Dolce and Gabbana Men 2015

The Subtle Madness of Spring: Milan Men’s Week Spring 2015

Gentle reader,

The men’s spring 2015 shows in Milan just wrapped up yesterday but I’ve been so involved in learning the ropes at my new Rodeo Drive digs, where we are basically working in a very glamorous construction zone while a remodel of mind-blowing proportions takes place around us, that it’s taken me a little time to wrap my head around what’s strutted down the runways in the last four days.  I’d been planning to touch on what ideas the guys might want to incorporate as fall wares roll into stores, but I decided instead to stay all fresh and newsworthy so here’s a breakdown of the shit that went down in Italy last weekend.

In keeping with his loose, dark feel of the fall Ermenegildo Zegna collection, Mr. Pilati started Saturday off all dark and moody with midnight blues and black in fluid, almost baggy, pants and light jackets. 

Paul Witt Wittmore

Men’s Fashion: Modern Classics at Wittmore L.A.

Gentle reader,

While everyone else in the Western Hemisphere is obsessing over what Jay Z might have said to make Solange go all honey badger on his ass, I am pondering more important issues like what the hell and I going to wear this summer now that’s it’s already in the mid-90s in the middle of May. My friend Charles has been working with a men’s shop that he thinks is cool in L.A.’s West Third Street neighborhood for a while now and he has pretty good taste and even runs a style blog called Dapper Dan Man, although I don’t know what the fuck that’s all about since, as I said, his name is Charles.

Burberry Prorsum Mens FW 2013

Don’t Fall On Your Arse: Men’s Fall Fashion 2013

Gentle reader,

I feel very fortunate to spend most of my days breathing the rarified air of luxury fashion, but working for a designer who has several large collections himself each season and then using Lanvin, Dior or Barneys as my go-to solutions for clients’ sartorial troubles that can’t be solved in-house because they are mere steps away can make one a little, well, fragile when faced with people on the street.  One evening last week, for instance,

Gucci Mens SS 2014

Milan Men’s Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2014: Sporty Spice?

Gentle reader,

As I was chomping at the bit for men’s fashion week to start in Milan, I briefly distracted myself by stopping by the opening of my fabulously stylish friend Caroline Cohen‘s art opening a few days ago at the lovely BoaSoa Gallery just off Melrose in WeHo.  After I got over how stunning she looked in her shimmering gold Hervé Leger bandage dress, I noticed some impressive large canvases lining the feature wall.  Each piece is a mixture of paint and collage and most paintings reference the peculiar mood a particular location like Paris or Bali.  There is enough layering and detail

Hackett Fall 2013

London Collections: Men for Fall 2013. That Was Weird.

Gentle reader,

While walking along sunny Hollywood Boulevard yesterday, I was reminded by a tweet from my Australian stylist friend Bradley John that the fledgling London Collections for Men were underway for Fall/Winter 2013.  This was only the second go round for the mini-Fashion Week but, as is often the case with the London shows, there were a few solid designers mixed with quite a few I’ve never heard of and whose garments I will likely never see in person.  There was also some strange shit that will make for a very interesting autumn should anyone choose to wear it.

Into the latter category fell the Meadham Kirchhoff presentation, which was an exercise in weirdness but without the finesse or spectacle of a Thom Brown show.  Some of the eighteenth century pastoral theme from their women’s collections surfaced but, interwoven with some ecclesiastical details and punk rock fabrics, it was just a big mess.  The piled up black trash bags that provided the backdrop were a fitting commentary.

Topman Fall 2013

Topman

Alexander McQueen’s collection was a bizarre twist on traditional British tailoring.  The freaky styling of gelled hair and plastic facemasks was to be expected and the deconstructed-reconstructed pinstripe suits with exaggerated details were odd but there was a beautiful stained glass pattern on silk that I’m hoping to see more of.

Prada Mens Fashion SS 2013

Say What You Want to the Damn Dress, It’s Time for Men’s Spring Fashion!

Gentle reader,

The holiday season has officially begun, I guess.  Scott went to Brad Grey’s holiday party at Spago the other night and left me at home to plan out this year’s Christmas tree and watch Say Yes to the Dress: Bridesmaids.  The one thing that stood out about this episode, aside from the fact that I was not at Brad Grey’s holiday party, was tits.  I guess if you think about it, that’s two things standing out, but it’s a grammatical question that is more than I can deal with right now.

You see, I’ve been up to my neck for weeks in women’s clothes and now I’m watching a show where the main challenge is keeping multitudes of enormous boobs from spilling out of these ugly bridesmaids’ dresses.  That’s too much female shit for any guy who doesn’t do drag on a regular basis.  At least skinny, twinkie consultant Brandon isn’t dressing like an idiot these days.  Oh wait, he just showed up wearing a cheap napkin as a cravat.  Never mind.

With all this estrogen flowing, I thought it might finally be time to get back to us guys and what we should be looking for next season.  First of all, the bright jeans that we originally saw on Jon Kortajarena in that great Mavi Jeans campaign are going to be around next season too, which is cool because I got a bright yellow pair at Abercrombie and can’t wait to wear them some more.  Nearly identical yellow jeans were shown at Gucci and they had some other brightly colored looks, as well, so that’s our first spring 2013 trend: bright colors.

Emporio Armani

Emporio Armani

Ferragamo really knocked it out of the park with color, too, but it was less about neon and more “ice cream” tones than last spring.  Every look was shown with amazing multi-colored sneakers that I would personally never wear, even though they were interestingly inspired by the paintings of David Hockney.  But that’s not as interesting as the time that I called David Hockney at home.  My friend, actor Ian McKellan, had been nominated for an Academy Award and I was told that he was staying at the home of a fellow Brit so I rang up the day before the Oscars to wish him good luck.  David Hockney answered the phone and told me that Ian was in an interview with Barbara Walters or someone.  I never get star struck, really, but chatting with this iconic artist was probably as close as I’ll get.

Balmain Hommes 2012 Karim Sadli

Mountains and Moleskin: Balmain Homme Fall 2012

Gentle reader,

I went on a hike with James Killough the other day.  And when I say “hike,” I mean “mountain death march.”  Did you see that movie where James Franco gets stuck between two rocks and has to chew his arm off?  Yeah, me neither but it was totally like that.

It began peacefully enough as we parked in the shade in Beachwood Canyon and hiked up the steep streets toward the Hollywood sign until the road ended onto the wide dirt trails of Griffith Park.  The climb to the summit behind the sign was challenging in the hot sun but the views of L.A. and the Hollywood Reservoir on one side and the studios and San Fernando Valley on the other were worth the effort.