FASHION : AROUND TOWN : What’s in Store for Men? : Politix: Basic styles take a colorful twist for the holidays.
Black is L.A.’s unofficial fashion color, but no one has let Politix in on the secret. At a recent show of the chain’s holiday and spring menswear, color was rampant: olive trousers, orange jackets, mustard suits, shirts striped with orange, green and violet.
The eye-popping components are aimed at both the adventurous man shopping for himself and Hollywood stylists shopping for film wardrobes. In response to “what’s new?” Zareh Khederlarian, executive vice president of operations, put the company’s studio services department, which caters to stylists, at the top of his list.
“In Living Color” is one television show already using Politix’s concept of European chic, which is definitely not geared toward the button-down crowd. Although there was a button-down shirt in the show--with a collar and buttons so oversized they looked like a child’s rendition of what Daddy wears to corporate headquarters.
The Politix man would wear that shirt to his office along with a sack suit, another spring offering. The sack, of course, “is not for the customer who wants a perfect-fitting suit. It’s not for the Brooks Brothers man,” explains Viken Momdjian, who with his brother, Asbed, founded Knockalong Ltd., the London-based manufacturing company that spawned Politix.
“The exaggerated button-down is exactly the thing we are trying to do. Classics with a twist,” adds Khederlarian. “It’s not something our customer would be offended to wear. You’d be surprised, but more than 50% of them are lawyers and businessmen.”
Which means you might find your lawyer wearing a hooded shirt with his sport coat. Or he might have on a purple double-breasted suit with some of the widest lapels you’ve ever seen. Underneath will be a striped shirt--striped, that is, in shades of copper and mustard.
In addition to distinctive colors and shapes in moderate-priced merchandise (shirts in the show ranged from $75 to $98; trousers $89 to $115; jackets $225 to $275), Politix is big on details. The latest round includes those huge lapels, jackets with microscopic back vents, eye-catching buttons and unusual seaming. The belts are handsomely tooled and the suede shoes, both lace-up and slip-ons, come in catchy combinations, including rust and green.
