As the year draws to a close, our fashion commentator James Tregaskes neatly sums up the wondrous world of menswear, and looks ahead to the February shows.
“Hold it there young man, its only a fashion show!” is one of my resounding memories of London Fashion Week in September. Fashionistas, male and female alike, ascended up through the stairwell of the NCP car park in Soho for the MAN show, a now permanent fixture on the London Fashion Week schedule. It’s a clear sign that menswear is important as ever and just gets bigger and better.
It’s not just those designers that choose to send skinny boys down the catwalks of Milan and Paris that have captivated the British man this year. Abercrombie & Fitch opened in the former Jil Sander store on Old Burlington Street to mass hysteria and as if that wasn’t enough launched their diffusion line, Hollistor, at the shiny new Westfield shopping centre in Shepherds Bush. Cue vast swathes of English menfolk resembling American college kids with their slogan teas and chinos. It’s like Gap on speed!
Men’s fashion in 2008 was all about snatching iconic pieces from various stereotypical social males. Take the deck shoe; a deeply un-hip item of clothing worn traditionally by those people that take the water rather seriously, and we’re not talking a super-yacht in the French Rivera here. With a bit of French sophistication added from our friends at Lanvin, and a must-have was born
Back in January it was clear that plaid was going to have a seriously massive reverberation in men’s and women’s garment designs this winter. Plaid has been a serious success and is expected to continue over into the runway shows coming up this January in Milan and Paris.
New York and London are getting in on the menswear action, giving the weeks on the Continent a run for their money. The likes of Thom Browne, Band of Outsiders, Phillip Lim, Obedient Sons and Rag & Bone in New York join rumoured menswear collections from British designers Gareth Pugh and Matthew Williamson.
So what’s on the shopping list for 2009? Where to begin? Expect to see a looser silhouette, as seen in the likes of Bottega Veneta and B Store. The classic pieces will certainly be prevalent in a chilled sort of a way as seen at Burberry Prorsum, or sharp slick and dynamic in a Dries Van Noten kind of way.
The short-short will continue its reign too, teamed with jackets and even the short-suit for Summer 2009. With the success of Mr. Bond, men’s tailoring is as paramount as ever and expect well-cut suits filtering through onto the catwalks and streets in light, advanced technology fabrics. Talking of technology; the i-Phone was the tech-fashion story of ’08, although a Blackberry is still a better option for us hyperactive emailers with dumpy thumbs!
Tune in during January & February for our Men’s & Women’s Fashion Week up-to-the minute reports from across the globe.
