1. 1/27/08 6:46 PMYouth, grace, power - Los Angeles Times
Page 1 of 4http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-ig-men27jan27,0,2205380.story
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THE FALL 2008 MEN'S COLLECTIONS
Youth, grace, power
Jonas Gustavsson / For The Times
Dior
Designers show easy-to-wear clothes with military styling and formal collars.
By Adam Tschorn, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
January 27, 2008
PARIS -- JOHN GALLIANO'S servants and jesters appeared as a grubby, beaten
and bloody lot, which might have been throwaway runway theatrics if not for the
world stock market plunge that dominated headlines last week, portending a bleak
retail environment.
Set on a runway roiling with dry ice vapor, Galliano's thuggy collection of fur-trimmed
leathers, denim, checked sports coats and baggy trousers was inspired by London's
17th century frost fairs that would turn the frozen Thames into an impromptu carnival
for everyone from kings to executioners. Because changes in the climate meant the
Thames eventually stopped freezing over, demolishing the venue, the designer could
have been making a sly comment on global warming -- or the transitory nature of our
good times and the widening gulf between the haves and have-nots.
With punks at Comme des Garçons and girlie men at
Prada, gentleman bank robbers at Louis Vuitton and
royalty at Giorgio Armani, power and status were clearly
on the minds of designers this season in Milan and Paris.
And yet, aside from Miuccia Prada's gender-bashing,
feminized and fetishized men's collection -- which
included models in hybrid cummerbund-thongs, halter-top
waistcoats and sequined tutus -- the shows were mostly
devoid of gratuitous theatrics.
Instead, designers showed recession-proof, easy-to-wear
clothes that managed to be both youthful and elegant, a
combination that's been missing from the men's mix of
recent seasons.
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2. 1/27/08 6:46 PMYouth, grace, power - Los Angeles Times
Page 2 of 4http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-ig-men27jan27,0,2205380.story
Designers were mad for plaid, obsessed with military influences, and eager to add
formal-wear touches to everything from ski pants to Russian-style greatcoats. The
hot new real estate is the collar area, which turns last season on its head and makes
the neck the new ankle. The pairing of high and low reflected the reality of today's
mix-and-match approach to dressing and the rising popularity of suit separates.
Giorgio Armani updated old-school, 1930s-era style with the high collars and rich
velvet trappings of the nobleman for a collection he dubbed Regal. It was full of
luxurious, generously cut velvet trousers (backstage, Armani mentioned a street-
wear influence), soft, jersey-like shirts with tuxedo-like bibs, shawl-collared
waistcoats and heightened-crown hats. Two pieces -- a quilted black, double-
breasted suit and a similar trench -- could have easily doubled as sleepwear.
Backstage, Armani explained his take on the collar, which fell somewhere between
shirting fabric turtleneck and cravat. "A shirt with a high, stiff collar forces you to hold
yourself in a certain regal manner," he said, noting with a chuckle that the future
king of England, Prince William of Wales, might look handsome in one of his suits.
Donatella Versace was mining the same territory with a collection that put manly
men in strong-shouldered, double-breasted jackets with built-in hoods, overcoats
kicked up a notch with silk lapels -- some so wide they extended to the shoulders --
and generously cut trousers with ruler-width, plastic taping that aped a tuxedo side
seam.
More in the vein of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" than his majesty, Neil Barrett's
"tuxedo ski" collection is just the sort of thing James Bond might wear to battle
Blofeld on the slopes before schussing into an Alpine village for a little après
something: ski pants adorned with the tuxedo-stripe side seam, ski boots rendered in
patent leather, silk/wool waistcoats with sporty racer backs and woolen ski overalls
that were paired with formal-looking tailored ski parkas, tuxedo jackets and army
field jackets.
Gucci's collection felt a generation younger than what creative director Frida Giannini
sent down the runway last season, perhaps because her inspiration was New York
City band Gogol Bordello and lead singer Eugene Hütz (who inspired a character in
the 2006 movie "Wristcutters: A Love Story").
The result was a Bohemian-military mixed bag; velvet and corduroy suits,
accessorized at the waist with printed scarves and military-style medals (emblazoned
with the Gucci griffin logo); soft-shouldered jackets paired with slouchy, extra-long
trousers; brass buttons, metal-studded epaulets, braided metallic cuffs and the
occasional Russian army jacket hammered home the warmonger/peacenik
dichotomy.
A favorite piece was the new cardigan jacket in gray knit with a brown leather button
placket, shoulder details and metal buttons just tough enough to keep Mr. Rogers
from getting beaten up in the officers' club.
By comparison, the Etro show was in a parallel universe, with vegetable gardens
sprouting from the runway and models sporting onion and rose motifs. Backstage,
designer Kean Etro denied that his cheery homage to the harvest was a reaction to
the prevailing militaristic and somber vibe. "I always go my own way," he said. Still,
his tossed salad of a runway show included some nice looks that touched on the
season's overarching themes, including mixed plaids.
In Paris, there was a similar feeling of freshness and vigor at Louis Vuitton, where
Marc Jacobs and menswear designer Paul Helbers had, as Snoop might say, "their
mind on their money and their money on their mind" with colors and patterns
inspired by old Russian, Greek and Israeli banknotes -- almost gem-like greens and
blues, worn-in browns and grays. Money was also the root of the collection's back
story based on the 1963 film "Mélodie en sous-sol," about a pair of well-heeled
gentleman robbers of a Cannes casino.
The result was a collection of look-good, move-fast pieces: roomy, straight-leg
trousers, sapphire-colored suits, utilitarian safe-cracking clothes with secret pockets
and a scarf printed like a bank floor plan (actually the layout of the Champs-Elysées
store).
But the real money in the bank will most certainly be the new Damier Graphite
pattern that was introduced on several accessories, a new iteration of the
checkerboard design Georges Vuitton patented 120 years ago. The masculine,
black-on-gray version was trotted out on motorcycle helmets, briefcases and
luggage. Expect to see the collection zoom out of the LV boutiques when it arrives in
mid-August.
Yves Saint Laurent didn't hold a runway show this season, instead channeling
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3. 1/27/08 6:46 PMYouth, grace, power - Los Angeles Times
Page 3 of 4http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-ig-men27jan27,0,2205380.story
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resources into an arresting video starring British actor Simon Woods (HBO viewers
will recognize him as Gaius Octavian from "Rome"). In the video, which can be
viewed at www.ysl.com, Woods swirls, splashes and thrashes his way through a
shower of rose petals, while kitted out in the fall/winter collection, and pocket
squares tumble through the air backed by an infectious, pulsating soundtrack.
"The message is fashion for everybody," the designer, Stefano Pilati, said of the
project. So it was no surprise that his inspiration was David Bowie, the archetypal
creative chameleon. The collection similarly had it both ways -- some trousers were
tapered, others flared; there were velvet biker jackets and three-quarter-length coats
that could have been pulled from a Pendleton catalog. Bowie-esque touches
included slim silhouettes and lighting bolt details.
Kris Van Assche's sophomore effort (and first runway show) at the helm of Dior
Homme started in style with designers John Galliano and Karl Lagerfeld showing
their support in the front row. But the endless permutations of intricately stitched and
folded black on black on black seemed like nothing more than a grab bag. There
were tight pants, followed by a rehash of last season's parachute pants, tuxedo
jackets, motorcycle jackets, vests and an incongruously delicate swarm of black
butterflies perched on shirts and jackets. (Van Assche explained it is a reference to
the French word for "bow tie.")
There were dark moments too, when a jacket appeared to be festooned with
thousands of pins (think Clive Barker's "Hellraiser" and another jacket with a
cracked-glass design that mimicked the look of a bullet hole right through the heart).
Rei Kawakubo struck just the right note at Comme des Garçons Homme Plus,
managing to encompass the entire menswear season in an elegant range of tartan-
trimmed, 1930s and punk-influenced pieces. Jackets were the highlight, shot
through with plaid accents and patched with punk-lettered slogans such as "lies, lies,
lies," "born again pagan" and "closing down sale."
Not every designer can make a silk top hat and "going out of business" sloganeering
work on the same runway, much less the same outfit. But with the world in a free
fall, Kawakubo's dapper chap in the topper, tartan and taglines isn't just the face of
the season to come, he's all of us.
adam.tschorn@latimes.com
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