Flashback: Look Back At Men's Fashion In 2015 (Part 4)

WORLD WORE ‘15
Look back in wonder at the year in men’s fashion trends and themes in this flashback. By Daniel Goh

Givenchy look embodies the new untraditonal suit

Dandy No More

Tailoring has finally gone over the pedantic Mad Men phase when everyone who wore a qiuff wanted a suit with all its period trimming (pocket square anyone?); entire streets crawled with what looked like heavily-sweating, badly-dressed extras in some poorly-researched period drama. We are glad to see the “sartorial” period RIP. Men’s tailoring has gone more innovative with surprising new twists to the suitings genre, with classics kicked up, mould broken, taken-apart, reconsidered, re-decorated into an entirely new beast.

Riches are piled on riches in a wealth of technique (intarsia, slashes), a riot of prints (lace, glitter) and ideas.

(FALL/WINTER: Burberry FW 17 18 19 24; Dolce FW 21 27; Comme FW 30 31 32 33; Dries FW 16; McQueen FW 7 8 9; Dior FW 37)

Raf Simons mashup of office and kindergarten

Everyone Needs a Hobo

The defining style of this era is the miss-match and contrast of genres, a post-modern mashup we had a first inkling of when street went luxe (the embellished sweatshirt is a key example, or the hybrid brogue/trainer, or pin-striped jogging pants). The more extreme the mashup the better: Think academic tweedy mashed up with slouchy denims, or grandpa mashed-up with jock, to become the new royalty of the coolly rumpled.

(FALL/WINTER: BV FW 35 15 2; Comme FW 3 4 8 16; Dunhill 4 24)

Dries Van Noten's East/West mix

The New Silk Road

The New Silk Road isn’t just China’s infrastructure investment (USD 200 billion) in trade and diplomacy projects across the globe through Iran, Pakistan, Russia and Asia – and neither is it a new hotpot restaurant. Fashion has simply opened up its notions of beauty to embrace Asian forms and decorations – and not in a simplistic or shallow way. Traditional East Asian shapes, colours that pack heat, ethnic minority embellishments and a certain unbuttoned, wrapped over volume is proposed in modern, surprisingly elegant new ways of dress, a (literally) seamless hybrid of East and West.

(FALL/WINTER: Burberry FW 10 11 12 13 15; Comme FW 6; Dries FW 14 8 18 27 28 40 30 35; Etro FW 2 6 9 40; Givenchy FW 25 26 27 36 41 48 55)

Punk Grunge Love

Gucci grunge

And just when you thought everything was going swimmingly rich and fatly irrelevant in this world of constant chaos and natural disasters, a spike of aggression and anger is both expression of and antidote against the tough new world in which we live. Think seedy and rough leathers, vests and a violent attitude.

(FALL/WINTER: Gucci FW 2 6 13 31; Etro FW 14; Givenchy FW 5 35 37) 

Part 4 of 4 - End

SPRING 2015 MENSWEAR REVIEW

What a fresh, eye-opening start to another round of fashion shows and all those fashion tarts are off again on their business flights and cars in the carousel of stale parties and Instagram-ops and what-nots. Did you like Sarah Burton's Matisse collage-suitings at Alexander McQueen? I thought they were sharp and jazzy and Japanese (Comme/Junya, anyone?) at the same time, decorative without being bogged down. The entire thing was bracingly "racy", except for a quartet of looks that had the look of those black-and-red lacquer bento boxes: Too literal a reference to Japan.

It's clearly inspired by Henri Matisse's cut-outs (like this Blue Nude from 1952), which fashion types can see at the exhibition Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs, at the Tate Modern (on till 7 September) instead of worrying about which samples to wear.

Spring 2013: My Sacred Cows

CHANEL
One of the few collections this season that probably deserves to be studied up close, and seen worn on a moving model because the bounce and energy isn't evident in the still images. This aristocratic collection by Karl Lagerfeld actually throws up a vast array of ideas and propositions for all hours of the day - something that can't be said for many of the collections. There were brisk day dresses, easy suits, cute knits, elegant tea dresses, regal cocktail numbers and dignified formal gowns.
The tweeds were truly standouts, and beautifully coloured.

You just need to look pass the hula hoop bag, the Elizabethan pearl studs, and those plastic sombreros (which  even I don't understand!).

Bottega Veneta

A lovely, reduced collection from Tomas Maier. The burnt palette of batik colours is sensual and sultry and coupled with the romantic styling, brings to mind a story set in the tropics in the 1940s. Although these dresses glanced back at the past, they don't look dusty or cliched, just rich and intelligent.Of course the workmanship and fabrics are special, but every look bears Mr Maier's imprint and that is a true auteur's work.

DRIES VAN NOTEN
Pure romance and so perfectly balanced: This is the textbook case for the combination of soft and hard, tailored with flou, masculine with feminine, rich and poor, western and eastern. And easy to wear too!

BURBERRY PRORSUM
Christopher Bailey is tirelessly genius and this collection is wonderfully accomplished as usual, and on top of that deliciously, energetically coloured and very shapely!

Comme des Garçons
Rei Kawakubo is a true original and this collection could be a comment on the no-meaning place that fashion is at now, just a jumble of everything thrown together. A very romantic vision and what would you rather wear?

LANVIN
In a season when all you year is YSL (or any one of the handful of names we must now refer to the label), Alber Elbaz put out the definitive modern YSL collection. This reminds me that I've always thought that he was the best man for YSL. Beautiful. 

Men's Fall 2012: Brief Notes

1. Balmain has ‘fast fashion’ written all over its banality. The entire thing is humourlessly dull, and completely vulgar, which is the opposite of luxury.
2. Comme des Garçons's Manga Prince has all the whimsical creativity of Howl’s Moving Castle. It's hardly Joan Jet (as one important critic noted - has she never been to Japan?), and only cartoon gothic.
3. Lovely paisley puffa and the very oddly joyous collection by Kean Etro. Some of it looks heavy, but then it’s Fall after all.
4. Dries Van Noten is nice but not at his usual high standard. Fine interpretation of the print story.
5. Givenchy looks like it was styled entirely from a Factory Outlet and will soon appear at a Top Shop bargain bin. A couple of cute glittery white shirts, hardly new, and nothing inspiring.
6. Jean Paul Gaultier – don’t waste the three minutes clicking through this.
7. I like Dolce & Gabanna: It's straight out of a Visconti film (I'm thinking The Leopard) and curiously, it's not so very different from the theatre that Prada is doing.
8. Gucci was quite good, perhaps one of their best in recent memory (and I'm talking the last five years at least).
9. I loved Missoni for all the same reasons that I love Bottega Veneta - because I always do.
10. Insane for the first half of Rick Owens. Perfect proportions. And then the costumes came out.
11. Total refinement of proportion, volume and colours at Lanvin. Simplly perfect.
12. Hermès is effortless, unforced yet never boring; More than its women's collection, the men's truly says all there is to say about what the house represents.

Paris On a Chill Pill

This Paris collection will revolutionise fashion: Instead of thrusting urgently forward, as has been the trajectory of fashion in the last decade, this season sees fashion changes slowing down. Designers turned away from making extreme statements, and took baby steps forwards. Some labels have even taken steps backwards and went back-to-basics: Stella McCartney’s collection was almost timid in its stripped down practicality (pinch yourself - is this Paris?) and Valentino’s designers, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli have gone back to the label’s roots (as have other labels seeking safety in the tried and true) of pretty lace dresses. Pretty, and pretty safe. They were lauded for this un-radical turn.
There’s certainly been plenty of safe, unchallenging white – clothes the colour of a blank first page, the freshness of a new chapter. There is a feeling that designers are polishing their visions instead of greedily grabbing for new trends, and cleaning out the excesses of the past (the bold shoulders, the gold hardware, the Baroque door-stopper shoes and decorated handbags). Cliched as it sounds, less is definitely more this season. Even usually challenging designers gave their collections a lighter touch: Viktor & Rolf, the designing duo given to heavily conceptual designs in the past sent out an angelic white collection full of puff sleeved-shirts and soft ruffles and Tao Kurihara, the young Comme des Garçons protege, was all sweetness and light, presenting sugary ruffles and naive smocked blouses in innocent gingham. Is pretty the new black?
Other trends include the gentlest of colours – nudes and pastels sharpened by sporty pings of primary brights and bracing stripes. These are all shades of the schoolyard, and represent rejuvenation. There are plenty of frou frou and frills (often lace and chiffon), but these billow and float, injecting a buoyancy, and a child-like charm. Shorts worn every way freshened the day wear, while skirts were mostly longer, and full and lightly fluttering. Shoes have gotten down to earth, and are now simple versions of the crazy shapes we have been seeing. The freshest of these are flat sandals, even for night, instead of some towering atrocity — even the humble ballet pump looked new. These simple accessories are a symbol of fashion’s new relaxed mood, a big step away from the tired idea of change for the sake of change.
(My complete Paris report will appear in Business Times on Saturday. Pictured: My favourite collection - Dries Van Noten)

Fall 2010:Comme des Garçons

This really brought a smile to my face.
It's cute, isn't it, in an abstract stuffed toy kind of way, and within the framework of Rei Kawakubo's work, quite of a piece, and rather charming, in fact. This collection is hardly as 'defiant' nor as challenging as some critics have made it out to be.
Yes, the hunchbacked and protruding wadding is reminiscent of Ms Kawakubo's "lumps and bumps" collection of Spring 1997, but is it all that remarkable? The panniers and bustle, the idea of exaggeration, are at least as old as, if not older than, The Infanta Margarita, the iconic painting by Diego Velázquez (1660, bottom), don't forget, so let's just enjoy it for what it is, shall we?

Comme Des Garcons Black

Comme Des Garcons Black has a new address: 581 Orchard Road
02-39/40 Hilton International, Singapore
Tel: 63041362

Eye Roll Entry

How drag can you get?

This week yet another Barbie 'collectible' hits stores with the Rei Kawakubo/ Comme des Garçons Barbie (rolls eyes). Kabuki Barbie's in a sleeveless silk dress with a full skirt printed in photo-style graphic of Kawakubo's Jingle Flowers line (rolls eyes). This limited edition Barbie forms part of the Barbie Collector Platinum Label Collection, and comes in a new box featuring the Jingle Flowers print (rolls eyes even while typing). Sold out in Tokyo last week (rolls eyes again - the Japanese would buy anything won't they?), Barbie by Comme des Garçons is now in all other Comme des Garçons stores including London's Dover Street Market, priced £225 (rolls eyes). The Jingle Flowers floral pattern also makes it onto limited edition Comme des Garçons products, including wallets, tees, the DSM flower bottle perfume, Artek chairs, and is CdG's holiday print (roll eyes untill only whites show).
The best part is...the dress actually looks Prada.

If you need to roll eyes further (while reading - quite a feat) please click on http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bronx/2009/12/06/2009-12-06_design_intervention_bx_priest_is_fashion_hit_with_his_green_creations.html