When it comes to rocker style (which i personally love) the first person who comes to mind (nowadays) is Lenny Kravitz! Over the years he established himself as the definition of Rocker style - fitted pants, fitted T's, leather jackets and boots (he likes them with hills), while accessories such as sun glasses (day or night time), scarves, fur pieces and off course jewelery are always welcome... Although it sounds like a pretty straight forward style for a rocker what's sets Lenny Kravitz apart from the other God knows how many rockers out there is that he knows how to put it all together and do it in a sophisticated way while still making it look natural and comfortable. That takes an eye for a style, a strong personality to follow your heart and a creative mind which it looks like he was blessed with all three, add his good looks to the mix (and maybe lots of work out), and the end result is a consistent, strong individual and inspiring style. Kravitz has founded a design firm named Kravitz Design, stating if he hadn't been a musician he would have been a designer.....
For me it all started with his music (we picked his song You Belong To me as our wedding song, the bass line
Growing up Bryan Ferry was one of my favorite musicians (as the front man of Roxy Music partnering with likes of Bryan Eno or in his own solo career), but on top of that his glamorous dandy sense of style was instrumental in the development of my personal style (i can't tell you how many times as a teenager i tried to straiten my hair in trying to copy his hair style....it never really worked for more than 10 minutes....) and quite honestly i still wish that at his age (he celebrated 65 on September 26th) i would look and dress like him... Bryan Ferry can teach us a lot about style and how to dress, especially on how to wear suits and still look young, edgy and always... elegant! So for all of you out there who are required to wear suits in your daily life watch and learn....can you imagine bankers, lawyers and alike dress like Bryan Ferry? sporting suits in bright colors like red, fuchsia, lime green and gold.....what a stylish and beautiful world would that be....
Whether in his lyrics or his stage presence Bryan Ferry always had a unique majestic finesse, somewhat imperial and more than once melancholic in the way he sings, moves and dresses yet it all seems very natural for him which makes him very inspiring (i guess the fact that he is still dating girls half his age is probably as inspiring (if not more) for guys out there...).
A big contributor to his style was the British designer Antony Price who is known for his glamorous evening wear and suits and was actually the architect behind the Roxy Music pop retro-futurism style, for both the band members and the Roxy girls. A style that was inspired by 1950’s glamour and his own futuristic vision of part human part mannequin, making Roxy Music into an aesthetic experiment rather than just a musical one. Price also dressed other musicians such as David Bowie and Duran Duran but Brian Ferry was definitely the perfect match for his designs. Nicky Haslam described Brian Ferry's sense of style the best "He was more likely to redecorate a hotel room than to trash it"
I got my first (and actually my only one so far) motorcycle jacket about 20 years ago in India out of all places.... I was traveling there after my army service and one day i went into a leather store in Delhi and had my eye on this black leather asymmetrical motorcycle jacket but since i was a tourist the guy at the store thought i should cover his annual sales and gave me a price that scared me away, but as i was making my way out of the store he kept on dropping the price to about fifth of the original offer ....so i went back and tried it..... the true is that i really had no intention of getting this jacket and that's why i walked away....but i guess it had my name on it!The motorcycle jacket got its big break into the fashion books after Marlon Brandon wore it in 1953 as Johnny Strabler in the movie The Wild One.
Marlon Brandon in The Wild One
Shortly after and over the years it was adopted as the classic rock n roll jacket portraying a rebellious image with a rockish/punk/metal, bad boy bad ass feel (which off course made almost every
John Varvatos was once again John varvatos for this spring 2011.... rockish, slim fitted, washed, aged, vintage inspired clothes with some great jackets and coats (loved the trench coats), in great quality. I read an interview with him about a week ago on WWD in celebration of his 10th Anniversary and learned about his background and its very clear in the line where he is coming from which influenced him to designed from the perspective of the customer and not the designer...in other words its not about his Ego as a designer, its about what his customer need and want! And believe me not many designers can do that....
With all that said I'm not sure about the color story for the spring collection, yes it fits into the style but still we are talking SPRING you need to have some colors! the color story was more a fall presentation than spring.
Last night my wife and i went to see Elefant, an indie rock band from New York city. So in the spirit of that my look of this week is a Rock N Roll suicide.... (the suicide part just makes it sound more edgy and glamorous, so no need to call 911). What is more Rockish feeling than BLACK, SKINNY, and VINTAGE??? OK ,maybe long hair, not shaving and looking drugged and dirty are some others but I'll stay with the first 3 for now. On my first visit to London (to any of you who are reading this and never been there, DROP everything that you are doing right now and GO.... don't think, don't pack just go....) about 15 years ago while visiting in Camden Market (back than it was still raw and not as polished as now days) in the vintage market I spotted about 20 feet away from me this black leather coat hanging in one of the booths, i zoomed on it and started running towards it (I'm really not exaggerating, i was worried that someone else will spot it before me so i had no choice but running there). This beautiful piece of art had served me since than, i had to change the entire lining that was ripped and found my self freezing in some cold weather days just cause it was cooler to wear it instead of a really warm coat but it was all worth it... this item made everything i wore look cooler, i had so many people over the years complimenting it. The shrunk jeans jacket is another vintage find (some store on 23rd st in the city) for $20 about 8 years ago while looking for inspiration items. I always loved how these 2 jackets complimented each other (actually so much that i wore them on my first date with my wife hoping it will impress her as well.....hey, it worked and besides....everyone is entitled to some vanity and shallowness...). Let's Rock!!!
This week I'm wearing:
Black skinny jeans - BOAZ Black shirt - Ben Sherman Black scarf - H&M Jeans jacket - Vintage
Although it sounds like a pretty straight forward style for a rocker what's sets Lenny Kravitz apart from the other God knows how many rockers out there is that he knows how to put it all together and do it in a sophisticated way while still making it look natural and comfortable. That takes an eye for a style, a strong personality to follow your heart and a creative mind which it looks like he was blessed with all three, add his good looks to the mix (and maybe lots of work out), and the end result is a consistent, strong individual and inspiring style. Kravitz has founded a design firm named Kravitz Design, stating if he hadn't been a musician he would have been a designer.....
