Throughout the menswear collections was a feeling of the late 80’s and the early 90’s, a look back to the soft ethnic inspirations of Armani, Ray Petri’s buffalo style, the era’s strange masculine fervor that seemed at once bullish and poetic, and its hard earned, unbridled optimism. Casting this season has seen a change with more men of color on the runways since the early 90’s, a promising sign of new perceptions in beauty. Something is in the air. That period, like our own, found designers and consumers reconciling a decade of excess and consumption, waning towards an essentialist point of view, and grabbing at any reference they could that would allow them to feel grounded and whole. The best collections understood this energy, absorbed that energy, and transmuted it into something new.
The stakes are higher now than they were 20 years ago. At that time, designer mens fashion was a minuscule niche, its importance no further realized than accessories and handbags. But in the past 10 years it has become an industry engine of its own, more than a platform for fine tailoring; designers have used their menswear collections to voice their perspective on the world and to subvert the male identity into so many varied dimensions. Just in time for the new decade, here are the top 10 collections that are boldly pushing ahead, defining a new era.
