Shades of Excitement at Colorful Menswear Show
To her right and left were rooms filled with fall menswear in delicious shades of honey, grape, cranberry, burnt orange and mustard--all of which prompted Elyse Kroll to think pink.
“Ten years ago pink wasn’t acceptable, color wasn’t acceptable. The face of menswear was totally different from what it is today,” observed Kroll, the New York-based producer of Mode Coast Los Angeles (MCLA), a trade show of international menswear designers, which she brought to the Beverly Hilton Hotel earlier this month.
No doubt about it, menswear has come a long way. And although there wasn’t much pink displayed by the 43 manufacturers during the three-day event, there were all those tasty new fall tones and plenty of enticing labels, including Jhane Barnes, Basco, Joan Vass, Perry Ellis, Andrew Fezza, Jekyll & Hyde, Modules, A.B.S. and Bill Robinson.
First-day shoppers included Michael and Hilary Anderson, owners of Clacton & Frinton in West Hollywood, who were looking for “basics: sweaters, ties, socks” and wished MCLA’s debut show “were bigger.”
On the other hand, Bob Carriere, owner of Carriere in the Beverly Center, complained there was “a little too much selection. I’ve seen 53 mock turtlenecks, and now I’ve got to figure out which one to buy.”
No such dilemma for Ron Herman, owner of the Ron Herman store in Brentwood and Fred Segal on Melrose Avenue.
He had found a denim shirt by For Joseph, an L.A. company, that he “loved.” Plucking the shirt from a rack, Herman praised its destroyed-look fabric: “This feels authentic-old. It feels honest.”
He had additional kind words for “the spicy colors” in the collection of New York-based Giuseppe E Luciano, praise for the “easy, all-cotton sweaters” of Anne Mieke, another New York firm. He liked the “details and personality” of tie-patterned shirts made in England by Jekyll & Hyde, and he expressed more love for velvet-collared houndstooth jackets, suede-look silk blazers and antique-looking brocade vests from Los Angeles-based A.B.S.
“Men are showing a dramatic interest in changing the way they dress. A man used to go to dinner or to a movie in the same thing. Now he has a more playful attitude. Take the antique vest; men are wearing it with anything.”
While fall menswear has been tagged “old made new” by some observers, not everyone was happy with the description. According to Modules owner-designer Toshiya Takahasi, his wide, boldly patterned ties “are not retro. This is not the ‘40s and ‘50s gangster look. This is more contemporary.”
Feeling equally contemporary was Daniela Passini, whose first menswear collection under her own label was introduced in Milan earlier this year. Using the themes of “born free” and “modern mysticism,” Passini explained her jackets, overcoats, “Hollywood” high-waisted trousers, St. Sebastian-motif shirts and tubular wool sweaters are directed at “a carefree customer.”
San Francisco-based Bill Austin is another designer who has fun with menswear. His fall collection includes cotton long johns meant to be worn under trousers or shorts. And his most colorful pieces are wool jackets and vests that incorporate sections from vintage European blankets.
Austin’s view of menswear was as upbeat as anyone’s at the show: “There’s a wonderful revolution going on,” he observed, adding what is likely to become an industry cliche: “Men want to dress differently.”
As for Elyse Kroll, she would be back with future shows. After all, she explained with crusading conviction, “Los Angeles is a fashion capital waiting to happen.”
