New York Fashion Week: Preppy redux in menswear

Bold stripes emerged as the predominant graphic element for spring during the shows, which ended Thursday. Michael Bastian showed workwear-inspired, railroad-striped denim pullover shirt jackets, five-pocket jeans and slouchy Confederate soldier style kepi hats (the latter a collaboration with Mr. Kim, Eugenia Kim’s men’s line). Michael Kors employed horizontal rugby stripes on men’s pullover shirts and vertical, referee-like stripes on cotton blazers. The latter look also cropped up on Western-style shirts in the Joseph Abboud collection. Pictured is a look from the Joseph Abboud collection. (Dario Cantatore / Getty Images)

Sept. 14, 2012 3:05 PM PT

NEW YORK -- The menswear collections that came down the runway during New York Fashion Week were a crisp, colorful, pattern-packed bunch. Certainly, there were vestiges of the military and workwear influences of seasons past -- especially in casual outerwear pieces such as bomber and motorcycle jackets. But it was variations on the preppy aesthetic -- rendered in soft linens and puckered seersucker -- that moved to the head of the class for spring-summer 2013. Some of the most noteworthy menswear trends seen on the runways included these. Click here for more runway coverage.
--Adam Tschorn

Most memorably all-in on the trend was Tommy Hilfiger, whose collection offered a surfeit of stripes. There were Breton-striped T-shirts, racing-striped khaki suede motorcycle pants, regimental stripes silk-screened onto white denim jeans, cashmere cable-knit V-neck sweaters edged in gold and navy stripes and bold nautical rope prints on twill jackets and pants and button-down shirts. Not even the footwear went unstriped ¿ the collection included striped leather espadrilles and lace-up dress shoes with red and white striped outsoles. (Peter Michael Dills / Getty Images)

Although the lines and colors in the men’s collections were as crisp as a New England spring morning, the fabrics and silhouettes were as soft and slouchy as a summer snooze in a hammock.
But this season’s master of the relaxed luxe look was 2012 CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year Billy Reid, who made easygoing Southern chic the throughline of a collection that included linen double-breasted suits and relaxed khaki trousers. Traditionally heavier outerwear pieces, such as lambskin jackets and leather bombers, looked as feather-light as the linen gauze shirts they were layered over. (Andy Kropa / Getty Images)

The debut of the khaki-centric Perry Ellis by Duckie Brown collection brought a relaxed look to the label via generously cut trouser legs and signature dropped crotch of Duckie designers Steven Cox and Daniel Silver. (Joe Kohen / Getty Images)

At Michael Bastian, the trend showed up in cross-over jersey shirts that draped like a silk scarf and a workwear-inspired vest quilted with the kind of wavy lines found in professional-level packing blankets. (Brian Ach / Getty Images)

If there was one canvas for the expression of bad-boy attitude across many of the menswear collections this season, it was the casual outerwear jacket ¿ shows were full of riffs on the bomber jacket, the motorcycle jacket, even the varsity jacket. Options ranged from the royal blue neoprene motorcycle jacket at Joseph Abboud to Todd Snyder’s sand-colored buttery leather motorcycle jacket and suede bomber. Pictured is a look by Joseph Abboud. (Dario Cantatore / Getty Images)

But for variations on a single garment, it would be hard to beat up-and-comer Tim Coppens. The winner of the 2012 Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation award for men’s design artfully melded the vibe of post-World War II fighter pilots with the Detroit techno music scene of the 1990s and the results included leather bomber jackets with cloth sleeves, bonded leather bombers, monochrome varsity jackets and color-blocked flight jackets. (Mike Coppola / Getty Images)

A look from the Todd Snyder collection. (Dario Cantatore / Getty Images)

Nearly as ubiquitous as stripes this season was the use of bold color-blocking. Nautica took a sporty approach on swimsuits, shorts and technical outerwear. Michael Bastian offered a two-tone version of five-pocket denim and created a color-blocked effect on cashmere sweaters.
Michael Kors’ take on “geometric glamour” resulted in some of the best and boldest color-blocking of New York Fashion Week ¿ pairing navy blue with a range of colors on crisp-looking color-blocked twill blazers and coats, denim trousers and twill shorts. (Frazer Harrison / Getty Images)