You can rely on Alber Elbaz and Lucas Ossendrijver to deliver a great collection and they did. This collection for Lanvin was typically elegant affair, with the très chic suits and kimono-style jackets. Irreverent touches like trousers and suits made from tie silk reinforce Elbaz’s gentle sense of humour and sandals worn with socks gave a geeky twist to the look.
We’re still playing post-Glastonbury catchup with all the menswear shows, but the collections have set the cogs in the cranium a-whirring. First up is YSL‘s collection, which features the director, Samuel Benchetrit’s son lazing around a hotel room Nouvelle Vague style. The clothes themselves seem to be a mix of high-low tailoring and rock chic. Looking forward to seeing this in more detail.
Lee Douros is the menswear buyer for my-wardrobe and at the last press day we had a great chat with him about men’s clothing and the online side of things. Lee definitely knows his stuff, so we were thrilled when he agreed to present his top summer picks for us. If you’re still stuck for high-summer chic then this is like the holy grail. Stay tuned for pt2!
As tributes for Michael Jackson continue to pour in, Sir Paul Smith made the ultimate gesture to the late King of Pop during his closing menswear show in Paris yesterday. The British designer danced his way down the catwalk to Jackson’s iconic “Thriller,” together with his light-footed models. It was a happy and celebratory moment as the audience clapped and bopped along. Catch sight of grey-haired Paul getting down to MJ by clicking play on the video above – fun!
Working within the confines of the grey suit Miuccia Prada played around with masculine conventions. Slashed shorts and sleeves nodded to a violent outburst against formalwear. Shoulders are very much the focus, even without jackets they were shown off in tank tops and sleeveless cardigans. Textured tops and greyscale prints conveyed the feel of newsprint.
This isn’t the first catwalk show where we’ve seen sheer tailoring, it looks like SS10 will see lots of sharp, sheer menswear pieces on the high street.
A retro silhouette dominated the Missoni collection, it was all cuffed trousers and shirts teamed with trenches and faded denims.
Patchwork knits and David Byrne-esque tailoring carried on the throwback theme. Hints of safariwear came through in the muted palette of washed-out neutrals hinted and sherbet accents provided a delicate burst of colour.
Best worn: while being a foreign correspondent in the Sahara.
Last night the London College of Fashion‘s BA Fashion Design students showed their graduate collections.
With only three students doing menswear there wasn’t so much for the Brandish reader but Aleksandra Domanevskaya‘s collection caught our eye. She took the limitations of menswear, reworking staple items with a dreamy touch. I love the oversized blouson after the jump, and I can’t help but being reminded of the ‘Mr Soft’ advert by the trenchcoat.
Over the last few years, with the trends having covered skinny jeans, unisex mods, sexually-liberated hippies, shoulder pads, guy/girl jumpsuits and the his/her Eighties where basically anything went, I have tried my hand at many trends that tread the fine line between menswear and womenswear.
This photo recently appeared on Facehunter and, while originally in awe of this fashionisto’s rose accessory, I began to wonder if it would be one step too far and throw me into the realm of uncomfortable dressing (a fatal flaw when it comes to styling!) I happily carry a man-bag and have even experimented with Guyliner in recent months but I couldn’t be sure that I would feel okay with an accessory like the one above. Would you be willing too wear something so overtly feminine or do you like to stick within the traditional fashion sex boundaries?
Knitwear and accessories are the shining stars of the River Island Menswear collection, they’ve got a great range of chunky cardigans, arran-style jumpers and we love the rocket cardie below!
We caught up with the RI team at the press day and couldn’t resist taking a photo of their outfits. We spoke to James Lawrence who does the bags for the brand, and he told us he was really excited about all the range, and the nylon shopper (last pic) was declared group fave.
As you can tell the collection takes inspiration from Williamson’s mix of traditional Brit and colourful hedonism, with brights, seersucker (a brilliant summer fabric) and tie dye. “I have aimed to incorporate a styling juxtaposition where global inspiration is fused with quintessential English style.” said Williamson. It might be a little much to wear all together, but the seperate pieces will definitely give your summer wardrobe some pep.
Andrew Chen from 3sixteen kindly sent us over a sneak preview of their A/W range. I know most of us are just getting our summer wardrobe sorted, but it never hurts to be prepared!
Shot on the streets of New York the collection is neat, grown up and functional. There’s a lot of grey, which we always love, but the real treat is the mix of textures like chambray, denim tweed and knit. Look out for details like toggles on jumpers and quality leather accessories, can’t wait to see the lookbook.
Seb Law is a grown up business Editor by day, dj by night, and in between finds time to maintain his blog at The Staple and keep us entertained on Twitter. He kindly provided us with his summer picks, which get us in the mood for long days at the park, day trips to the beach and lazy pub garden evenings. Read on to find out what he’ll be wearing this season:
Bike
As the sun peeks around the clouds, bicycles begin to appear from garages. Travelcards are massively expensive, the bike lanes are brilliant, it’s good exercise and there’s nothing better than sailing past several of your usual buses en route to work; a bicycle is a summer Staple. If fixie simplicity is too hardcore, go Dutch as recommended by the NY Times and available at Bobbin, or delve into your Dad’s garage, eBay or Gumtree for a vintage model.
At the Store press day recently I came across an unfamiliar brand, Garbstore. Their ethos is ‘unfamiliar vintage’ and it fits right in with What We Like on Brandish as well as being bang on trend with the workwear feel. Garbstore have a store in Portobello which stocks labels like Bedwin and Rittenhouse as well as their own label.
Some typical picks from their store includes the ’50s Locker Cardigan with chenille patch, (£125) and their Warden coat, (£150) based on a 1956 design from the north of England. I have a feeling this is just the start of a long love affair, so expect to see a lot more of Garbstore on the site!
Here is part two of our interview with Fantastic Man Co-Editor In Chief Gert Jonkers, along with Jop van Bennekom they produce one of our favourite fashion mags, click here to read part one.
How do you think being from the Netherlands and basing the magazine in Amsterdam has influenced the magazine?
To develop and maintain our own tone of voice it surely helped to not be around all the other magazine makers. And just because we’re not in London, Paris or New York, I think we have quite an interesting perspective on the fashion world. We’re intrigued by fashion, yet we’re not completely drowning in it.
From Catwalk Queen… This has to be the strangest news that I have read in a while (in the last 24 hours, at least). Liam Gallagher is getting his hands on the rag trade by launching his own fashion label, Pretty Green. Nope, I’m not joking either.
It seems the Oasis frontman has his sights set on fashion, why? Because “he likes clothes.” Fair enough I guess. The label is beginning with menswear, with a limited edition collection of classic pieces including trench coats, knit, footwear and t-shirts. Pretty green or pretty bad? You decide. Click play on promo video above to watch.
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