Nothing if not bold
Strike ONE for conservative dressing. Spring 2005 will be a season of color and detail for menswear, with some global spice thrown into the mix.
At the Milan shows last week, all eyes were on John Ray, who took over at Gucci after Tom Ford left earlier this year. Ray presented his first collection for the house, a pastiche of flowing evening caftans decorated with coins and mirrors, and more subdued white suits with gray chalk stripes worn over butterfly-print silk shirts. Not forgetting the dashing man, the designer offered a relaxed version of the tuxedo: a rich brown brocade jacket paired with crushed linen or silk shirts in apricot or blush.
(Meanwhile, Ford, who has expressed interest in directing films, has opened a production office in L.A. He’ll release a book this fall about his career at Gucci Group, written by W editor Bridget Foley, with contributions by Graydon Carter and Anna Wintour. The Rizzoli book is titled simply “Tom Ford.”)
Showing his first menswear collection, Alexander McQueen mixed military with madras, bringing to mind imperialist treks through foreign lands. Models with cropped hair and GI caps wore sand-colored suits with lapels trimmed in leather. Camouflage or candy-colored madras plaid shorts were paired with leggings, shirts and bags in a henna tattoo print that glinted with tiny mirrors.
At Dolce & Gabbana, ripped jeans and surfer trunks were painted or embroidered with palm trees and pink flowers for an easygoing look that was finished with a loafer-like canvas espadrille. Suits were skinny, with jackets cropped to the hip, and worn with shirts open to the navel, flashy gold chain necklaces and suede driving moccasins.
Miuccia Prada’s man may be more modest, but he was no less flamboyant in sweaters in Mediterranean blue stripes or wave patterns, tucked into trim gray trousers and layered over brightly hued shirts with collar and cuffs peeking out. Fun details included striped straw hats with patterned silk bands, a jacket with an embroidered blue-and-gold swan on the back, ocean-blue crocodile belts and a sweater vest that recalled a Rorschach test.
Embellishment was kicked up a notch at Miu Miu, where sequins and mirrors dusted the shoulders of button-down shirts and gleamed from neckties, jaunty mushroom-shaped patches livened up shirts, and plastic toy soldiers and poker chips sprouted from lapels and belt buckles.
Anticipation was high at Versace last week as Donatella’s daughter, Allegra Beck, turned 18 and came into the 50% stake in the fashion house willed to her by her late uncle, Gianni. But the heiress was a no-show and the collection was tame, preppy even, with striped T-shirts paired with shantung silk suits. At the design helm of the economically faltering company since her brother was murdered in 1997, Donatella Versace must have had money on the mind: Dollar signs were embroidered on silk shirts and printed on the sole of a crocodile shoe.
The Calvin Klein collection, designed by Italo Zucchelli, concentrated on color, featuring leather jackets and shiny suits in a bright green. But Burberry’s Christopher Bailey took the theme to a painterly level in a collection inspired by David Hockney, with horizontal-striped ties in citrus shades, lime safari jackets, orange pants and cardigans with appliqued flowers.
In Paris, where the shows concluded on Monday, John Galliano served up a pirate’s bounty of exoticism, with models in top hats, breeches and short boots sauntering around the mast of a ship, stopping to pose on barrels and climb rope walls. An Edwardian red velvet vest was worn over a black cotton shirt with velvet stripes and baggy pants in the designer’s signature newsprint, dangling feathers and beads.
At Dior, Hedi Slimane took up his now familiar cause for a 1980s throwback to tight jeans and skinny ties. Jackets with tiny lapels ended abruptly at the hips, breaking just below the dropped waists of belted white or black jeans. With shaggy, long locks, Keds sneakers and ethnic-looking scarves draped ‘round their necks, the models looked more boy than man.
