NEIL BARRETT FALL WINTER 2013 MEN’S COLLECTION – MILANO FASHION WEEK

Structure. Texture. Precision. Those are the lynchpins of Neil Barrett’s fall/winter 2013 collection, inspired by the purity of the Bauhaus movement.

Translating the Modernist ethos into menswear, Barrett strips away superficial ornament, the seams and the cuts of the cloth forming the only decoration. The intersection of the curve and diagonal is key, an exercise in geometric and mathematical exactitude in design.

The collection revisits the aesthetic foundations of Neil Barrett, the purist cuts and Minimalism of the early nineties. The classic men’s overcoat is reworked alongside the sweatshirt and blouson, sportswear staples reconfigured with razor tailoring to function as casual or formal wear. All fastenings – buttons, zips and velcro – are concealed, another nod to the notion of Modernist purity.

The outerwear fit is slightly oversized, holding itself away from the form with underpieces fitted. Tailoring creates controlled volume, internal belts drawing fabric against the body. Shoulders seams are dropped to create emphasis, contrasting a rounded, emphatic torso with a skinny leg. Stretch jersey tailoring accentuates the attenuation.

The palette is strict: black, off-white, tobacco, charcoal, vibrant red and every shade of blue from darkest navy to pure primary. Colours are blocked diagonally to contrast or used tonally to highlight the tactile texture of fabrics. Those include lasered fur, mohair, finest nappa, ponyskin, velvet and sweatshirting, and a multitude of wools, from pressed astrakhan wool and fur-like Casentino through melange, rubberised finishes and compact, felted layers. Fabrics are bonded together to give seamless structure, a raw edge revealing the internal layers and creating graphic stripes to outline a garment.

Footwear is precise and hybrid: a single boot, a single shoe, both with a technical interior, crafted with precision and finished with a metallic toe-cap. Accessories continue the juxtaposition of textures through cuts by combining different precious skins – such as leather, python, ponyskin and ostrich – in a single Modernist surface.