wooyoungmi RTW Fall Winter 2009 2010

It's not often that ornament finds its way into the halls of menswear. Recently I've been speaking a bit towards the effect a hat, or lapel emellishment can have on ones overall look. After the Milan and Paris shows, its patently clear that menswear designers are moving towards a decorated male image in spite of other more sobering trends, men's accessories are stretching into a territory not explored for decades. Woouyoungmi showcased all of these emergent features in beautiful hats and lapel pins in her collection which bridged Korean folk culture with modern streetwear.

Another significant trend: capes. They're all over this season,and Wooyoungmi put them center stage with a variety of militaristic capelets in leather and wool, cut in a variety of styles. They added graphic contrast and provided a clear canvas for detailing.

The show is not perfect, the first look down the runway bore no connection to what followed, but the collection has a lot to offer for a variety of settings. The designer also continued the movement towards sensible double breasted suit jackets but paired them with leggings. It wasn't a look many men will risk at the office. A pair of trousers with a elasticized ribbed knit cuff.

Gareth Pugh To Helm Dior Homme?

The blogoverse is rumoring that Gareth Pugh, who has just only a couple of days ago released his first menswear collection may soon replace Kris Van Assche at Dior. Exciting news for the young brit and his fans. Fashionisto culls from Grazia and EDerek Blasberg that LVMH is ready to shake things up It couldn t come at a better time for Dior as it becomes clear Van Assche is not finding his footing with men's collection which started out rocky with his 90s hip hop obsession and has gone nowhere since. Except to retrace, unconvincingly the steps already trod by Hedi Slimane. Dior Homme became sadly dull under Van Assche.

Pugh would be a major break from that cycle in a way that LVMH hopes would mirror the strange success of Galliano for Dior's womenswear, bringing fierce artistic vision to push the the line forward. While Galliano's aesthetic is retro-costume dippinging into fashion's past, Pugh is one of the few names consistently building futurist worlds, though to differing levels of success. He always brings drama but wearable clothes are rare. His first men's collection, seemingly inspired by Hellraiser, is dangerous and dark. Leather pieces embellished with pins defy the rules of comfort. The makeup is a bit haunted house, but Pugh shows rare shapes for a men's show, and also an array of beautifully strange quilted coats. The most desirable being the trench displayed above, though others compete for attention with bizarre sharp shoulders not unfamiliar to fans of Pugh.

What do you guys think: Can Pugh take on Dior Homme?

McQueensbury Rules in Motion

In case you haven't seen it, here's the video to McQueen's great Fall 2009-10 show. Watch it quick before its taken down again, eh?

Rick Owens RTW Fall Winter 2009 2010

Drama Queen? Rick Owens prefers that label over Goth. That label fits uncomfortably the expressive hand present in every look of his Fall 09 collection. Where's the drama? There are searing hot leather jackets here, true to Owen's rock roots, though even there he contorts shapes. Every look is storied, layers of black shift around the figure in all glamorous textures. The clarity of his voice is found year after year on the catwalk.

The boots: slouchy, yet agressive. Necklines fall to mid torso, warmed by handsome fur scarves, or cloaked within one of Owen's beautiful coats. Duvet coats. Crock print coats. The fabric falls asymmetricallly that way, slips this way for a wrap-style jacket. Owens claims Brancusi as inspiration for his work. That reference makes a great deal of sense in the floor length tunics. The rise of simple verticals, columns of black, cut from space, is a persistent image. A large gold crown hangs at their neck. Brancusi's instructor Rodin likewise stands as a source, given the rigidly sculpted male form of the show.

WTF: Raf Simons RTW Fall Winter 2009 2010

Okay, its settled. When the shows rap up in Paris, I will dedicate several posts to this feeling of disappointment and vicarious embarrassment. Disappointment is nothing new to fashion followers, students, designers, sellers, or buyers. We funnel it into catty repartee. Disappointment pays bills for critics ( though not the blogging sort usually). However, when someone like Raf Simons shows you an unremarkable suit paired with a hideous sneaker something is fucked up. There is no amount of cynicism that can compete with the jarring images of these clothes. You feel the pinch.

I was going to share an elaborate illustration involving a suffocated kitten, then I thought perhaps a more apt description would point towards the haphazardness of the collection, but I think I'll save my energy and vitriol.

The sleeves are the only thing that carries visual impact and for the most part they didn't work as tacked on features. Much more salient was the two tone concept. Even in neon it looked clean and smart in a conventional slim sleeve but it was overpowering in the voluminous versions.





No comparison between this and that.

Blaak FTW Fall Winter 2009, 2010

The Blaak man (sorry) will be wearing a tribal look this year. Sachiko Okada and Aaron Sarif have been steadily building the house year after year, incorporating evocative references in details, and providing collections full of wearability. This years show developed a tribal flavor; a shamanistic, and occultic narrative. The looks are nicely complemented with coherent accessories.



Did you notice the studs? It might remind you of Prada's collection shown a short time ago in Milan. A poster on FashionSpot pointed out a striking similarity between Prada's collection and Blaak's Fall 2007 collection which included studded shirts and pants. Well, have a look yourself...



Time for a serious question: does Miuccia Prada hate Blaak people? Yes or no?

A New Look: Yves Saint Laurent RTW Fall Winter 2009 2010

Stefano Pilati returns this season without a trace of the seventies art world playboy of last year. But the sensuous has not been supplanted with a utilitarian sheen, bell-bottom trousers are succeeded by generous long shorts cut to reveal just a hint of calf. It reminds me of a statement the designer made when first joining Saint Laurent...

Calves are a devastatingly undervalued body part. They are so beautiful. Women, at least, can wear skirts. But we have to wear our pants long, long, long. Why?

Color-wise there was a beautiful silk shirt in rich plum, which also the jackets, a house staple. A bold elated blue overcoat paired with a similarly hued plaid flannel shirt. But color as we have learned this season is an extravagance not to be expected. Most pieces are charcoal, black, and white.

Accompanying the show is a video starring Michael Pitt (who still appears as he did in Last Days as Kurt Cobain), in which the actor is admired offscreen by a female speaker. The erotic element is a subdued force of tension between classic pastiche and youthful grunge gesture. The restrained sexual energy is framed by respectable architecture but beneath the surface it threatens.

Does the show have the same slow burning, slow stewing effect of a dark romance? There is an admirable riskiness to the collection but whereas past collections elevated the YSL man to opulence and bygone glamour this show shifts towards a new direction with quieter luxe details and a harder palette.








All images via WWD

Op Art: Hugo by Hugo Boss RTW Fall Winter 2009 2010

A little optical illusion for Fall? While Moschino opted for a bit of french surrealism tromp d'oeil, both Raf and now Boss have been exploring more German wells of inspiration. Though while Raf drinks deeply from Weimar, its a topic he has mined successfully for years, Boss's attempt with Op Art and industrial new wave is rather uneven. Delivering a black and white convection of lines which throw off the eye more than invite a curiousity.



A note should be made at this point, though the topic will be addressed later as I gather the dominant trends for the season. Suddenly everyone is doing capes. Burberry, Etro, McQueen, and now...Boss? Now I love capes, but I'm wondering if the general buyer will want to throw one over his shoulder, and his client's. There were some notable pieces in geometic patterns, a series of taut angular jackets, like a hard edge bolero, and series of knot-less ties also piqued my interest.

Alexander McQueen RTW Fall Winter 2009 2010

Even with the painful memory of SS09 still fresh on my mind, little could temper my enthusiasm for an Alexander McQueen show inspired by Jack the Ripper. The runway was ashen gray path lined with Victorian streetlamps. What walked down that aisle is a true show, something lacking so far in Milan. McQueen presents beautiful suits in black, grey wool, a variety of checks with narrow shoulders and slim fitted trousers.





There were great seperates; fantastic shirts in stripes and plaid. One might want one of each waistcoat shown in plaid, gray, and muted checks, but also fawn over the leather version, and a vest transitioning, like Jekyll into Hyde, into a jacket and then into a cape. The knitwear has its own story: Robe-length cable knit sweaters, one slick waxed sweater, some tattered shawl collar cardigans fastened with leather weave a story of security gained by brute force. The shoes and boots are gorgeous. Several monkstraps were shown in black and antiqued leather. The boot with twenty plus eyelets is seductive. Tying all the looks together is a wide range of homburgs in every earthy color with pinched crowns.






















It was a show that had a lot to say about the violence of male power fantasy. McQueen explores the erotic violence even to the point of being crass (brocades symbolized both blood and semen), the butchery of western pioneerism, and sportsmanship (as a craven eyed boxer arrived midshow). Through this morose, yet decadent, meditation McQueen proves that producing an appealing and wearable menswear show can also be provocative and fun, and that's a tradition worth revisiting.

Images via The Fashion Spot