Menswear’s Feminine Mystique
Fellas, get ready to explore a softer side of style next spring. At least, that’s what menswear designers want you, Big Guy, to do. After all, so many of you embraced those cropped pants this summer. You know, the ones women call pedal pushers.
Now, designers are hoping you’ll go for the feminization of their spring 2001 menswear collections--softer silhouettes, fabrics and colors. These were the themes of just about every men’s collection presented during the first few days of Fashion Week. Even women in the audience--from buyers to journalists to stylists--eyed the clothing for themselves, often exclaiming, “I’d wear that!”
Designers think the modern man wants European styling with American comfort: suits without button-down shirts, shirts without ties, trousers without pleats, shoes without socks. The well-cut, sophisticated suits, worn with sleeveless shirts or stylish T-shirts, offer new pulled-together looks for casual Friday.
Think Miami Vice 2001.
Designers certainly have, especially when it comes to reinventing colors for guys. There’s still the trusted and true shades of navy, black and gray. But next spring’s palette is mostly pastels--shades that brides go crazy for on their wedding day: violet, lilac, plum, seafoam, mint, blush and pink. Designers including John Varvatos, Joseph Abboud, Max Azria and Ralph Lauren definitely are moving away from the monochromatic Regis Philbin look for spring and going for bold prints, stripes, plaids and patterns in swirls and florals. Even pinstripes are, well, a stripe of a different color, some in pink, celadon and lilac--and not always vertical.
Silhouettes of suits--either six-buttoned double-breasted or three-, four- and five-buttoned single style--trousers and shirts have been softened. Fabrics such as silk, cotton, soft canvas, crepe, burlap, seersucker and linen--mostly in suits--and blends of these with just a touch of stretch, dominate.
Fewer designers are using the high-tech fabrics--neoprene and spandex, for example--that really never caught on with men, unless their bodies were cut and chiseled. Besides, who wants to sweat in polyester-based garments?
Soft and supple suede and paper-thin leather will be strong in trousers and coats. Set to make a comeback is the leisure jacket of the 1970s--an error of that era--in an updated interpretation with a looser silhouette and fit and sometimes sashed around the waist.
Lightweight sweaters--many of them cropped--are sheer enough to show off pecs. Several shirts are sleeveless and some even in black cotton eyelet. Necks are tieless. Feet are sockless, and shoes next spring have been replaced with what was the hottest footwear for women this past summer: sandals. They were worn with suits in several collections.
Other accessories include scarves, some tightly wound around the forehead as seen in the Pelle Pelle collection by Marc Buchanan, others loose around the neck shown by Azria or cowboy style around the neck as shown by Chris Serluco of NY Based. Belts too have been tweaked. Instead of slipping them through loops around the waist, they’re worn as decoration, low on the hip.
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On Thursday, Varvatos made a memorable debut in his first spring collection. He designed relaxed looks of soft linen pinstriped suits, rumpled tuxedo shirts in dusty rose and lavender and earth-tone sweaters, suede coats and pants. “I wanted to be organic with this collection,” said Varvatos, who will be at the Beverly Hills Neiman Marcus on Thursday. “It’s all about men being comfortable in their clothes again.”
The BCBG men’s collection, inspired by the colors and fabrics in the clothes worn by Catherine Deneuve in the movie “Indochine,” was all about men having freedom and breaking the rules. “I don’t want to transform my man into a clown with my clothes,” said Max Azria of his collection shown Friday. “But men have to learn to have fun with their clothes. I look at my collection for men and I get a smile on my lips,” said the Los Angeles designer, turning to a blush-colored silk burlap three-button suit jacket teamed with matching shorts and worn with a silk-cotton T-shirt and sandals.
The look he described as “a mix of American sportswear done in a European way, classy and sexy” included white linen short-sleeved shirts, cotton flat-front trousers, raglan-sleeved T-shirts, slim trousers, colored patent-leather jackets, cotton canvas printed jackets and three-quarter-length coats in moss suede, patent leather and white cotton canvas.
Also on Friday, designer Jerry Kaye presented his collection for Perry Ellis, which included Ellis’ signature polka dots. Kaye’s standouts included a crepe suit with a two-button jacket worn with a silk polka-dotted shirt. A lavender cotton zip front cardigan was worn with a grape silk polka-dotted shirt and narrow pants. Most notable was a gray linen leisure jacket with matching trousers. He teamed pants that looked as if they had been actually painted with watercolors in mint and sky blue with block print shirts.
Abboud’s sportswear collection, which he called “a little bit of Havana,” was presented by models posing in front of tropical leaves, known in the trade as an installation presentation, rather than on a runway. Part retro, part modern, the collection emphasized movement with the drape of linens and silk and cotton knits.
A lightweight coat was worn over a suit, a sport coat over a camp shirt, a leather jacket over a T-shirt and drawstring pants--all emphasizing his elegant, relaxed look that was firmly footed with sandals, natch.
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Like Abboud, Lauren also opted for an installation presentation with his models voguing on platforms. His tailored clothing stressed a soft, streamlined silhouette and sensual fabrics such as lightweight cashmere, silk and linen. He used vibrant colors: lime green, red, hot orange and fuchsia in shirts.
Ron Chereskin paid homage to the body beautiful with his debut swimwear line that paired bikini bottoms in aqua, lemon, lime and royal blue with matching “Survivor” life-saving vests. His other offerings included seersucker pants, a cotton twill pajama-style jacket, terry cloth drawstring pants and buttery suede jeans.
Nautica designer David Chu’s collection used feathery light fabrics and colors that range from neutrals to bright yellow. He mixed tailored looks with casual, resulting in a versatile, modern line that blended function with fashion.
Gene Meyer, known for his bright colors and irreverent approach to menswear, showed a collection that will never be manufactured or sold because his financial backers, Mondo di Marco, closed him down in July.
But he managed to complete a collection that included funky apple-colored trousers, orchid-shaded cotton shirts, aqua sleeveless cotton sweaters and purple leather jeans.
After the show, Meyer gave some of the clothes to the models. Asked why did he did the show, Meyer said, “Because this is what I do and love. This is all I know.”
