Articles by faggoting

Hot on the heels of his Eastpak and ongoing Fred Perry projects, Raf Simons has hooked up with 90’s nostalgia inducing Dr. Martens to produce a shoe line that will be out for spring 2009.

Along with his lower priced bridge line RAF and this latest addition to his series of collaborations it seems the once commercially quiet designer has found his own niche and (selling) point of view. Surely a sign of times for was not always the most receiving and encouraging climate for young individualistic designers.

www.rafsimons.com

www.rafbyrafsimons.com

www.drmartens.com

Olivier Borde has been a seasoned designer working as a partner with Charles Anastase for years, last year he competed in the International Festival d’Hyeres, an annual design and photography competition known to spotlight and nurture fashion’s most promising talents. The experience inspired him to produce his collection for a second season (spring 2009).

Menswear, always considered second tier to the innovation and exuberance of womenswear, has been increasingly evolving over the past decade. The time when men’s high fashion was considered a folly has given way to a dynamic field that is genuinely influencing the way normal men dress. Options are multiplying, new ideas are disseminating, and it’s designers like Borde push this shift. His designs are bold in their use of silhouette and pattern but never steer too far from the established codes of menswear. And what novel ideals are presented in his trousers! His experience in womenswear no doubt influencing his way of tailoring and shaping the male silhouette. He is without a doubt the most promising menswear design to emerge in recent years.

Oliver Borde [Garde Robe] is currently sold only at a smattering of locations in France but let’s hope that some investment interest and his much talked about presence will bring him stateside soon.

http://olivierbordegarderobe.blogspot.com/

The impact of a massive and graphic silhouette embellished by technical sheen, color blocking, and glistening zippers became the desired effect by most European menswear designers in the early 90’s. It set the precedent for a kind of masculine chic which lingered far enough to become archaic and demand its own fashion victim classification. Abound in catalogs like International Male, the look (dated and outmoded) was left covetable by only the hopelessly out of touch and lacking in self-awareness. It’s a part of what we have come to identify as cheesy 90’s fashion.

For those older than 25 the era is so resolved in their memory making any aesthetic reference or hint of nostalgia deplorable. The embarrassment is still fresh. But in the same manner it only took the 80’s twenty years to find it’s own revival thus the early 90’s will find it’s way, as the cyclical nature of fashion demands, back into our awareness riding the undaunted swing of the pendulum.

What exactly can this too soon forgotten period add to our contemporary aesthetics that officer jackets, skinny jeans, American Apparel t-shirts, and fauxhawks cannot? The return to a masculine but sensual silhouette and a dose of humor presents an attitude that neither needs nor desires approval from a generation swamped with influence. The Details Magazines, Justin Timberlakes, Kanye Wests, Julian Red Jeans, APC’s, A/X’s, Chase Crawfords, Zaras all go mute. It’s a sensitivity that is resentful of the current establishment, it is anti-fashion, a deliberate display not of bad taste but a distinctly different one. And one of the key concepts needed to be grasped in order for assimilation to happen is of scale. The look of yesteryear was designed for a muscular and large figure meant to fill out the clothes and provide a structure, but the new idea is deflated. It’s as much about the space between the body and the fabric as it is around the whole figure. To be worn correctly you will want it to hang. Essentially, it’s still a “skinny” look but only now naturally lends itself to a matured physique.

It won’t be easy to figure out how to interpret such a stigmatized aesthetic for today but there will be those who will try and they will show the rest of us how it’s done. And as in most sensibilities that are so silly and new it demands confidence which is precisely why in these uncertain times its appeal is slowly (oh so slowly) beginning to wax.

From The Spring 2009 Men’s Collections:

1- Calvin Klein Collection, Jil Sander, Michael Kors, Jil Sander

2- Junn J, Givenchy, Calvin Klein Collection, Givenchy, Jil Sander

3- Gaspard Yurkeivich, Obedient Sons, Marni, 3.1 Philip Lim

4- Prada, Lanvin, Duckie Brown, Vivienne Westwood

5- Paul Smith, Z Zegna, Obedient Sons, Bottega Veneta

This surely means an upswing for what have been difficult times for Narciso Rodriguez. That isn’t to assume this was the best choice for Michelle Obama in her moment of political triumph. No Matter, the real shebang will be her husband’s inauguration when one designer will be cemented in political and pop cultural history and launched into the iconic and stratospheric American pantheon of Oscar De La Renta, Ralph Rucci, Halston, and Galanos.

And perhaps it’s important to note that the last three high-end designers the first lady elect has worn all come from (while being entirely American) culturally diverse backgrounds with histories in another country and a closer resemblance to the contemporary America, the kind that she and her husband symbolize. Who is to say that fashion has no place in politics?

It’s always a vulgar practice to name drop and in regards to fashion it is both obnoxious and compulsory. Any compliment on an article of clothing or accessory summons the immediate denial punctuated with name brand validation “oh, this old thing? it’s MAH-KWEEN” or “Oh Yeah, I got it a couple of seasons ago at a sample sale, DEEE-OHR OHME”. The wearing of these brands becomes political as questions of wealth and style savvy spark jealousy. A nasty game that’s best avoided when possible but can any of us really resist? It’s important to realize that act of name dropping loses its crudeness when it’s a name that no one desires or knows what it means. And so if your garment is neither covetable nor recognizable in all it’s sewn in splendor than not only do you allow yourself the pleasure of playing the game but placing yourself well above it. The trick then is making sure that you choose wisely and wear clothes that beckon the initial investigation of its origin. And if you’re really good you can tap in to the brand’s own inherent cache that might perhaps have more to do with good design and heritage rather than any popular endorsement.

A Short Directory of Fine Brands That Can Be Uttered Without Ostentation:

Beretta- firearm gear and apparel

L.L. Bean - waspy outdoorsy

Christophe Lemaire - French individualistic menswear designer

Stone Island - for real man? or for real men?

Patagonia - Spanish northface with more color range

Cerruti - fabulous Italian menswear and textile firm

Romeo Gigli - 80’s Italian label with fun nostalgic takes on the 80’s

Kiton - very fine men’s suiting

Brioni - more very fine men’s suiting

Allen Edmonds - presidential shoes

Florsheim - cheaper version of allen edmonds

Brooks Brothers (excluding Black Fleece) - old and boring menswear (but not if you’re smart about it)

Olivier Borde - Very relevant but small French menswear designer. One to watch.

Zegna - Established menswear firm with a rather nice and newly repositioned bridge collection (Z Zegna)

Henrik Vibskov - Very fun Danish designer with a penchant for old European charm and club aesthetics

Romain Kremer - hot new young thing with clothes that are even hotter

Telfar - fabulous DIY label

Hood By Air - terribly cool streetwear

Nike - goddess of victory

Fabrics Interseason - clever German label

Mjolk - cute boyish clothes from Sweden

Cosmic Wonder - Japanese high concept casual apparel

Adam Kimmel - luxury utility

Carharrt - farmer boy

Increasingly over the past few seasons designers have been syncing up their men’s and women’s collections keeping color, texture, and silhouette in tandem. It makes for a stronger brand image (an asset that’s become more and more difficult to control) but slowly it blurs the lines between what is and isn’t gender appropriate. It harkens back to Cardin’s futuristic unisex outfits in the way Miuccia Prada presented the same wide-neck and abutting hemmed jackets in both her men’s and women’s collections. Or in the way Anne Demeulemeester kept the same stripes, earthy beige fabric, and languid lines in her own presentations. In the 10+ years Nicholas Ghesquire has been at the helm of Balenciaga he’s been searching for a way to interpret the brand’s heritage and yet keep his own integrity intact. When the company began to offer a men’s RTW collection that challenge was tripled in that the original Balenciaga did not design men’s clothes and years of bad judgment with licensing deals ruined any credibility the name could have placed on the inside of a man’s garment (subpar Balenciaga men’s dress shirts still haunt ebay auctions). To forge an identity with no heritage while at the same time fighting back a dishonest and regrettable history is no easy feat.

It’s to Ghesquire’s credit that he plays to his strengths; one of his gifts is that he’s relentless in his severe sci-fi aesthetic creating imaginative worlds far beyond our own. The other is his knack for taking a foreign object and idea out of its context and seamlessly integrating it into this vision. And with a difficult yet obvious look to the past and Monsieur Balenciaga’s greatness he’s been able to do for men what he’s been doing for women for years. Now Ghesquire has taken the lead, forecasting the future for both sexes.

Photographer and stylist Ari Versluis and Ellie Uyttenbroek have undergone a study for almost a decade and a half exploring the sociological and anthropological implications of dress and group psychology. The immediate realization is an innate and global desire to surrender one’s individuality. They’ve photographed dozens of style tribes around the world and containing each subject in a sterile frame. It highlights a pattern of repetition and monotony and raises skepticism in our culture’s exaggerated praise of individuality. The ongoing project is called “Exactitudes” and it could only be a matter of time before you find yourself amongst the lot. Or maybe you’re already there.

View more of these extraordinary portraits at exactitudes.com.

It’s a testament to Slimane’s uncanny likeness to the late Monsieur St. Laurent in which he grabs at street style and unapologetically serves it to the heights of fashion, embracing the spirit of St. Laurent’s all black “Beat” collection (alienating an older and stuffy clientèle) and his 1974 hooker collection (provoking accusations of camp on Yves’ part). No surprise then that three years later after Slimane’s initial infatuation with Peter Doherty and the London indie rock scene that the fundamental components have found their way in the vernacular of the “young” and “cool”. But once a trend is disseminated it must redefine its appeal and adopt a new meaning for “coolness”- meanings lost to the originators of the look and abandoned by those who propelled it into popularity. If timing, location, exclusivity, availability and distribution are any means to judge a trend’s hip factor (and they are) you’d begin to assume that Hedi and his admirers have long since found some new ideas to embrace. It’s in this esoteric manner that fashion serves us identifying those who know and those who don’t.

The above images are from the Dior Homme Spring 2006 collection presented in Paris in June of 2005. The below images are selections of Urban Outfitters’ current online offerings. Urban Outfitters’ internet retail presence ships to all parts of the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. They also operate stores in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Washington D.C., Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, and Washington.

Not shown is the notorious Tilby/Porkpie hat which is unsatisfactorily represented on urbanoutfitters.com and can be ordered from topman.com.

Thursday night I was privy to a book release party sponsored by Burberry and Men’s Vogue, the affair was for graphic designer Peter Saville’s new volume Peter Saville: Estate 1-727, a survey of his archives. Based from an exhibition originally held at the Migros Museum in Zurich the book was compiled by Saville and holds written contributions from Heike Munder, Michael Bracewell, Wolfgang Tillmans, T.J. Wilcox, Sarah Morris, and others. It chronicles Saville’s involved process and how his designs, through his considered and carefully executed concepts, become artworks. As a cultural survey it sheds light on the British New Wave and Pop scene, as a historical survey it offers a glimpse in the grueling world of graphic design before Illustrator and Indesign. A must read for any fan invested in Saville’s cultural and social revelations in the worlds of advertisement, branding, fashion, and music. 

Paperback released by JR Ringier.

Credit has been given to Norman Rockwell for defining the quintessential American ideal with his covers for the Saturday Evening Post: the nuclear family crowding around a thanksgiving spread, high school dates in the midst of courtship, stoic athletes at a Saturday night football game, etc. But in rare case of queer history another name emerges. The illustrator J.C Leyendecker, trained at the Art Institute of Chicago, created a name for himself doing advertisements for Arrow Collars and Shirts (using his model-turned-lover as the face for the company) and creating covers for publications like Collier’s and The Saturday Evening Post. It was Leyendecker who invented the genre of idealistic portrayals of quaint American life.

Leyendecker was a homosexual (as was his brother, another illustrator) — and it’s uncanny how vivid and transparent his admiration for the male image was in his work. What was probably at the time interpreted as neo-classical values now belies Leyendecker’s homosexuality expressed in images that are harmonious, erotic, glorified, and raw. Rockwell in his younger days had a deep infatuation with Leyendecker going as far as to follow the illustrator and his lover to their home in New Rochelle in order for closer proximity. It was this relocation that exposed Rockwell to the small picturesque town which would become the basis for the majority of his output.

Rockwell studied his style perhaps perfecting it beyond Leyendecker’s signature hatching, a style that perfectly matched the off-hand quality of his handsome men, but lost the graphic severity of his figures and lines. While Rockwell went on to thrive in our nostalgic memory it was perhaps due only to longevity or chance that another vision of America, an especially gay one at that, did not.