RUNWAY RUNDOWN : BOTTEGA VENETA FALL 09

and today,

mes petites,

a palate cleanser.

some sorbet of sorts

after the flurry of pugh and owens i've been feeding (force?) vous.

forgive the advanced fashion,

and enjoy the sober, stunning beauty

of tomas meier's bottega collection.

the price, no object.

the lesson, no brainer.

beautiful quality and beautiful boys

make for beautiful moments:

look at the texture!

the briefcase you never knew you wanted.

the collection you knew you needed.

were money, 

and lifestyle,

no object.

RUNWAY RUNDOWN : GARETH PUGH FALL 09

interesting contrast.

rick from yesterday,

gareth today.

gareth just started doing menswear,

and before it was even released it was generating HUGE buzz.

i blame beyonce.

she wears one of his futuristic TRON meets galactica dresses

and suddenly he's IT.

i mean, he was big before, but only in the fashion world,

and only for creating the kind of clothing that club kids swoon over,

the japanese collect,

and the saudis can afford.

so . . . men's.

if i were twenty, i'd have to have it all.

for clubbing.

or provoking people on the local street corner.

now, 

it seems a brash version of what rick owens does,

everything pumped into the "statement" category.

it's good to have these designers,

they push everyone.

witness fur, armor, leggings, leather, body con,

gareth-style:

and,

addendum,

this collection has him as a front runner to replace the head designer

at dior homme,

floundering since the loss of the last boy wunderkind,

hedi slimane.

RUNWAY RUNDOWN : RICK OWENS FALL 09

dear mr. rick owens.

please send the following pieces from your fall show

to one landis smithers,

west hollywood, california,

stat.

while we understand that some may struggle with your

(incredible, fragile, tough, romantic, gothic, modern, tender)

vision,

we do not have such issues,

as we have tried the kool-aid

and found it much to our liking.

perhaps it is the ability to look past half-shaven pates

and runway styling

and focus on:

great quilted outerwear and a new standard in "military" boots.

beautiful leathers, with architectural (and armor-like) qualities

draped layering knits and almost classic tailored pieces.

primitive fur. perhaps the only way for a man to wear fur.

dramatic overcoats.

a crocodile (alligator) jacket

washed down to be as soft as lambskin.

and the exit that made me think

"no, i could never. yes, i must."

like the leather leggings of the givenchy spring show,

suddenly,

a gold leather miniskirt

seems almost achievable.

when people talk of timelessness in men's fashion,

THIS

is how i see it best expressed.

even if it doesn't fit the conservative mold,

there is not a piece here that ten years from now

will not look as fresh,

as comforting,

or as masculine.

thanks in advance, mr. owens.

i look forward to the arrival of my packages.

RUNWAY RUNDOWN : RAF SIMONS FALL 09

let's return to some good news,

shall we?

come along, kidlets,

i want you to see this guy.

raf simons is a bit of a genius.

remember how we've been talking about fusing traditional "safe" clothing

with inspired newness,

and the challenge so many have fallen flat on their faces with 

this season?

add to that the prevailing attempts at metaphor

(tough times require artistic expression even in fashion, sometimes to a too literal degree)

and there has also been an explosion of military and, literally,

ARMOR references.

would this raf fellow do this?

yes.  and no.

this line was an explosion of highly beautifully tailored suits,

but as in any great piece of art,

it required an exploration of the DETAILS

to see the whole picture.

nothing was quite as it seemed at first glance:

what to make of one blue sleeve?

a simple lovely pop of color, or something else?

double facing melange and felted wool?

perhaps the prettiest coat of the season,

after his jil show.

but then,

this:

suits began to deconstruct,

not actually a topcoat over a gray suit,

but a top/vest over a pieced suit.

neoprene,

a fabric not seen since early prada runways

re-emerged in layers that felt less scuba

than sheathing,

protecting the male form,

bullet-like.

then knit shells over woven jackets,

to further mix the cocooning effect.

a stunning black and white sequence.

and then,

the explosive power of color,

perhaps the modern man's best armor of all:

this

was a show

to remember.

RUNWAY RUNDOWN : DOLCE AND DSQUARED FALL 09

in the category of

"most yawn-inducing" runways,

the winners are a tie this season.

both dolce&gabbana and dsquared

mine a similar aesthetic.

some have even accused the twins of following too closely to d&g's pattern

of italian tailoring meets soft core porn,

though it can be argued that dsquared definitely mines the abercrombie/americana

vein far more enthusiastically.

but this season,

both shows were uninspired.

packed with "greatest hits" of sorts,

neither fell flat,

but neither added anything new or noteworthy.

to wit,

dolce rolled out it's classic

suit/leathers/eveningwear/model dujour in underwear

(this year being david gandy):

no complaints on the general look,

and there are great pieces,

but,

yawn.

dsquared did not far much better,

rolling with evening mixed with denim/athletic mixed with evening/leathers cropped and tight:

although if you are looking for a cute twinset,

the twins have you covered:

RUNWAY RUNDOWN : ALLESANDRO DELL'ACQUA FALL 09

in a suprise this season,

the "eminently wearable, yet interesting" award

goes to alessandro dell'acqua.

in a wave of camel and gray,

he took to the runway with a presentation that was both

1) easy to understand

and

2) fresh to the eye.

as you will see through these posts,

there is a preponderance of good outerwear for men this season,

and a definite "short over long" proposal,

with the semi-sheer long knits that rick owens has posited for years

showing up on many runways.

dell'acqua is also about seperates,

a key piece making a look,

and this took an interesting turn for evening,

with metallics showing up in a truly

glam meets luxe treatement:

and while the glitter is a proposition not everyone may love,

the simple gray velvet suit in the mix

was perfect in both silhouette

and styling:

this was a suprisingly strong show,

that will probably receive limited coverage,

yet good sell-through in the stores.