Breastplates and armors straight out of fiery battles. A medieval, romantic and dark atmosphere inspires Les Hommes epic Fall Winter 2018-19 collection. Tom Notte and Bart Vandebosch embark on an adventure across castles and coats of arms that does not fail to portray the urban modernity cherished at the heart of the brand.
The collection is rich in fabrics and finishing. Oversize coats and shearling jackets are covered in details. Knitwear takes center stage with contemporary sweaters replacing sweatshirts even in everyday looks; silk jacquard with heraldic graphics reinterpret traditional camouflage and features coats and suits that enhance its richness.
Recalling the harsh spirit of the armors, the focus on quilting and embroideries prepare men to their daily battle out in the city. Woolen cloth pants display oversized proportions. Evening jackets shimmer and elegantly reiterate the spirit of the collection. Relaxed shapes and wearability give the looks a cool daywear attitude. The silhouettes are rounded, extra large, straight forward and rely on extreme layering.
The color palette includes plenty of dark tones, ranging from black to autumn shades of olive green and brown and worn in an allover style. Accessories suggest references to the chain mail of ancient armors with helmet-shaped maxi pendants and elbow-long gloves with buckles and laces. Metal “LH” initials embellish baseball caps and ties.
All-white sneakers offset ultra dark looks.
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Tags: FALL WINTER MEN 2018-19, LES HOMMES, LES HOMMES FW 2018-19
Sat, February 3 2018 » Fashion Blog
A journey, a serene escape. Sunny places, some at times desolate, ablaze with light. Straight roads, motels, bars. Cleaned out like containers of a reflection. A flight forward to leave behind overworked meanings, weighted down by habit and use. A solitary road trip, traveling at a constant speed, no fast acceleration or abrupt braking, taking the position of an observer.
«It’s a collection of clothes that I like to call classic, basic, essential, necessary. It’s a vision of menswear that casts off the standardized definitions of recent decades and with the same elements creates a totally new dictionary and ergo wardrobe. That’s why I thought of basics that correspond to classics, all without limiting the clothes to the type of use deriving from standard definitions and meanings. I hope with this to compose a new way for men to dress, one free from the arrogant trappings of male dominance,» says Alessandro Dell’Acqua, creative director of N21.
Finding inspiration in an open reference to sunny California landscapes, the collection aligns the basics of a classic wardrobe: melton coat, straight pants, caban jacket, parka, sweaters, jeans, stripe shirt. Yet all the pieces undergo a transformation for they are rethought in the light, at once metaphorical and real, of a consciously-sought renewal, of a mode of dress that goes beyond both the rules of habit/social ritual and the rules of fashion/styling buzz.
The parka in tartan plaid or in heavy cotton has a plush padding. Knits deconstruct into thick bulky sweaters or into part-mohair part-chiné wool gilet vests. The shiny nylon bomber jacket plays a put-together game and shows up on the sleeves or back of a sweater. Stripe shirts sport small postcard appliqués or allover prints and crumpled effects.
Light melton coats have raw edges or neoprene linings, cabans color-contrast piping. Fine ribbons and bows serve for hugging shirt collars and pant belts. Bleached jeans are worn with shirts in the same fabric, for a fresh take on the Texas tuxedo. Classic style shoes and boots in leather or ponyskin get tweaked with a running sole. The plain or plaid nylon pouch-bag ideally captures a dynamic, practical nonchalant attitude.
This is a very self-aware young man made up of multicultural experiences, so much so that he is able to easily handle an American varsity image that while inflecting Ivy League composure factorizes an imaginative, typically Italian cultural adventure. To build a new masculine culture more attentive to the nuances and circumstances of life, to fashion that takes shape again and again over time.
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Tags: FALL WINTER MEN 2018-19, N°21, N°21 FW 2018-19
Sat, February 3 2018 » Fashion Blog
Field notes. Collecting impressions and sensations. Connecting sights, flavors and sounds. Intuitively.
Traveling across worlds: with or without moving. Spontaneously, automatically. Wrapped in a blanket, Masai sandals at the feet. Protected under overblown duffle coats. Enjoying the childlike pleasures of home-spun jumpers.
An innocent gaze, keeping the inner child alive. A plurality of stimulations, shaken and not stirred. In a lab, with a boilersuit. On the field, in a smoked and printed duvet. In the rain, in gigantic anoraks. Spoonfuls of zabaglione to strengthen the spirit with a sugar rush.
Detours along the lines of notebooks, diaries and states of mind. Slicing thoughts, cutting them up and putting them back together. The boldness of immediate gestures. Decorating oneself with little charms. Pushing a knitted cap on the head. Pulling neckties askew.
Journals intersecting journals, notes over notes of accumulated experiences, worn. Each object, a dot. Each eye, a path. Chinese brocades, Indian ikats, African stripes, English tweeds.
Naïveté and wonder. Surprise of proportions and disproportions. Micro, macro and everything in between. S, M, L, XL, thrown together randomly. Big feet and bigger sneakers. Frank Navin drawing over the surfaces parallel worlds inhabited by animals and objects.
Knowing no boundaries or distinctions. Accumulating endlessly, compulsively. Following no principles as the only principle. Heralding intuition as a state of bliss.
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Tags: FALL WINTER MEN 2018-19, MARNI, MARNI FW 2018-19
Fri, February 2 2018 » Fashion Blog
Snowriting
The brutalist premises of the Università Bocconi are invaded by snow, upon which models leave footprints, writing graphic paths as they stride. This engaging situation stems from SNOW, a collection of photographs of frozen landscapes created by artist Thomas Flechtner, who has been actively involved in the creation of the show space, giving a surrounding three-dimensionality to the eternal man vs nature dialogue.
Sartori keeps perfecting the path he has defined for Ermenegildo Zegna since his arrival at the creative helm, devising a modular wardrobe that seamlessly fuses sports and tailoring, indoors and outdoors, keeping the Zegna Couture quest for excellence as a frame. The silhouette is sharp yet soft. Geometric necklines and the carved ‘n curved lapels characterize the upper part of the body. The sense of precise ease is captured in the new ‘one 1/2 breasted’ construction: halfway between single and double breasted, it is used for jackets as well as coats with a nonchalant élan.
Traditional categories are mixed up and reshuffled. The duvet takes the form of a wool anorak, knitwear doubles as outerwear, while matching blousons and trousers are a rapid substitute for the suit. Painstaking intarsia draw details such as pockets directly onto the fabric: an expression of virtuoso pragmatism that carries in the jacquard fabric. Neckties make an unexpected appearance, worn as double-knot scarves. Throughout, adjustable hems give trousers decisive practicality, underlined by the sturdy mountain boots.
Fabrics are precious and supple: cashmere jacquard, compact mohair, brushed alpaca, wool and cotton corduroy. For the first time, even the brighter tones are present on the new Oasi Cashmere, which features an innovative sustainable dyeing process exclusively developed by Lanificio Zegna, where colors are obtained only from natural elements such as flowers, herbs, wood, leaves and roots, reflecting the principles and values of the Oasi Zegna. Also the color palette is inspired by the Oasis’s environment: a mix of neutral tones of edelweiss white, pebble grey, birch beige with notes of vicuña, bulb red, pine green and dashes of crocus purple, chanterelle yellow, azalea orange.
In keeping with the morphing of categories, “XXX”, as symbol of the manual craft of Ermenegildo Zegna Couture, is used extensively as a jacquard or a logo on clothing and accessories such as technical leather bags, backpacks and shoes, while PELLE TESSUTATM – the exclusive Zegna woven leather fabric – comes for the first time in herringbone patterns on briefcases and bags.
“I am interested in expanding traditional techniques, creating hybrid shapes that are apt for new uses, getting contemporary function out of traditional craft” says Ermenegildo Zegna artistic director Alessandro Sartori “We work around sartorial neologisms, which this season I have labeled with another neologism: Snowriting. Formal merges with informal in a sublime snowy scenario.”
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Tags: ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA COUTURE, ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA COUTURE FW 2018-19, FALL WINTER MEN 2018-19
Thu, February 1 2018 » Fashion Blog
At the airport. Ready to take off for the FENDI journey or coming back from one.
Coding, decoding and recoding the FENDI formula: FF logo, Pequin stripes, FENDI stamp, FENDI yellow are explored, exploded, spliced, collaged. This way and that way. Intarsia and gheronatura are brought on sportier ground: workmanship as another FENDI mark.
Luggage is on the conveyor belt, comfy shoes are on, comfy clothes too. In the suitcase, carry on, or simply on: roomy intarsia blousons, square jackets, ultrasound duvets; lounge suits, rubber anoraks, intarsia sweatshirts; striped shirts, glazed coats.
Everything is reversible: to double the use and to cut the weight of the luggage by the half. The FENDI remix: @hey_reilly takes it all, and turns it into a collage splashed onto clothing and bags.
Accessorizing makes the journey easier. A mini umbrella on the head; knit-backpacks, uberluxurious travel sets, as shearling suitcases; “wearable” bags, camera cases, mini bags for passport and errands; lounge sneakers and FF rubber loafers.
Finally, for last minute shopping before embarking, the rubber shopper bag heralding FF values in bold type: Family, Faithful, Freedom, Fancy, Fabulous!
The FENDI flight is now taking off.
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Tags: FALL WINTER MEN 2018-19, FENDI, FENDI FW 2018-19
Thu, February 1 2018 » Fashion Blog
