Milan fall-winter 2011 menswear fashion shows
If the production values of the recent Milan menswear shows are any indication — an indoor rainstorm at Burberry, John Varvatos’ railroad track runway and Ermenegildo Zegna’s green-screen “Live-D” presentation — luxury brands are done hedging their bets and tightening their belts. They are back to selling the sizzle they hope will sell their steak to men who’ve been on a bread and water diet for the last several seasons.
Below are a few of the highlights from the opening act of the 2011 fashion show circuit.
Jimmy Choo
The debut of the relaunched men’s footwear collection for Jimmy Choo has a little something for everyone and includes many of the signatures found in the women’s collection.
“It’s basically for the boyfriend of our existing Jimmy Choo customer,” a company representative said, “but also [for] someone who appreciates details.”
Those details include the leopard-print lining of black vulcanized rubber Wellingtons in a crocodile-skin motif (part of an ongoing collaboration with Hunter) and hand-nailed soles.
One pair of loafers has a chunky pewter bit inspired by a ‘70s men’s bracelet that the brand’s founder and chief creative officer, Tamara Mellon, found at a vintage store in Los Angeles. A pair of evening slippers and a pair of sneakers are covered in a velvet jacquard paisley with hidden burlesque silhouettes inspired by the shadowed female forms in the credits of 1970s James Bond films.
In fact, the whole collection has a vibe that’s a cross between classic Briton and ‘70s Mayfair playboy — think one part James Bond and two parts Austin Powers.
The styles in the relaunch collection includes Oxfords, Derbys, monkstraps, dress boots and biker boots, Chelsea boots, and a range of loafers and trainers (aka sneakers).
Aimed at the wide-open territory between the classic men’s shoe and the most fashion-forward footwear, most of the collection will retail between $595 and $1,095. There are a few exceptions — such as the real crocodile-skin half-boot with a sterling-silver zipper pull, which will set you back a cool $9,000.
Miuccia Prada
Sometimes Miuccia Prada can be a tough riddle to unravel when it comes to inspiration, but this season’s theme was as easy to see as the three-page show invitation printed on see-through plastic; the striated, stacked and meticulously sliced finger sandwiches served to arriving guests; and the double-decker runway framed in wrought-iron fencing designed by architect Rem Koolhaas.
We’re talking layers here, people. Not the jacket-over-sweater-over-shirt kind of layers — although that was certainly part of it — but layers of personality, mood and time.
One layer that was definitely present was what might be considered old-school Prada — boxy black three-button jackets, some with high short-notch lapels, others with fold-down collars in various sizes, as well as austere-looking black polo shirts.
But that was just the top layer. Many of these jackets and polos were paired with knickers that ended just below the knee and styled with socks that reached about the same real estate, giving them that ‘20s look one might see on a street urchin chasing a hoop down the road with a stick.
The strongest layer came straight out of the 1970s. Indeed, Prada’s pieces seemed inspired by the ‘70s wardrobe items we try to block from our memory until someone pulls out a family photo album — bottle-green Lurex V-neck sweaters, boldly patterned polos (also in Lurex) and a range of two-tone suede jackets and overcoats, some with a deep contrasting-color V pattern at the yoke, others with a harlequin pattern.
In fact, if there was one cohesive visual element to the decade-spanning collection beyond the layers, it was the distinctive V shape -- especially if you think of the diamond shape of the harlequin pattern as essentially two back-to-back Vs -- which appeared in one form or another on sweaters, jackets, overcoats and color-block zip-front track jackets.
Ermenegildo Zegna
Fresh off a year-long centennial celebration, Ermenegildo Zegna wasted no time letting the world know where it is focusing at the beginning of its second century — China.
For the last couple of years, China has been a big part of the brand’s expansion efforts. So a fall-winter 2011 collection titled “In the Mood for China” doesn’t come as much of a surprise.
What did come as a surprise was the way the usually subtle-to-the-point-of-stealth collection invoked that Chinese mood: borrowing liberally from the looks of uniforms from the Chinese Revolution, rendering a piece of classical Chinese art in woven silk fabric that appears throughout the collection and going heavy on lacquered red and bronze accents.
Upon close look, even the most subtle pieces paid homage to the season’s theme; the stripes of a wool pinstripe suit resembling — ever so slightly — the distinctive shape of bamboo cane.
Along with the military luxe look of the belted soldiers came lots of dangling exterior leather holsters hanging from those belts (not a good look — unless you’re a Boy Scout) and some seriously oversized fur hats.
Dolce & Gabbana
At Dolce & Gabbana, the show notes were labeled “eccentric tailoring,” and that wasn’t a reference to the choice of Bryan Ferry as inspiration. (The British singer’s album artwork appeared on T-shirts in the show, his songs “Shameless” and “One Night” accompanied the runway presentation, and Ferry himself was front row.)
The “eccentric tailoring” was a reference to the shrunken jackets, the lower trouser rise, the mix-and-match patchwork of gray fabrics and what seemed to be an exercise in pocket science — cramming an inordinate number of zippered and buttoned pockets onto a single pair of pants.
The fall-winter 2011 collection was based in a black and gray color palette, with a heavy splash of red throughout, including in a red-and-black floral brocade suit, red-and-black horizontal striped sweaters, red military-inspired flight jackets and a handful of red-painted denim. There was also a colorful punch of purple — most memorably in a glittery disco ball of a tuxedo jacket — that added to the relaxed, informal feel of the collection.
Burberry Prorsum
Burberry’s chief creative officer, Christopher Bailey, made it rain on the (indoor) runway for the finale of the Burberry Prorsum show, sending his models down the slick catwalk wearing transparent hooded ponchos.
Sure it was gimmicky, but it helped underscore the fall and winter 2011 season’s emphasis on protective outerwear pieces. Standouts included a boxy, oversized blanket coat in a bold blue check and a wool duffel coat in bright tangerine.
Insulation from the cold also came in the form of fur, which was generously used on the lapels of a double-breasted three-quarter-length coat, patched into chunky cable-knit sweaters, piled onto driving caps and wrapped around holdalls and tote bags.
Woolrich Woolen Mills
In his first collection for Woolrich Woolen Mills, Mark McNairy made it clear that he’s not as much replacing Daiki Suzuki as the designer at the label (though he does succeed him in that position) as much as he is writing his own chapter in the life of the label.
In a sharp collection that drew inspiration from the mid-20th century uniforms of the U.S. Navy and the unspoken dress code of the Ivy League, with a smattering of other influences that included Marine Corps dress uniforms and the musical “South Pacific,” McNairy served up chinos (in black and khaki), a button-down dress shirt in a riot of mixed plaid, a handful of vests and jackets (including a navy blue three-button blazer with a zip-closure pocket and a gray wool two-button layering piece with four patch pockets).
The range of outerwear pieces included a geometric pattern wool duffle coat, knit caps with WWM screen-printed on the front, and — in what felt like the only questionable piece in the collection — a trucker cap that was plaid in the front and yellow mesh in the back.
That bright yellow accent color was used to better effect in bag straps (bags and belts are new for the label this season) and an eye-catching quilted nylon vest that McNairy said was inspired by the flight deck vests worn on Navy aircraft carriers.
Etro and Moncler Gamme Bleu
The runways of the men’s fall and winter collections are no stranger to animal hides — fur, shearling and leather are a staple of cold-weather luxury.
But a couple of the Milan shows went whole hog on the animal theme — well, “whole cow” in the case of Etro and the dog-and-pony (make that horse) show at Moncler Gamme Bleu.
Etro used the bovine motif as “a metaphor for mountain and central European culture.” Mixed in with the over-the-top hairy cowhide that appeared on jackets, trousers and shoes were subtle Tyrolean touches, found in the shape of the hats, the braiding design patterns, shirt embroidery and the leather piping accents on jacket collars and pockets.
In the end, it was these more delicate and subdued references to European mountain culture that kept Etro’s mad cow of a collection from veering into the unwearable.
At Moncler Gamme Bleu, Thom Browne’s penchant for showmanship nearly overshadowed a collection inspired by the sports of hunting and horseback riding. Held at the Centro Ippico Lombardo (Lombardy Riding Center), it included a quintet of men on horseback — nattily attired in full riding regalia — followed by a bevy of barking beagles in the temporary stewardship of models in hunting-themed garb.
Although it’s hard to see a place outside of the equestrian arena for the smart-looking red cutaway riding jackets with the white and blue diagonal stripe across the chest — or the hats, boots and gloves that were part of the collection — that wasn’t the case with a hunt-inspired grouping that served up quilted vests, trousers, overalls and gloves, some in a black-and-white micro check and some in gray Prince of Wales check.
The hunting theme was actually an organic way to explore one of the oddest trends to appear on the Milan runways this week — a seeming obsession with pockets. Moncler’s exercises in pocket science included a simple, unadorned gray utility vest bristling with a four-pack of pockets, several multi-pocketed hunting jackets and a belted green three-quarter-length coat with narrow hip pockets deep enough to fit a forearm from fingertip to elbow.
Vivienne Westwood
The upcoming royal marriage has not only inspired Vivienne Westwood to ditch the pirate costumes and theatrics and send a platoon of well-dressed young men down the runway, but it also seems to have brought out a bit of the romantic in her.
“With royal marriage in the air, who would you choose to be your bridegroom?” she asked in her show notes.
Westwood served up a runway full of intellectual-student types, albeit ones sporting bright red lipstick (the better to smooch you with, my dear). Some wore three-piece suits in solid colors (including brown, black and sky blue), some with tightly knotted ties; others donned turtlenecks.
There were a few extra-wide stripes — and even a subtle skull and crossbones or two —but most of the pieces were subtle and crisp, including a tartan military-style suit that was one of the highlights of the collection.
Some of the collections’ visual motifs underscored the notion of romantic union, including a pair of love birds nestling beak to beak — which appeared on sweaters and shirts — and a lion and a unicorn frolicking on the arms of jackets and flanking the Westwood logo on a cardigan sweater.
Alexander McQueen
The heavy focus of the Milan menswear collections this season has been on outerwear, and the Alexander McQueen collection was in lock-step trend-wise, with a razor-sharp collection inspired by regimental military dress and grounded in a palette of navy blue, black and gray with pops of red and gold.
The emphasis was on great coats, shearling bomber jackets, tartan ponchos and voluminous capes that seemed to trail behind the models, crisply frozen in mid-billow (a look accomplished by bonding felted wool to leather and velvet).
These crisp outerwear pieces were layered over outfits that combined casual pieces (drawstring sweat pants, ribbed turtlenecks) with more formal-looking but equally soft and unstructured garments rendered in chalk stripes, Prince of Wales checks and gray flannels.
A contrast stripe of red along the asymmetrical button placket of a black shirt created the effect of a regimental sash draped diagonally across the chest. A zippered track jacket bore the ghostly image of a military medal surrounded by the swirling mercurial patterns that are a recurring motif at the label.
Also
Other noteworthy shows include DSquared2’s frontier fashion collection, complete with chuck wagon set piece and cowboy hats (courtesy of Borsalino), Roberto Cavalli’s catwalk collection for the groovy dudes longing for the halcyon days of the “Me Decade” and Giorgio Armani’s soft study in gray.
