Sat, September 12 2015 » Fashion Blog
EMPORIO ARMANI SPRING SUMMER 2016 MEN’S COLLECTION – MILAN FASHION WEEK
FUSION
An encounter between different worlds. A blend of cultures. The East steps quietly into the West, transformed and transforming, with no hint of exoticism or ethnic nostalgia. The strongest concept in this ultimately urban collection is contamination, which manifests itself as an Eastern feel mixed with Western tastes.
Fusion means colours. Basic blue, grey, green and mud are tinged with teal; this is a palette characterised by a special shade of blue/green: myrtle green. Colours are natural and subtle, with shades of taupe, greige and sand, but no plain white.
Fusion means paisley; traditionally used in winter, for spring/summer it has been stylised to stand as a pure symbol on light warm-weather garments. Paisley is applied using four different techniques: digital printing for shirts and blouses, jacquards for ruffled jersey jackets, embroidery over a Prince-of-Wales type of fabric, and laser-engraving on outerwear, with small lasered patterns looking like all-over tattoos.
Fusion means trousers with one side dart, narrow at the ankle; jackets with small, pagoda shoulders and puckered sleeve heads, sometimes with lapels and slightly raised buttons that look as if they were drawn on. Washed silk V-neck T-shirts alternate with shirts featuring small mandarin or notched collars.
Fusion means fine materials, and no technical fabrics: wool, cupro, washed silk and cotton express a winning all-season approach to meet the needs of Emporio Armani fans around the world. Extremely light ‘featherweight’ nappa leather bonded with a georgette lining has a crisp feel to it.
Laser-engraved, 3D-effect leather is used on both outerwear and accessories. Ever-present backpacks are embroidered to create three-dimensional effects. Various types of shoes – including sneakers, sabots, and slip-ons – recall the shape of sandals. New, surprising oxfords come with a closed front and open back, with the foot held in place by a strap around the back of the ankle.
Fri, September 11 2015 » Fashion Blog
CALVIN KLEIN SPRING SUMMER 2016 MEN’S COLLECTION – MILAN FASHION WEEK
Spring 2016
Italo Zucchelli, Men’s Creative Director
Graphic heatwave. Introducing the men’s Spring 2016 Calvin Klein Collection. A dynamic interpretation of modern American simplicity. Quintessential menswear silhouettes infused with vibrant and energetic design details and grounded in relaxed utilitarianism.
Silhouettes. An industrial spirit pervades the collection, as traditional sportswear pieces are updated with customizable, technical elements. Outerwear, shirts and pants feature Velcro attachments – pockets, straps and waistbands – that can be interchanged or removed for added dimension. The iconic stonewashed denim jacket and jean are reinterpreted in engineered jacquard and bonded cotton for a modern, elevated iteration of the American staple. T-shirts inject a hint of spontaneity, with styles that are rendered in laminated jersey and metallic nylon or that display a playful palm tree print. Graphic, sleeveless t-shirts feature a striking multi-color wave design and are worn under transparent wool viscose sweaters. For evening, tuxedo pieces are mixed and matched; pairing pleated lapel jackets and solid satin pants with their classic counterparts.
Materials. A foundation of dense, textural materials – bonded cotton, engineered jacquard, compact twill, double faced silk satin, wool viscose – is balanced by featherweight silk, laminated jersey and nylon.
Colors. Natural shades of linden, boxwood, black and white serve as a strong base for the collection. The neutral palette is punctuated by vivid pops of crimson, hibiscus, gold and silver in the graphic shirts, which add depth and movement.
Accessories. Formal utility. The accessories for the season complement the collection’s key separates, with footwear, bags and visors featuring unique Velcro accents. Double strap sandals in smooth calf are offered in either high or low top styles and are worn with an engineered sport sock for a more sophisticated look. The brands signature backpack is updated with detachable pouches on each side. Classic aviator styles include a single, unbroken lens.
Wed, September 9 2015 » Fashion Blog
Wed, September 9 2015 » Fashion Blog
ANDREA POMPILIO SPRING SUMMER 2016 MEN’S COLLECTION – MILAN FASHION WEEK
With Spring/Summer 16, Andrea Pompilio delivers the 10th collection with his own brand and celebrates its first 5 years, an intense crescendo of challenges and achievements. Surrendering to a retrospective impetus, the designer has decided to mark this turning point with a spontaneous and instinctive collection. A sincere, heartfelt and distinctly personal statement, which aims to honor his design identity and creative roots.
The signature elements of Andrea Pompilio’s DNA are key to the whole collection. Unexpected colours, the bold mix-and-match of prints and patterns, horizontal stripes and checks; the ingredients are carefully blended to create a fascinating ‘harmonious chaos’.
This ‘weighted disorder’ is the natural habitat of Andrea Pompilio’s man: intellectual, elegant, an artist. Eclectic in playing with textures, lines and color, embracing contrasts which reflect the complexity of his soul. He exalts the delicacy of fabrics such as silk and crèp marocain: boxy shirts with contrasting collars, loose pants, t-shirts and tank tops with wide necklines and oversize parkas in iridescent tones. Still, he breaks their fluidity with the strict forms of cotton overcoats, leather biker jackets and tailored jackets with waffle textures.
He falls in love with sophisticated prints, a shower of small petals and an Oriental-flavoured revisited ‘camouflage’, but pairs them with the pragmatism of checks and horizontal stripes. His accessories combine conflicting shapes, essential sneakers with big gardening boots and oversized bucket bags. The extravagance of these matches describes his personality; a man who can effortlessly combine an acetate tracksuit with a silk scarf, just as he can harmonize contrasting feelings in everyday life.
Spring/Summer 16′s mood is indeed dominated by an overwhelming and ‘contradictory’ romanticism, which marks the collection with its constant duality: a nostalgic feeling that interchanges with a more irreverent and light-hearted one. The coming and going of such waves of pathos reflects the swing of emotions of each individual, oscillating between the bitterness of unfulfilled hopes and the sweetness of dreams to follow.
‘Love Me Forever or Never’ is the categorical imperative embroidered on shirts, T-shirts, tank-tops and outerwear, a sentimental request which embodies both passion and melancholy, but which retains a taste of irony in its graphic composition. A palette of soft, pastel colors pale pink, nude, lilac, baby blue is broken up by darker tones night blue, rust, olive but also by an intense lemon yellow, which demonstrates the sensibility for striking colours typical of Andrea’s aesthetic.
Mon, September 7 2015 » Fashion Blog
Mon, September 7 2015 » Fashion Blog
Fri, July 3 2015 » Fashion Blog
MOSCHINO SPRING SUMMER 2016 MEN’S COLLECTION – PITTI IMMAGINE FLORENCE
We put the frenzy in Firenze. To mark Jeremy Scott’s first contact with Pitti – the crucial crucible of must-wear menswear – Moschino presents a high-speed collision of past and future. Point of impact? Now.
Think Valentino Rossi meets Fred Astaire. Imagine Staying Alive spliced with 2001: A Space Odyssey. There’s a sniff of Jimi Hendrix, a dash of Prince, a soupçon of Louis XVI – and a whole lot of Scott.
Points of commonality? A dedication to display – seriously playful peacocking – that’s only heightened by the elegance of Scott’s refusal to acknowledge the pigeonhole-categories of codified menswear. Smart vs informal? Just not normal.
So, display. Think of the stylised sponsors’ badges of honour that are worn, skin-tight, by the petrol-head warriors of Moto GP. Crash that image into the tailcoated insouciance of old-school eveningwear.
Then take it back, pre-industrial, to unabashedly decadent ruffle and kerfuffle of 18th century masculine power dressing. Factor in brocade, candy-stripe, and cartoonery. Then lay it over right-this-minute streetwear silhouettes.
In 2016 there is nothing to stop you wearing whatever the hell you want – except its availability. This is not about more pocket squares, more deconstructed jackets, more athleisure, more meh. It’s Moschino, baby.
Tue, June 30 2015 » Fashion Blog
Tue, June 30 2015 » Fashion Blog
CORNELIANI SPRING SUMMER 2016 MEN’S COLLECTION – MILAN FASHION WEEK
MORE THAN DETAILS
It is the art of tailoring which dictates the rules for Corneliani, even when they are overturned. While rigorous construction and exquisite materials – cotton, linen and silk through to the results of the highest textile technology – remain untouched, it is the volumes which are fashioning a new language.
At the heart of the revolution lies the body’s centre of gravity, sending out concentric waves of elegance with opposite meanings. They are instantly embraced and taken to such heights of sophistication and synthesis that only the faintest hint remains of the original dichotomy: there are whispered tribal echoes, as seen in the neo-Prince of Wales patterns and flattened matting effects, and in the trousers with outstanding pleats, a nod to the sarongs worn by ancient man. More than a mere accessory, the longer waistband which clinches the waist becomes a frontal structural feature which celebrates the return of the high waist.
The same non-conformist rigour is found in the new suit, which now comes with Bermuda shorts too. Supremely elegant pinstripes trace vertical lines on linen designs, creating a degree of lightness which only the independence of inborn class can afford.
Trench coats come with large pleats on the back, in lengths which fall gracefully to the calf, taking the pockets with them – sartorial details which are now filled with spontaneous style. Squared-off jackets are almost surgical in feel, while cuts are stripped down to a minimum in the ultra-simple loose leather T-shirts.
Colours are never intense, but rather delicately powdery, suspended in the atmosphere of a desert sunset. Periwinkle sky blue, sandy beige and the palest stone grey are lit up by a sunshine amaranth red.
What emerges is an independent personality, rooted so firmly in the rules of elegant style that it enables the Corneliani man to make the decisive jump on his pathway to freedom.
Sun, June 28 2015 » Fashion Blog
