Taking a flexible and easy approach, luxury menswear brands showed us that Spring Summer 2015 is going to be about unrestricted dressing for the dapper man!
Rock chic, random or Rajasthan. The recently showcased Spring Summer 2015 menswear collection explored myriad themes and carried them off with aplomb! With luxury brands experimenting more in menswear, we approve of all the new colours and silhouettes that they present. Here’s what we noticed for this season…
Happy men!
With brands presenting playful collections, the silhouettes are mostly relaxed and easy. Gucci, for example, shows a deconstructed silhouette on the ramp, with untucked, oversized striped pyjamas and ribbed knitwear. Ermenegildo Zegna, known for its well-fitted suits, showed oversized coats and chic, clown-ish, striped pants! After all, they themed the collection on the concept of space.
Fendi, with escapism and motive-less travel as its inspiration, showcased zip-up blousons, lean trousers, immaculate shirts, the very 1990’s jean jacket and bermuda shorts. Giorgio Armani too focuses on over-sized coats and full pants.
Colours are bright, happy with all kinds of shades spilling on the ramp. Canali goes from sunshine yellows, to azure blues to neon oranges. Louis Vuitton, taking inspiration from India’s northern state of Rajasthan, epitomizes the royal shades of that region too! Visualise pure whites, rusty oranges and brick reds with touches of shocking pink.
Visuals matter
Patterns are as pronounced as they could be. Ermenegildo Zegna has stripes throughout the collection to give a languid summer allure to their creations. Canali features checks or horizontal stripes in its jackets, while Louis Vuitton takes patterns to a new level with the Louis Vuitton Karakoram motif translated into a range of zigzag herringbone variations. They appear on a dotted ground as per India’s traditional Mothra tie dye technique. Stripes in all its forms is making an appearance in most brands, whether it’s Prada or Missoni or Gucci.
Accessories are varied and rich in choice. Gucci gives the fashion-conscious man relaxed accessories taking inspiration from the sailing sack, messenger bags in calfskin, crocodile, or canvas. Boating sneaker and horsebit loafer cover the foot of the Gucci man. Fendi hands over Selleria backpacks with crocodile tails as talismans and the male Peekaboo covered in tribal signs. Don’t miss the special headphones, created in collaboration with Beats, made with Selleria or croco leather.
Louis Vuitton features four special edition trunks, a desktop case, guitar case, record case and composer’s case (designed to hold music paper, ink and notebooks), made with aged natural cowhide with fine calf interior. Royal signs indeed! The classic LV monogram has been reversed in three new bags: doctor bag, soft weekend suitcase and vertical tote. LV also launched the V bag collection, signed with a Gaston V, and made of light, supple and water-repellent leather.
Meshing it in
While Fendi takes the complex jacquard fabric as its mainstay for this collection, Gucci features an innovative thermosealing technique which characterises lighter-than-ever suiting. Ermenegildo Zegna focuses on cotton variations along with the combination of silk-linen-wool. Bottega Veneta adorned the ramp with ultrathin coats in washed-out lambskin and suede.
Louis Vuitton, however, takes the cake with refined leathers, military tailoring, silks and sophisticated technical fabrics – mainly for outerwear. The tee-shirt is in ornate jacquard on Indian style super-mercerized cotton. Cashmere sweaters are hemmed with silk, while silk sweaters are given the same treatment with cashmere stripes. Silk organza short sleeve shirts, some with Karakoram, reminds one of Indian exoticism. Polo shirts in a V patchwork evoke India’s chic yesteryears maharaja sportsmen.
Unrestricted, voluminous and energetic define the Spring Summer 2015 collection, with most of the brands using patterns, especially stripes, to create that graphic effect of lightness with stylishness.
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