Men in the City 2

Competition drives markets, and judging by the fall collections that will soon be in stores, there’s plenty of it in New York’s menswear game. As a sequel to last year’s feature on industry veterans returning to try their hands at menswear, we present an array of new players who have a fresh perspective on American masculinity, and are seeking to make their own distinct dents on the industry.

Patrik Ervell

"There’s a strong menswear message coming from New York right now. What’s happening here feels very vital and relevant," says Patrik Ervell, who describes his clothes as, "an American approach to luxury sportswear." For a/w ‘07-’08, Ervell captured the light mood in menswear, showing loose silhouettes and lightweight fabrics — even in the wool twill and cashmere flannel coats; these "unstructured" silhouettes, as he calls them, have a breezy and delicate look. Ervell’s frequent use of oversized collegiate cardigans, blazers, flight sweaters, and windbreakers — frequently shown in luxurious baby alpaca, wool slub, and silk and wool blends — reads intellectual and sophisticated without the pretension. Born in San Francisco, Ervell attended the University of California at Berkeley and then moved to New York City in 2001, where he worked in publishing before starting his signature line in 2005. We asked him what makes the New York man fashionable. Like his design point of view, his answer was uncluttered: "Simplicity and ease. Less contrivance."

Tim Hamilton

As a nominee for the CFDA 2007 Swarovski Award for up-and-coming talent, designer Tim Hamilton earned some credibility, and is using it to take his ideas in different directions. For a/w ‘07-’08 Hamilton has made his luxury menswear even more casual and relaxed, imbuing his clothes with a bit of good old scruffy Americana. Using iconic American pieces like the parka, cardigan, and cable-knit sweater, his clothes have a modest charm, like a farm boy putting on his Sunday best. Hamilton keeps his silhouette rather consistent, pairing garments like a luxuriously woven cable-knit sweater or a cardigan, complete with small crest, over a shirt and tie with slim, cropped pants. There’s also a bit of haplessness and dishevelment hinting at the hidden rogue in the designer. "I wanted to go a bit darker in feel," says Hamilton. "I looked to the Beat Poet period, though I wanted to remain with the formula of luxe/modern in fabric and fit."

Loden Dager

Although Loden Dager is the brainchild of four male designers who each have a day job, the label presents a singular, well-edited vision. Formed in spring 2007 by Alexander Galan (V.P. of Distributed Art Publishers), Oliver Helden (designer for Marc Jacobs International), Paul Marlow (t-shirt designer of Kadorable), and Matthew Sandager (actor, video editor, and co-creator of Kadorable t-shirts), Loden Dager’s clothes have a rustic feel, generally using darker, no-fuss utilitarian hues. The collective admits to referencing casual styles of the late ’60s and early ’70s. At a time of great social change, Loden Dager’s loose silhouette reflects the need and desire for movement. For a/w ‘07-’08 they’ve continued their nostalgia, even taking it to a more romantic place. "The collection is inspired by the spirit of the New Wave and its male heroes," says Galan. Using heavier fabrics like wools, army cloth, and flannel, this collection expands into more outerwear like the M50 jacket, which features military-inspired epaulettes and gusset pockets. Additionally, the Hampton parka is shown in burgundy hunting flannel that hits the knees. Though seemingly practical, the luxury of these clothes is in details like the latter’s button-out quilted lining. Says Galan, "Our ideal man is someone who knows about art and culture, style and fashion, but doesn’t feel the need to wear all that on his sleeve."

Saenai


Saenai is a collective with a moodier menswear message. Although the label’s ideal individual is a "kind of a simple enigma" according to Andy Ono, the group’s director, Saenai’s offerings are decidedly minimal, dark, and urban. The FIT-trained Jay Escobara and his friend Steve Nishimoto founded the group in 1997 as a "design for hire" company, making them a viable presence in the city’s downtown creative community. In 2001, Nishimoto left and Nobu Watanabe stepped in, and Saenai began to channel its restless creative energy into formulating a menswear line, which debuted in 2005. Titled Imaginary Uniforms, the tightly edited collection consisted of, "a series of voluminous knits, box-cut hooded wovens, and military-inspired trousers," says Ono, while its Luchino Visconti-inspired second collection, dubbed Maximum-Minimum, was presented in "a silent video format." Inspired by "fear, vulnerability, and isolation," for a/w ‘07-’08, its third and most recent outing, Saenai wanted to "challenge new perspectives of the collective." Fittingly, the color black pervades, and there are skinny trousers, a menacing black anorak with three zippers, an oversize, long, and monastically proportioned tunic, leggings-cum-pants, and ribbed oversize sweaters. In New York, "men’s fashion is expanding. There’s a bit more space for attention, to be a force — to be Saenai," declares Ono.

Victor Glemaud

The ever-colorful Victor Glemaud — a former KCD publicist and Patrick Robinson apprentice — doesn’t let the inevitably bleak weather interfere with his first a/w ‘07 collection. Instead, the multi-talented designer approaches his reworking of the classic cardigan with a vibrant flair. His palette for fall is straight out of a Crayola box, with bright, solid colors like lime green, sunshine yellow, and royal blue popping out among the otherwise neutral old favorites. Glemaud highlights his signature techniques of sumptuously layering fitted cardigans of the same or lightly different hues over longer white shirts, creating a languid, easy look. "I wanted the collection to be chic, tonal, with a very American ease," says Glemaud. His sense of American ease is accentuated by using rumpled thermal long johns with ankle boots. Considering Glemaud’s referencing of classic staples, it’s interesting that this Haitian-born American now resides in Paris. Perhaps living in Paris — where he just ended his tenure as the Design Advisor/Communications Director of Paco Rabanne — allows him to step back and capture what American chic is.

Phillip Lim

Phillip Lim’s womenswear line, 3.1, started in 2005 and quickly became a worldwide commercial success for its unpretentious and straightforward girlishness. His menswear, somewhat overlooked, debuted for s/s ‘07 and is meant for "men who love a bit of madness or kookiness, men who are confident and consistent, [and] men who are kind," says Lim. The pieces are wonderful complements to his girlie frocks, and they are just as invitingly easy to wear. Inspired by familiar masculine icons, such as the fireman, the gentleman, and the sailor, the collection includes modernized pea coats that hug the body with silver hardware, neon yellow jackets with plastic zippers, straight-leg trousers, and classic double-breasted tuxedo jackets that are cropped and reworked with mini buttons. "I think it is an exciting time for menswear here in New York. I feel a much needed and refreshing change coming on. I feel the designers here are finally asking, ‘why not?’ rather than ‘why?’ There is a whole new generation that is putting back the fashion into menswear," says Lim. Taking advantage of this opportunity, and riding the wave of his successful womenswear line, Lim is set to open his first retail store in Soho this July.

Telfar

For 22-year-old Telfar Clemens, a New York-born designer who relocated to Liberia but moved back to the US when a civil war broke out in his parents’ native country, the intention for his label, Telfar, is simple: "I hope to add more originality and thought to NY menswear." However, his clothes are anything but simple. Clemens, who was once a model for the now defunct Cloak, says the New York man is fashionable because of his "diversity and stubbornness," and his a/w ‘07-’08 collection of unisex "multi-functional clothing that can be worn two different ways, catering to the wearer’s gender," will certainly please his following of experimental style arbiters. Sweatshirt fabrics, cotton/jersey, and felt are rendered mainly in oversize and bubble-shaped silhouettes, and most notably in below-the-knee-length overalls with one strap, hooded double-sleeve turtlenecks, t-shirts with a distended fabric over the stomach and back, comfy jodphur-like wrap pants, and a scarf shirt whose many long sleeves appear like an octopus’ tentacles. Brave clothes that Anthony Kiedis and Prince, his ideal men, would wear. As menswear worldwide hits a sober note, stateside the category is cultivating its own legion of upstart labels fit for the everyman.

Robert Geller


Robert Geller — a Marc Jacobs alum and former Alexander Plokhov collaborator at the now defunct Cloak — straddles classic French masculinity with unpretentious hipness in his eponymous label, which debuts for a/w ‘07-’08. "I was looking at Jean-Paul Belmondo and his style of the late ’60s in Paris. He was a kind of a playboy, but far away from macho. I love that. He embodied a great mixture of charm, mischievousness, and vulnerability," says Geller. To make this attitudinal style relevant to present-day New York, Geller explains that he played with "cuts, fabrics, colors and details [to make] it modern." For a/w ‘07-’08, staples such as Oxford button-downs, black double-breasted pea coats, wool flat-front trousers, bomber jackets, and trench coats evoke the film-like aura of a forlorn nocturnal stroll. Meanwhile, the lazily draped t-shirts, cotton shirts with svelte collars, and wide-leg trousers effortlessly punch up any man’s wardrobe. Though a former resident of both Paris and Los Angeles, the Hamburg-born Geller feels a sense of fashion affinity toward New York: "What I see in New York and really nowhere else in the world is this sort of unpolished edginess. New York still has a very rough sense of being, which forces one to protect oneself."

-Robert Cordero and Justin Conner

Photos:
Patrik Ervell a/w ‘07-’08
Tim Hamilton a/w ‘07-’08

Loden Dager a/w ‘07-’08
Saenai a/w ‘07-’08