The Trench Coat

Simon Spurr spring

Looking at the collections for spring 2011 that were presented last week in the NY fashion week there was one item that was shown by almost every designer - The Trench Coat!

A bit of history: The Invention of the trench coat is claimed by both Burberry and Aquascutum. Aquascutum's claim dating back to the 1850s, but Thomas Burberry (who was the inventor of the gabardine fabric), submitted a trench coat design for an army officer's raincoat to the United Kingdom War Office in 1901 where it all really began. A typical trench coat by this period was a ten-buttoned, double-breasted long coat (usually is knee-length) with cuff straps on the raglan sleeves, shoulder straps and a belt. Made in tan, khaki, beige, or black waterproof heavy-duty cotton drill or poplin, wool gabardine, or leather. Had generally a removable insulated lining; and was typically worn as a windbreaker or as

Spring 2011 NY Fashion week - John Varvatos

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.

Spring 2011 NY Fashion week - G-Star Raw

I love raw denim, there is something so cool about it, the stiffness and rigidness of the fabric makes it more sculptured than draped and gives it a masculine, rough rockish feel that i love, therefore naturally  i love what G-star does with it, the way they cut and slice the panels on their silhouettes, the cool pocket shapes and the interesting seaming are very inspiring to me .....this time using white, khaki/army tones and blue denim G-star delivered once again a cool and fresh twist to this classic cotton fabric with short slim zip up jackets, long coats and voluminous pants.

Spring 2011 NY Fashion week - Duckie Brown

When i think about spring (especially living in NY) i think about the arrival of the worm weather ...of summer ...which  means bright colors are taking over the grey dark colors of the long and cold winter (am I'm making it clear enough how much i "love" the cold weather???), so for me every time i seat down to think about inspirations for spring collections this is the first things on the list.....but a week into NY fashion week i must say most of the men's collections had winter color stories like grey, black and navy with lots of army tones so on that end the Duckie Brown collection managed to separate itself from all the rest. Just like their inspiration called for, the collection was filled with prints, stripes patterns and clearly....lots of happiness, all mixed together in the different looks which at times looked refreshing and at times just too busy for me. The silhouettes were Eastern influenced with long shirts buttoned all the way up and asymmetrical drape-y sheer knits all fused with western minimalism....interesting but not really my personal taste.

Spring 2011 NY Fashion week - Marc by Marc Jacobs

The Marc guy should be loving this collection, and I'm sure he will have a blast choosing his wardrobe pieces for next spring....I think that even i can finally see my self in a Marc look! Easy fun suits tailored but in a cool downtown feel with ankle length pants in gathered waists and pleats worn over sneakers (what else is new...) and trench coats, trench coats and some more trench coats....but in fun and exciting versions like the classic longer version, or this contemporary rusted color one... and even a sleeveless version...Love it!
More photos after the jump.

Spring 2011 NY Fashion week - 3.1 Philip Lim

The Philip Lim Men's spring 2011collection had some pieces and looks that i really loved such as the more tailored and constructed ones, but on the other hand there were pieces that had the contiguous symptom of pushing the envelope but in the wrong direction which  is usually either too theatrical or too feminine (like in that case). It was not really clear enough for me who is the Philip Lim man.....therefore i will just concentrate on the pieces i personally liked.
More photos after the jump.

Spring 2011 NY Fashion week - Michael Bastian

The all American designer Michael Bastian adopted scuba diving as the Inspiration for spring his 2011 collection. At first i didn't think it sounded so promising until i saw the end result and for the most part i liked what I've seen. Yes there were some swimwear and diving pieces but for the most part the collection offers any American man who is a fan of the modern preppy style (which was a big theme all around this season) lots of good pieces for his spring wardrobe, especially the jackets and suits that looked tailored but effortless to wear. It is clearly once again that Michael knows what his customer is looking for and he does a great job offering it to him, and quite frankly i can see any guy no matter what his style is finding some pieces to work with it....even I who is not a fan of the preppy style would love to add some of these jackets to my wardrobe.
The only thing i would say is that he could have shown few less looks to make the presentation more focused...but hey, i can live with that. More Photos after the jump.

Spring 2011 NY Fashion week - Y-3

I grew up loving Adidas, as a Football (soccer) fan and especially growing closer to Europe that was the biggest sport brand, (i don't even think i knew about Nike back than....), so i always had a soft spot for the 3 stripes. As a designer i always adored the Japanese designers for their style and inventiveness, therefore for me the combination of Adidas and Yohji Yamamoto is a match made in heaven, and for spring 2011 we got to see some more of that fun collaboration, cause this season they mixed in a rockish feel which among my favorite inspirations.... The look of the spring collection combined a formal wear inspired silhouettes like the tailcoats with wide pants in a soft silky fabrics styled with suspenders, resembling an 80's punk rock feel that the hairstyles helped supporting beautifully. I didn't really care for the burnout striped velvet shirts or the short tank tops (that was the detail from the 80's i could easily skip....). Color story surrounded black and navy with shots of brighter colors like a in these green pant below. All together a great sport tailored inspired collection with some great pieces to choose from.
More photos after the jump.

Spring 2011 NY Fashion week - Rag & Bone

"Nomads of the North African deserts" was the inspiration for Rag & Bone's Spring 2011 men's collection....looking at the show i think they took the inspiration very seriously resulting in quite a literal interpretation of the subject. I will admit that although Rag & Bone always had somewhat of a British tailoring  touch to their line (which i love), i was never really a fan of their product....as a matter of fact I don't even own any of their item, it was just never my style, and this season i think its even harder for me to relate...the look is very denim and American work wear driven and although its done in their own sophisticated way it just not my cup of tea. The look is casual and the silhouettes are looser and on the baggy side with wide leg pants and long shirts and jackets/coats (a bit too Nomads and desert style for me), with a fabric story that revolves around denim, canvas and chambray. My favorite pieces were the Chambray trench coat and some of the pants that had cool utility pockets and a fun mix of colors/fabrics and looked very comfy.
Generally the inspiration was executed very well in the collection and i would think that the Rag & Bone customer will find a lot of solid pieces in it, which is all that matters after all.

Spring 2011 NY Fashion week - Simon Spurr

A couple days ago I have posted Simon Spurr's inspiration for the spring  season which in his words sounded like that: "exploring the boundaries between art and fashion, the collection mixes Lucio Fontana - inspired prints and sweaters with British military undertones and YSL elegance.” The result on the runway was Great! I thought the collection had a lot of great pieces, I loved the suits especially the three piece ones in either slicky fabrics, solid colors or in the plaids (loved the 2 piece plaid suit above which reminded me a lot of my new suit.....i wonder if he reads this blog????), 
also thought the sophisticated mustard trench coat and  the light and clean sweaters in army colors were great. I wasn't as crazy about his casual items like the denim pants and didn't care for the scarfs (it's too much of Brooklyn hipsters style... and we had enough of that). As far as the inspiration goes you can definitely see a strong YSL elegance and the color story was clearly inspired by  Lucio Fontana prints and British military undertones.
Over all I really loved the collection, it has a great European touch but with American influences all executed in high quality.
More photos after the jump.

Spring 2011 Inspirations

Fashion week in NY starting today and I'm sure a lot of you out there are always wondering and curious about the inspiration for the collections so when i saw that  WWD posted some of the inspirations being used for spring 2011 I thought i"ll share with you five designers/inspirations that i thought it will be interesting to follow and see how they will be translated into clothes... and once fashion week is over I'll post the results....
Good luck to all the designers this week....and give us something to remember!

SIMON SPURR
exploring the boundaries between art and fashion, the collection mixes Lucio Fontana - nspired prints and sweaters with British military undertones and YSL elegance.” — Simon Spurr

Designer of the week - Simon Spurr

Simon Spurr is a NY based men's designer who mixes the traditional English tailoring of Savile row's fit and quality, the European style slim suits, and the American street wear of selvage denim and bomber jackets all together in a fun, sleek sophisticated way . .....sounds interesting? well.... it also looks good! The result is a style that perfectly captures the mind set of the contemporary man who is looking for new ways of wearing traditional pieces to fit his more casual life style but still do it in a luxurious and sophisticated way. With a design philosophy of Style before Fashion i thought that Simon Spurr is a perfect fit for this blog therefore introducing the man and the brand seemed to be in order!

"when a man walks into the room you should notice him before the clothes. Style rather than Fashion always has greater longevity" Simon Spurr

New York fashion week - Fall 2010-2011

New York fashion week proved once again its power as the capital of the sophisticated casual sportswear....... showing straight forward, commercial and wearable clothes!
The general inspiration board includes British tailoring influenced by 50's flair (someone said Mad man???), worn by a hipster from Williamsburg (Brooklyn), who caught in a moody day wearing Doc Martens-like lace-ups boots (with the pants tucked in), and sporting a pompadour hairstyle a la Morrissey. The color palette was mostly dark in basic shades of black, gray and earth tones...
Standout items included overcoats (were the highlights of almost every designer) and vests.

3.1 PHILLIP LIM