Lanvin SS 09

Must apologise for the quietness around here but I've been shopping for the first time in months and due to the sales at present thorough, time-consuming bargain-hunting was called for. Anyway, I'll get to the real point of this post - Lanvin menswear-designer Lucas Ossendrijver's recent triumph.





At first glance, it all appeared a somewhat safe affair and I was indifferent but on closer inspection, it's easy to understand the appreciative applause given by the audience following the showing. As Ms. Susie Bubble might say, it's all in the deets and what deets they were. Ossendrijver employed pintucking, pleating and ruching to achieve a collection which was coherent, exciting and yet very much relaxed. The pyjama trend, which has cropped up several times since Dolce and Gabbana showed a while ago, was also evident at Lanvin with pants and shorts voluminous and pleasingly slouchy.





But it wasn't all sack-sized. What, for me, was the highlight of the collection was entirely the opposite of the aforementioned - lean, lean, lean pants with almost sensual ruching.

One of his best yet?

Images from Men's Style

Milan Off-Runway Highlights

So Milan was, overall, adequate I suppose and some collections - McQueen, Sander, Fujiwara - did prove modern menswear is gradually growing out of static understatedness, if a little slowly for me personally. But for now, I want to share some of the Sart's top snaps with those of you whom haven't yet witnessed Milanese men's inherent style.



I just have something for black jeans. And geometrics - no matter how much the high-street do them to death - are almost always appealing, particularly in the simple yet highly impactive form employed here.



Individually, the pieces which make up this look are decidedly naff and some nondescript but aggregated together with a sizeable dose of insouciance it just seems...right.

Schoolboy shorts and socks would typically bring humour to an outfit and yet, here, they lend an unmistakable edginess to the gentleman's appearance. Of course, such a statement could also have been provoked by the top bone structure and considerable height on display.



Move over Thom Browne, it's not about stunted pants, rather cuffs rolled-up.

It takes balls to add an unexpected touch as above, such confidence is to be commended.

Images from The Sartorialist at Men's Style

Alexander McQueen SS 09

Due to my obligations at The Fashion Spot, where I amateurishly critique the mens shows I'll only deal with a select few here. Day 1 - for me - was somewhat disappointing with many designers attempting new concepts or drawing on inspiration incongruous to their design aesthetic [although Jil Sander was much desirable with the geometric experimentation and colour panelling]. It was, well, flaccid.

Day 2 saw Alexander McQueen unveil his 'über glamour of the seventies'-inspired collection which proved a personal highlight so far. Instead of some of the blatant sheer shirts we've seen so far McQueen offered a somewhat more demure and yet much more masculine alternative. Colour panelling also featured heavily and was enthralling in its unbounded variety.





There were some looks which seemed to nod subtly to Prada FW 0809 but the femininity concerned here was not as overt as with Miuccia's creations. McQueen kept tees and shirts rather fitted but the masculine tailoring of both the pants and the robust jackets with which they were combined lent balance.





In some ways, it seemed a little Raf Simons, no?

Images from Men's Style

Sovereign Beck Beckons...

Ties, ties, ties. I can't help but admit it can be a love-hate relationship. With ties - from my own experience - there are two distinct extremes. On one hand one has the conservative, fat [and no, that is not a tie-body-fascist comment], blandly patterned/coloured group which one finds in such dreary department stores such as Debenhams, Penneys [the Irish Primark] and M&S sported by corporate types and their ilk. These ties bore me to no end.

Then, there's the abundance of skinny supplied by trend-led, hipster stores such as Topman and the like. These are - more often than not - some cheap, brash shade of red or black or perhaps, if you're terribly lucky, a tacky silver, and may be smothered with some typically-'Topman' pattern e.g. stars or in a graphic check. These are ubiquitous.

Now, I don't constantly detest the aforementioned but there are times when I wish we were offered more - and no, vintage tartan abominations don't count. So I was pleasantly surprised by this lot which I feel combine the requisite smartness of shape - being sufficiently broad but not overly so - and inventive, attractive colouring/patterns. They're by Sovereign Beck Ties, based in NY an enterprise led by Ryan and Will.









Images from SovereignBeck.com

Balenciaga Mens FW 08 09

Although I've always admired, commended and generally, been astounded by Nicolas Ghesquière's wonders worked with the womenswear of Balenciaga, I've never wholly been sold on his menswear endeavours. Too often the too-small, underwhelming collections appear immature as if the original concept had not been developed entirely - if there had been any concept whatsoever.





Not so with Ghesquière's FW 0809 triumph in which we find basics beautifully re-worked and, finally, proportion-play of a standard similar to that displayed through his womenswear. It isn't - yet - ground-breaking either but most definitely further proof that Ghesquière is devoting the requisite attention this previously neglected facet of the awesome house.





Personal favourites include the metallic suit [a ringer for a Bruno Pieters' piece a few seasons back..hmm] and that voluminous black bomber(?) which contrasts so dramatically with the 'sewn-on' silhouette of the pants.

Images from TFS - Screencapped from Balenciaga.com

Back in Time for SS 09

So, infuriating exams have been scuppered and I've finally rediscovered this phenomenon - life. And just in time too, for the SS 09 shows [see below] and although I've listed just the menswear shows, I'd like to clarify that from now on I'll be giving my - often unfounded, often critical, often bizarre and well, male - opinion on womenswear and a host of other areas pertinent to style, art etc. due to both my increased interest in these fields and the bloody lack of material to natter on about regarding menswear!

Hopefully this lot will provide something to spew words about...

Milan

Saturday, 21 June

10:00 GAETANO NAVARRA
11:00 C.P. COMPANY
12:00 COSTUME NATIONAL HOMME
14:30 JIL SANDER
15:30 MISSONI
16:15 BURBERRY PRORSUM
17:00 CARLO PIGNATELLI OUTSIDE
17:45 LES HOMMES HOMME
18:30 VERSACE
19:30 EVISU
20:30 DENIS SIMACHEV

Sunday, 22 June

09:00 BOTTEGA VENETA
10:00 FRANKIE MORELLO
11:00 GIANFRANCO FERRE’
12:00 ROBERTO CAVALLI
13:00 SALVATORE FERRAGAMO
14:00 VIVIENNE WESTWOOD
14:45 ANTONIO MARRAS
15:30 EMPORIO ARMANI
16:15 ALEXANDER MCQUEEN
17:00 NEIL BARRETT
18:00 HAUTE
19:00 PRADA

Monday, 23 June

10:00 ENRICO COVERI
11:00 BIAGIOTTI
12:00 GUCCI
13:30 DIRK BIKKEMBERGS
14:30 JOHN RICHMOND
15:30 MOSCHINO
16:30 KRIZIA UOMO
17:30 ALESSANDRO DELL’ACQUA
18:30 M+F GIRBAUD
19:30 GIULIANO FUJIWARA
20:30 ANDREW MACKENZIE

Tuesday, 24 June

09:00 MARNI
10:00 ICEBERG
11:00 DSQUARED2
12:00 FENDI
12:45 ETRO
13:45 CALVIN KLEIN COLLECTION
15:30 GIORGIO ARMANI
16:30 GIORGIO ARMANI
17:30 ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA
18:30 BELSTAFF
19:30 GAZZARRINI
20:30 BYBLOS

Paris

Thursday, 26 June

U-NI-TY
10.30 am
Palais Brongniart - Salon d'honneur du Tranoi - Place de la Bourse - Paris 2e
KILGOUR
11.30 am
BETC - 85/87 rue de faubourg Saint-Martin - Paris 10e
GASPARD YURKIEVICH
12.30 pm
Maison des Métallos
JULIUS
1.30 pm
Maison des Métallos - 94 rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud - Paris 11e
LOUIS VUITTON
2.30 pm
See invitation
NUMBER (N)INE
4.00 pm
Centre Universitaire des Saints-Pères - 45 rue des Saints-Pères - Paris 6e
JEAN PAUL GAULTIER
5.00 pm
325 rue Saint-Martin - Paris 3e
YOHJI YAMAMOTO
6.00 pm
155 rue Saint-Martin - Paris 3e
VÉRONIQUE BRANQUINHO
7.00 pm
Garage Turenne - 66 rue de Turenne - Paris 3e
DRIES VAN NOTEN
8.00 pm
To be confirmed
HENRIK VIBSKOV
9.00 pm
To be confirmed

Friday, 27 June

JUNYA WATANABE MAN
10.00 am
See invitation
BLAAK HOMME
11.00 am
Maison des Métallos - 94 rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud - Paris 11e
THIERRY MUGLER
noon
Lycée Turgot - 69 rue de Turbigo - Paris 3e
KRIS VAN ASSCHE
1.00 pm
Université Jussieu - 4 place Jussieu - Paris 5e
KIMINORI MORI****A
2.00 pm
La Maison des Métallos / salle Blanche
KENZO
3.00 pm
Palais Omnisports de Paris Bercy - salle Marcel Cerdan - 8 boulevard de Bercy - Paris 12e
COMME DES GARCONS HOMME PLUS
4.00 pm
See invitation
CERRUTI
5.00 pm
See invitation
GIVENCHY
6.00 pm
Musée Bourdelle - 18 rue Antoine Bourdelle -Paris 15e
ROMAIN KREMER
7.00 pm
Garage Turenne - 66 rue de Turenne - Paris 3e
JOHN GALLIANO
8.30 pm
S-Kart - 56/58 avenue du Président Wilson - La Plaine Saint-Denis

Saturday, 28 June

JEROEN VAN TUYL
10.00 am
To be confirmed
MIHARAYASUHIRO
11.00 am
Weber Metaux - 66 rue de Turenne - Paris 3e
KAZUYUKI KUMAGAI / ATTACHMENT
noon
Parking Capus Bastille
TILLMAN LAUTERBACH
1.00 pm
Palais Brongniart - Salon d'honneur du Tranoi - Place de la Bourse - Paris 2e
ANN DEMEULEMEESTER
2.00 pm
École de Médecine
ARMAND BASI
3.00 pm
Garage Turenne - 66 rue de Turenne - Paris 3e
SMALTO
4.00 pm
See invitation
DAMIR DOMA
5.00 pm
Ambassade de Roumanie - 123 rue Saint-Dominique - Paris 7e
EMANUEL UNGARO
6.00 pm
Lycée Stanislas - 6 rue du Montparnasse - Paris 6e
PETAR PETROV
7.00 pm
To be confirmed
HERMÈS
8.00 pm
Couvent des Cordeliers - 15 rue de l'Ecole de Médecine - Paris 6e
RAF SIMONS
9.00 pm
To be confirmed

Sunday, 29 June

ANTONIO MIRO
10.00 am
Hôtel Saint-James & Albany - 6 rue du 29 Juillet - Paris 1er
LANVIN
11.00 am
See invitation
BERNHARD WILLHELM
noon
Palais Brongniart - Salon d'honneur du Tranoi - Place de la Bourse - Paris 2e
WINTLE
1.00 pm
Université Pierre & Marie Curie - 21 rue de l'Ecole de Médecine - Paris 6e
DIOR
2.00 pm
See invitation
MASATOMO
3.00 pm
Hôtel Meurice - 228 rue de Rivoli - Paris 1er
JUUN J
4.00 pm
Garage Turenne - 66 rue de Turenne - Paris 3e
PAUL SMITH
5.00 pm
Carrousel du Louvre - salle Lenôtre - 99 rue de Rivoli - Paris 1er
WOOYOUNGMI
6.00 pm
Carrousel du Louvre - salle Soufflot - 99 rue de Rivoli - Paris 1er
AGNÈS B.
7.00 pm
17 rue Dieu - Paris 10e