FALL MENSWEAR : Knit Pickings
“Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the national anthem,” is not what you expect to hear at the beginning of a fashion show. But it was clear this week at the Plaza Hotel, where Esquire magazine sponsored a show of fall/winter 1991 American menswear collections, that the Gulf War was foremost on the minds of the journalists and retailers who stood and faced the flag.
Although two designers, Robert Comstock and Ronaldus Shamask, canceled their shows because of the Mideast conflict, nine others gave runway presentations in addition to the Esquire event. The unusually heavy schedule made this week the strongest fashion front yet by American menswear designers.
Although camouflage wear has been showing up on city streets, it wasn’t used as a fashion fabric for fall. The tactics for surviving in a tough retail environment include a softer approach to dressing.
Silhouettes are even less tailored than in the past, with suit and sport jackets featuring broad but sloping soft shoulders and little or no construction in the body of the garment.
Fabrics are light and supple for ease of movement. Knits were a staple in almost every collection. The most modern-looking garments were slim knit pants, often shown with big, oversize sweaters. Knit sport jackets often looked like a sweater hybrid. They are a classic example of the evolution of sportswear.
In the same vein, there are suits constructed in knit fabrics, dressed up with shirts and ties or shown with knit polo shirts or turtleneck sweaters--two prevalent casual tops.
One of the more playful trends of the season was the use of bold, colorful plaids, often mixed in the same outfit.
Isaac Mizrahi is mad for plaid sport jackets and shirt jackets, which he mixes with vests and trousers in different scale plaids. Bill Robinson’s plaid sports jackets in pumpkin or Prussian blue are coupled with plaid shirts, print ties and plaid scarves.
Colors range from vibrant orange and fuchsia in the sport jackets by Richard Mishaan to the earth colors in great patchwork Perry Ellis sport jackets and vests, to the rich, deep tones of mahogany, sienna, dark teal and pine that Andrew Fezza masterfully mixes in knit ensembles.
Fezza was the hit of the season with a collection that many deemed his best ever. His soft silhouettes, textured fabrics, layering and superlative color sense were reminiscent of the strong statements that have come out of Italy in recent years. The collection looked comfortable and could be worn by a broad range of ages, body types and tastes.
