NEW YORK FASHION WEEK A/W 2010/11 MENSWEAR

FROM WWW.REVISTAMETAL.COM:

Once a week solely devoted to what women want to wear, New York Fashion Week has seen a great increase of men’s shows in the past few seasons –and it’s something this city should be proud of. This was also a season of “seconds” for many designers: womenswear designer Maria Cornejo offered her second season of men’s clothing, and Siki Im, Petrou\Man and In Aisce showed their second ever collections to date. The following designers are those who caught our eye during a very hectic, crazy fashion week. Get to know your new favorite menswear designers.

PETROU\MAN
The Central Saint Martin’s graduate has previously dabbled in womenswear as the creative director of Dennis Basso, as well as running his own line. But from the looks of his second menswear collection for Petrou\Man, Petrou is clearly going places with his offbeat, macabre visions. The designer combines elements of classic tailoring with sportswear fabrics and unconventional detailing. Citing the travels of nomads as the inspiration behind this season, Petrou played with various textures and patterns, including hand dyed tartan jackets, metallic suiting, feathered headpieces and trousers tie dyed in shades of black, white and blue. A jacket covered in over seven thousand safety pins is the perfect pick for Petrou’s modern day warrior on the move. (Styling: Robbie Spencer (Menswear Fashion Editor Dazed & Confused), hair: Duffy, makeup: Maki Ryoke, sets: Robert Sumrell, music: Michael Magnan, photos: Fumi Nagasaka)


ROBERT GELLER
Downtown rock and roller met Upper East Side dandy at Robert Geller’s Autumn/Winter show. The CFDA award-winning German designer first stepped onto the fashion scene in 2002 with his cult label Cloak, and he hasn’t looked back since. Geller’s men stormed the runway to a roaring soundtrack of ‘70s rock outfitted in elegant wool capes, shredded black denim, slick leather jackets and the designer’s signature striped wool blazers and trousers. Luxurious touches were added with silk scarves and fur vests and shawls made from the wool of Japanese mountain goats. Always dark and romantic, Geller’s collection was fully realized and simply stunning.
---






SIKI IM
For his sophomore menswear presentation titled “New Era,” the Ecco Domani prizewinner and former senior designer of Helmut Lang cleverly arranged his models throughout a maze of trashed office cubicles, and included a live show by the band Sick Fix. This was not a typical day on Wall Street, and in our opinion Siki’s hand tailored menswear runs circles around the average businessman’s stodgy suiting. The collection featured sharp made to measure blazers, kimono-like overcoats and skirts in both knee and floor lengths. The clean looks were accessorized with leather straps, knee socks and knit scarves that transformed into sleeves. Hats constructed from newspaper were an appropriate finishing touch.
---




RAD HOURANI
Rad Hourani continued his dark reign over New York Fashion Week with another bad to the bone runway show of androgynous models cloaked from head to toe in black. Inspired by the process of transformation, the self-taught Canadian designer created unisex pieces that could be worn in a multitude of ways. There were knit cardigans with detachable sleeves and rectangular leather jackets that transformed into capes, skirts and various other looks. One magical jacket could apparently be worn twelve different ways: an economical feat indeed. Other looks included patent leather pants and vests, jackets with attached backpacks, skintight strap covered leather pants— and zippers, zippers everywhere. The gothy black-clad audience salivated over each and every striking silhouette.
---




IN AISCE
In Aisce (pronounced “in aska”) is a promising young label in its second season, created by Brooklyn based designer, Jona. A dichotomy between precision tailoring and rough, deconstructed garments, In Aisce is growing and developing into new territories. For his fall collection called Grey Heart Leaking, Jona decided to look to the arduous years of the American Civil War for reference. A classic 1800s cutaway style blazer was a beautiful standout piece, as well as a slim black tailored overcoat and an impeccably crafted hooded leather jacket. Other looks included a pair of white button fly overalls, elbow length shearling fingerless gloves and an intimidating wide brimmed leather hat.

---

ZERO + MARIA CORNEJO
Cornejo’s androgynous female looks translate well into menswear, which she debuted last season. Always an exercise in architectural minimalism, the Chilean-born designer looked to “the darkness of Europe” for her Autumn/Winter collection. With a palette of charcoal gray, black and dark brown, Cornejo’s men were simple yet sophisticated in boxy wool overcoats, slouchy tapered trousers and fedoras. One model sported a comfy gray cape over brown leather jacket and pants, while another was outfitted in a black and white tartan jacket and hood combination. Very clean and very minimal, Cornejo’s vision is one we want to continue seeing.

---

ODYN VOVK
Austin Sherbanko of Odyn Vovk (Ukrainian for “one wolf”) offered an array of gothic garments with grungy appeal for his “Three Fold Path” collection. There were cropped distressed trousers, several black ribbed capes and a beautiful ochre-colored leather jacket with a diagonal zipper running from the shoulder to the waist. As usual, Sherbanko threw in several women’s looks for good measure —and despite sending a topless model down the runway last season— this time Sherbanko outfitted his lady in cropped fur jacket layered over a black hooded cape, and an asymmetrically cut and draped overcoat with origami-like folds. The feeling was dark and moody, and the cool kids were eating it all up.

---

YIGAL AZROUEL
Yigal Azrouel has been steadily building his menswear repertoire in the last few seasons after first showing men’s clothing for Autumn/Winter 2007. The designer’s first look was a wool charcoal suit with black leather sleeves, soon followed by a model in slim black trousers and a leather tee with cotton sleeves. The designer continued this sleeve trend with a seemingly Rick Owens/Gareth Pugh inspired wool overcoat with attached metallic leather sleeves. Other looks included slim fitting leather jackets, a charcoal cardigan with offset buttons, turtlenecks and one very unfortunate looking pair of fair isle long johns with a cod piece fly that we could have done without.

---

PATRIK ERVELL
With a collection full of ponchos, macs and translucent raincoats, Patrik Ervell’s models were ready to take on some seriously stormy weather. The show opened with a cropped blue belted mac and slim gray trousers, followed by models with windswept hair outfitted in a translucent yellow rubber raincoats and slightly nerdy office get-ups. There were clean-cut suits in shades of navy and gray, backpacks, cropped jackets and lots of synthetic outerwear. Ervell’s minimalist, utilitarian aesthetic will likely serve him and his customers well in the new decade.

---

BILLY REID
Southern dandy is what comes to mind when describing Billy Reid’s A/W 2010 collection. This year’s CFDA award winning designer presented clothing fit for country cousins and sophisticated urban dwellers alike. Models tramped through fog and leaves in a winter forest setting, outfitted in warm wooly knits, boxy jackets and plenty of plaid. The first model sported an oatmeal hued tweed suit, chambray button down and striped tie, while another model strolled by in a brown, black and red plaid suit and suspenders. Reid’s collection may not be breaking new ground, but its simple and comfortable and the guys want to wear it.

---

G-STAR
G-STAR’S extravagant runway show at the Hammerstein Ballroom was all about bright colors and exaggerated detailing. Large, hulking models stomped down the runway in neon yellow overcoats, rain jackets, vests, and of course, denim (though not as much as one would expect). One model wore tan baggy overalls paired with a chunky yellow knit turtleneck, while another sported patchwork jeans and a Big Bird-esque yellow cape. The bright yellow hues soon shifted into shades of neon blue and green, keeping up the brand’s extreme nature with large funnel necks, outlined pockets and metallic denim.

---

BESPOKEN
Originally inspired by the classic British clothier Turnbull and Asser, Bespoken adds a modern twist when creating its menswear collections —and there was definitely a British rocker vibe going on at the label’s A/W presentation. Models were dressed in slim fitting single-breasted jackets and trousers, a gray tweed vest and pants, a black corduroy jacket and accessories including bowties, suspenders and fedoras. A red and black buffalo plaid shawl collared blazer was a crowd pleaser, as well as a luxurious black leather jacket.

---