Men’s Fall Fashion : REVOLUTION IN COLOR

WHILE NEW women’s styles regularly burst onto the fashion scene, swinging from neon miniskirts to leopard-look full-lengths in the blink of a season, men’s fashions have a tendency to plod. Year after year, blues, dark greens, browns and grays pass down the runways in a predictable blur. Those moments when designers have taken a risk--pink polo shirts, colorful ties, wild socks, sport shoes with suits--are rarely earthshaking.

Until this season. Get out your sunglasses and all your fashion courage, because there’s a menswear revolution brewing. For fall, designers are offering patterns and ensembles that have one thing in common--adventure.

Start with color--bold, mixable color. Shades of turquoise, purple, orange, red and yellow are guaranteed to turn even the most classically shaped jackets, suits, pants, sweaters and shirts into shocking and innovative fashion statements.

Traditional stripes, florals and plaids are thrown about fearlessly, and the old rules of pattern mixing are forgotten, replaced with a sense of humor and experimentation. Painterly prints in broad color spectrums are the most modern choices, gracing shirts of velvet, silk, rayon and cotton knits.

This revolution comes complete with that key fashion ingredient, accessories. A chain belt around an otherwise classic tuxedo makes a play on Chanel; an embellished vest glimmers beneath a traditional suit; fancy necklines offer quirky alternatives to ties; special buttons, textural trims and unique pocket treatments give jackets and pants that extra oomph.

If you’re not quite ready to take the plunge and restock your wardrobe, colorful ties, socks, belts, watches and glasses can offer a hint of audacity--a bold start for a beginning sartorial risk taker.

Many men will be delighted at the absence of rules; others will be terrified. And an unsuspecting few will find themselves suddenly on the cutting edge: The golfer in his bright green pants and orange shirt or the tourist in his flower-print shirts and plaid shorts just may have the most fashionable looks going.

Stylist: Jill Sokolec / Celestine / L. A.; Assistant stylist: Karen Bouton / Celestine /L. A.