SIR PAUL SMITH: A NEW DANDY

PAUL SMITH SPRING 2014 MENSWEAR

Sir Paul Smith means business, only not at Westminster. From the outset, a muted pastel pink sports coat hemmed in beige set a playfully androgynous tone. It’s this hybrid of suiting and luxe sportswear that has set Sir Paul apart from his peers of late. That and his knack for the Savile Row trade. Pointing to a methodical use of superfine wools and polished cottons responsible for the easy veneer of luxury, Sir Paul aggressed the East meets West London subcultures, coining a new breed of dandy. Mellow-yellow headlined a sublime canvas of pastel beige, fuchsia and deep maroon offset by black, tonal euphoria. Interestingly, a mushroom print became a recurrent motif, make of that what you will. The Paul Smith man resides, comfortably, in a strange and beautiful space. 

paulsmith.co.uk

Photography © Yannis Viamos, GoRunway

DIOR HOMME: MONDRIAN STYLE

DIOR HOMME SPRING 2014 MENSWEAR


Under the burning lights of a mirrored labyrinth a geometric star is born. Kris Van Assche’s elitist collective was a reckoning of sorts, formal discipline meets liberal Mondrian fantasy. Tactile paneling in monochromatic shades fashioned a representation of Piet Mondrian’s later work. The menswear revolutionary, working almost exclusively from a base palette of muted blues with accents of burgundy and shiny black, produced sleek lines and perfect symmetry, underpinning the seamless constitution for tailoring we’ve come to expect from Van Assche. Van Assche, who pioneered slim-line men’s silhouettes in his earlier career at Yves Saint Laurent, poked fun at his masterclass in suit separates applying the brush of modernism to every facet of the dialogue, side-part models in tow.  

dior.com

Photography © Jason Lloyd Evans

VERONIQUE NICHANIAN x HERMES

HERMES SPRING 2014 MENSWEAR

Hermes is, for the most part, unrivaled in the fight for the top spot in the luxury field, just don’t tell Marc or Karl. Veronique Nichanian has quietly been watching over the Hermes man for over two decades, twenty five years to be exact. For him, the designer sets a course of distinction pairing classic men’s silhouettes with a brazen understudy of the masculine form. Cut from ultra-luxe materials and high-grade skins, a resounding footnote of the brand across lines, Nichanian proposes an architectural simplicity in her genre of menswear, a boyish air. On that note, loose fitting cottons and brushed linens off-set humble white t-shirts to make for a leisurely vein of continuity, a wearable one at that. One of Veronique Nichanian's journalist friends told her, "In the clothes you design, I can be a husband, a lover, a father. You give us many lives."

hermes.com

Photography © Marcus Tondo, GoRunway

CERRUTI 1881: A VISUAL ESSAY

CERRUTI 1881 SPRING 2013 MENSWEAR

cerruti.com

Photography © Jason Lloyd Evans

DRIES VAN NOTEN: MAN VS. FLORAL

DRIES VAN NOTEN: PRET-A-PORTER HOMMES PRINTEMPS-ETE 2014

Dries Van Noten is a designer who's dexterity surpasses most. Responsible for the deconstructed plaid movement and winning over fashions brat-pack with his Spring 2013 ready-to-wear line, Van Noten today underpinned his investigation of the masculine vs. feminine engagement in the reverse order, with musings taken direct from his womenswear. Van Noten's diffusion of gender politics reached Wuthering Heights while his congruent faculties of print, texture and cutting of cloth served as inroads to Van Noten's masterclass in eclecticism. Hedged in a print-garden of draping, sheer fabrics, paper-bag waists and luxurious smoking gowns, Van Noten's brand of masculinity is reserved for only the manliest of men. And how the dandies will oscillate in their finery. Remarkable. Irreverent. Dries.

driesvannoten.be

Photography © Yannis Vlamos, GoRunway

THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES: HAIDER ACKERMANN

HAIDER ACKERMANN SPRING 2014 MENSWEAR

For whatever reason I’m reminded of the Hans Christian Anderson short-tale, The Emperor’s New Clothes. And new they certainly were. Haider Ackermann’s use of lustrous silks and shiny satins in royal hues of navy and burgundy red, voluminous in proportion with an ease and comfort about their look, were most certainly fit for a king. The brazen choice to enlist a stoic rockabilly mod-squad was Ackermann’s centrifugal bone of contention, the designers rebellious score. Underpinning a bourgeois fantasy of bomber jackets with tuxedo finishes and cropped genie pants with piping detail, perhaps set in Marrakesh, Ackermann’s male response to his feverishly addictive womenswear is essentially one of self-discovery. Unlike Simons before him, this was the Antwerp alumni’s first men’s ready-to-wear collection show on the Paris calendar, and we look forward to many more. 

haiderackermann.be

Photography © Jason Lloyd Evans

RAF SIMONS: SPRING 2013 MENSWEAR

RAF SIMONS: SPRING 2014 MENSWEAR

It’s been a big year for Raf Simons. You could be forgiven for expecting Simons’ acutely considered pattern making and tailoring, the charms of his Antwerp schooling that have won fashions front-line since his appointment at Dior in 2012 and at Jil Sander before that, and that’s exactly what he delivered. Simons proposed a boyish sentiment shrouded in artistic references from pop-art to modernism, aptly staged in a gallery by Larry Gagosian on the outskirts of Paris, a space to perpetuate his precision dialogue. Uniformly elongated t-shirts prefaced a kaleidoscope of Simons very own Neverland. Digital print graphics and Simons’ recasting of colour blocking were underscored by the arresting nature of his modern lines. At the heart of Simons’ collection was a playful tone, one the minimalist-set had forgotten, a child-like discipline reminding us of the Simons ethos: pride in individuality. 

rafsimons.com

Photography © Yannis Vlamos, GoRunway

BACKSTAGE: BOTTEGA VENETA

BOTTEGA VENETA SPRING 2014 MENSWEAR

bottegaveneta.com

Photography © Luca Campri

WONDROUS PRINTS: FANTASTIC MAN

WONDROUS PRINTS x FANTASTIC MAN

1. WONDROUS PRINTS, ALEXANDER MCQUEEN, CRAIG GREEN, 3RD JUNE 2013
2. WONDROUS PRINTS, CALVIN KLEIN, 7TH JUNE 2013
3. WONDROUS PRINTS, AMERICAN APPAREL, WOOYOUNGMI, 4TH JUNE 2013
4. WONDROUS PRINTS, DIESEL, HUGO BOSS, 5TH JUNE 2013

fantasticman.com/category/recommendations 

Photography © Devin Blair