Anna Sui did indeed have a fine collection put together. The colors were bright and vivacious and I particularly enjoyed that her models were smiling! The clothes seemed bright -- lots of "Spring-time" colors like greens, peacock blues, purples, etc. -- and fun to wear, which the models seem to express.
I was a little more interested in menswear, so I skimmed through the designers trying to find some. Duckie Brown had some men's looks, but I was not very taken with his collection as a whole. While jodhpurs and striped shirts are nice, the line seemed to devolve first into loose drapes and eventually into the nothingness of male granny-panties. No thanks!
Lacoste had a nice, conservative collection. Traditional striped shirts in non-flashy black and white variations; successful combinations of blazers and shorts. The biggest deviation from the light/dark dicotomy was to venture into blue: casual weekend wear of blazer, striped shirt and high-water cuffed slacks and ending in a version of the infamous "Canadian Tuxedo". This look was pulled off remarkably well, particularly as curious as a denim sportcoat seems to sound.
The strongest menswear collection I felt was from Monarchy. Also very conservative in focusing on suiting, Monarchy was able to freshen things up with vivid contrasting colors in styling elements setting off against typically pin-striped self fabric. The models seemed to be chosen to portary various male archetypes: one in navy invoking a Clark Kent, and another sporting a fopish Johnny Depp hairstyle alongside his dangling scarf. All of the male models wore glasses, which I appreciated as a fellow four-eyes. The line was aimed at the younger crowd, featuring some college-influenced crested sweaters to compliment the bookishly spectacled-stylings.
While I think Monarchy was more successful, I did also enjoy the cresting elements featured in Yohji Yamamoto's Y-3 line. The team-up of Yohji and Adidas is quite apparent, as the famous "3-stripes" element in featured in just about every look. The partnership goes further, as logos of several internation soccer federations which are themselves also in partnership with Adidas, are featured as t-shirt engineered prints (German soccer's DFB) and patches on jackets (Argentina's AFA). The line was heavily influenced from soccer -- models were styled in Adidas sneakers, and taking it further, Yohji utilized goal netting both itself and integrated into other designs. My favorite look from this collection was actually from the women's line: nicely busy with logos and stripes, but refined with the addition of the short-sleeved netted jacket.
1 comment:
ah excellent insights on a vast collection of images! Thanks for finding these and sharing
My untrained eye really still loves the execution of the classics. The Monarchy elements were beautifully executed with such sweetly sharp edges and shapes (my favorite elements of clothing in general and much more present in menswear/sportswear than most lady things IMO). While the inclusion of the omnipresent 'hipster scarf' does soften the look (contiguous with the other more delicate elements of wispy belt, shoelaces), I can't say that its execution is my cup of tea (looks a little too generic/off-the-shelf, the fringed edge looks a little ragged for this cleaner look, drape is a little too light)
Oh jeez that YY-adidas teamup is awesome! I really love this womenswear link you sent up, beautiful work on the logo design and color scheme
Hahaha the Canadian tuxedo! It's a clever re-interpretation where its completely non-rugged and looking fancy and detailed instead.
Zowie i forget how many models are looking sexy sullen, the smile was almost shocking!
Oh i do appreciate the glasses, nothing like a functional accessory to excite a look...I do looove the design of the spectacles--the nicest pairs frame the eyes, shape the face and are just oh so sweetly adorably and wonderfully geeky cool
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