I had a father, I am a father. My father, like me, was Sardinian from Alghero, an outpost of Sardinia right in front of Spain. He used to have a fabric store, fabrics meant for every occasion. Occasions when it was important not to look but give respect.
Dresses for parties, for engagements and weddings. Baptisms and confirmations. Funerals and processions. The store was in the center of the ancient part of Alghero, Via Roma 56.
In the long and deep workshop, the fabrics were carefully rolled on wooden shelves. For every person there was a fabric , just waiting for the right time to be chosen, to be sewn and take shape and life.
I’ve always poked around in my father’s shop, played with combinations of colors and materials, observed attentively the skirts and shawls of those silent and determined women who came to Alghero from the country to buy good clothes for special occasions and for the work, stuff that would last for decades, wear- resistant and weatherproof.
I miss the boxes of handkerchiefs for men that were then embroidered with the initials for the lucky ones, perfectly ironed into four equal parts by patient wives. My father always put the handkerchief in his breast pocket, right next to the heart…
I have always rummaged among the collection of ties of my father, fascinated by the same form that was repeated in endless patterns no one equal to another. I think of my father always with a cigarette dangling from his lips, like an actor or a sailor.
I kept the pieces of fabric from the workshop of my father. I kept his precious meters of wood that were used to measure the length of the fabric purchased. The length of a meter as the notches carved into the wooden counter.
Four feet for a pair of trousers with turn-ups and ten more gifted for soft spots, for possible errors of little expert hands. One meter and 70 for a double-breasted jacket and a one and 80 for a coat…
When everything changed, when the fabrics have given space to tayloring, when thought and slowness have been replaced by everything- ready-immediately, rush, speed and urgency, the shop has been replaced by clothes boutique.
I have chosen some of the fabrics among my fabrics preserved as relics and works of art. I have reviewed and reworked them.
Blue and doubled cloths, polka dot corduroy, technical cotton, jacquard jersey necktie fabrics, tartan wool, micropiedepoule, felted gabardine, double jersey, multiflower printed cotton drill, neoprene, chevron wool combined with melange jersey, necktie printed micro-canvas wool, canvas microcashemere print wool, liberty printed poplin, Oxford.
Sweaters with necktie printed jacquard, English stitiches with saylor stripes, Ireland tufted stitches, panels punched with men’s fabrics and fur. Traditional colors of blue and gray, cord and aviation. Aubergine, oil.
Volumes: oversized pea- coat, carrot pants, jogging with drawstring. Sailor‘s coats, jacket with quilted sleeves. Reversible jackets, traditional vests and cocoon sweaters.
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Tags: ANTONIO MARRAS, ANTONIO MARRAS FW 2014-15, FALL WINTER MEN 2014-15
Wed, March 5 2014 » Fashion Blog
“I wanted to sprinkle a little magic dust throughout the clothes in this collection, highlighting the idea of sartorial daring and masculine confidence that is integral to my vision, bringing it a new level – says John Varvatos – While working with KISS on my new advertising campaign, I was taken by how much everybody, regardless of their age, loves them.
For me, it is the idea of the superhero, a man in disguise with incredible powers, that makes the KISS myth so enduring and appealing, and it’s exactly that mindset that I wanted to explore, adding a dash of fantasy to my work while keeping tailored finesse and elegance high on the agenda. The result is energetic and strong, for a confident man who dares.”
The collection is characterized by movements that create a revolving sense of surprise. The silhouette is slim and elegant. Jacquard silk tuxedo jackets are worn with stretch leather jeans; double breasted flannel suits sport heather silk lapels, for a new vision of the tuxedo. Craft is hidden from intruding gazes, like a precious quality: embroidery under the collar of a jacket, tonal jacquards on knitwear.
Innovative weaving and expert treatments give fabric a feather-like, animal quality on tailored coats. The shimmering quality of metal adds toughness and a shine: embossed silver calfskin is used on the blouson, or as an armor patch on zip-up jackets that draw a superhuman figure; silver sleeves contrast the cream body of a motorbike jacket.
Silver toggle closures punctuate the outerwear pieces as visual marks. A fluid coat made of washed calfskin and wool has a certain severity, while cut-out fabric feathers swarm on the shoulders of the slim coat, making it ready for the stage. This succession of contrasts finally settles on the winter whites of double breasted coats, cutaway suits and shearling coats with a refined and martial allure.
The color palette is nightly and shimmering, with sudden surprises. Black, charcoal, silver, grey, either matte or metallic, give way to heather and light grey and finally open up to creamy white. Fabrics are masculine, with a tactile quality: brushed wools, flannel, washed calfskin, feather-effect weaves, silk and cashmere yarns.
Accessories include massive boots with thick soles, brushed leather boots with a shimmering effect, black lace-ups edged in white. Portfolio bags sport silver toggle closures, while oversized totes are painstakingly crafted. Modified top hats and sterling silver jewels punctuate the looks.
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Tags: FALL WINTER MEN 2014-15, JOHN VARVATOS, JOHN VARVATOS FW 2014-15
Tue, March 4 2014 » Fashion Blog
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Tue, February 18 2014 » Fashion Blog
Dsquared² © Copyright 2014
#madlock Dsquared2 Men’s FW 2014
He’s a bad boy and it’s time to pay his dues. On the inside, confusion ruled by discipline with a glimpse into insanity. It’s a thug’s life, be tough, stay on the straight and narrow until parole.
Through the mad eyes of this bad boy, Dsquared2 takes inspiration for its fall winter 2014 collection from the unique world of a correctional institute. The unconventional influence lends motifs, colors and attire of life behind bars, via the uniforms of the inmates and those who patronize them: prison guards, psychiatrists, priests and lawyers.
The style story that unfolds begins with a simple cotton tunic and pants – mandatory clothes of someone being committed. Intense prison orange – the hue that makes escape difficult — quilted nylon teamed with worsted wool jackets fitted with zippers that converts into a new “pieces”.
Dsquared2’s DNA, mastery in denim and leather, are key to the hard knock life looks. Shades of indigo and black denim are given bleached out, destroyed and ripped treatments, cut into a jumpsuit, or straightjacket-style jackets, some trimmed with buckles, and paired with curved baggy jeans.
On the inside, clothes are a size too big. Taking cue from this look, the silhouette is bigger, but reinforced with structure through heavy masculine fabrics. Double-faced felted wools make sleek unlined patch pocket coats. Jean jackets are bonded with felted wool. Raw cut black and white long leather jackets take on a rounded fullness with spongy jersey bonded interiors.
Leather and denim are patchwork accents on classic wool suiting, in sleeves, front panels and waistbands. Rough boy denim is mixed with elegant pieces, a brushed wool teddy bear tobacco car coat, another long coat in graphic panels of Bordeaux, white and black silk and wool, and cashmere knits.
Rigid shapes crafted from black and distressed gray leather, the doctors style bags are matched with thick black squared eyeglasses of the institution’s psychoanalysts. Ankle boots are heavy duty style signatures of the inmates and their guards. With rounded toes in black, ochre and prison yellow leather and layered leather or rubber soles. Knitted short tuque hats add a tough guy attitude.
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Tags: DSQUARED2, DSQUARED2 FW 2014-15, FALL WINTER MEN 2014-15
Mon, February 17 2014 » Fashion Blog
Msgm © Copyright 2014
“WHAT IS TRUTH?” Asks Johnny Cash.
“DON’T LIE” – “I AM WHAT I AM” Answers the Vampire Weekend.
Music as inspiration. Songs hung on a mood-board.
“BEAUTY IS TRUTH”
Beauty and truth implied as looking at oneself in the mirror and reviewing what has been done up until now.
The iconic MSGM images are processed. Almost ruined, and become new images printed on t-shirts, sweatshirts and are also used as mohair intarsias.
The look worn by the models on the runway is photographed and printed on garments.
Beauty, as a concept and an inspiration.
“TRUTH IS BEAUTY”
Be frank. Be honest.
“I AM WHAT I AM” – FASHION NEEDS THIS.
The page on which to write this new story is made of marble. And marble is the new obsession.
“WHAT IS TRUTH?”
Messages and words on grosgrain, poplin, sports jersey. Phrases and poems about love. Words stolen from Sylvia Plath.
Everything is black on white. Sometimes on mélange gray. Like a piece of torn paper that becomes a shirt or a sweatshirt.
LOVE – FASHION NEEDS LOVE.
“YOUR LOVE IS MINE” on batiste.
“LOVE IS ART” on t-shirts.
“THE EYES CAN SEE WHAT THE MOUTH CANNOT SAY” as a new detail.
And the new logo craze ‘MSGM – F / W 2014’. The brand and the season.
Plus checks, flannels and cottons. Bombers and parkas. Everything is over-size.
Skinny pants and slim-line tuxedo jackets are the new tailored looks. Shirts with prints, logos or embroidery are worn like sweatshirts.
Gold and silver break up colors. There’s a lot of black. And a lot of white.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS THE MESSAGE – “THAT IS ALL”
“I’m a lover of fashion, married to fashion, and a fashion traitor. I express myself while I’m designing a garment, I write it, I write fashion more than I draw it.
There’s a lot of contrast in fashion, because we live in an era of rock, of airplanes, of strong emotions.
And fashion has to communicate, communicate, communicate all this emotion.
How I’d love to write a song about fashion. Because in the end, if I hadn’t done fashion I would have been a musician” – Hugues Le Bars.
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Tags: FALL WINTER MEN 2014-15, MSGM, MSGM FW 2014-15
Thu, February 13 2014 » Fashion Blog
Tue, February 11 2014 » Fashion Blog
Mon, February 10 2014 » Fashion Blog
