AREHASH? AREFRESH
No, I’d Say
When the velvet ropes parted, allowing you past the throngs waiting on the sid walks of East 14th Street, hoping to gain entrance into the inner sanctum of New York’s holy grail of nightlife opulence, the rush of Adrenaline was palpable. You had been chosen, once again (was there a doubt…?). You walked through a long gray, non-descript entry hall, past the coat check, around to the left and a quick right and the visual splendor began. The iconic polka-dot lit double staircase, was like ascending on giant strips of black & white dot candy. A hint of the sweet splendor to come. The thud, thump, thud of the subs on the dance floor became audible. At the top of the stairs, a quick right or left, through the double doors and night-life paradise lay before you. You had arrived at the dance floor of the Palladium.
New York’s Downtown elite could be seen bouncing about to the beats of the latest underground band, being live-mixed off vinyl from London that was so new, it was still warm from the factory, were the dulcet ennui of the Pet Shop Boys, the shrill melodies of the Cocteau Twins, or the atmospheric rhythms of Tears for Fears all seamlessly blended together into a melodic soup that provided the perfect backdrop to the “show”. The show in this case was the fashion.
Every conceivable method of textile self-expression was on clear display with not a judgement being made (by those in the “show” of course). From the legendary club kids, pushing their glittery androgyny, to the thrift shop “mods” from Alphabet City, piecing together wildly proportioned, layered ensembles for literal pennies, to the jet-setters wearing the latest, slick, polished looks from the runways of Europe, it didn’t matter… all were welcome, and all were celebrated. As I observed the offerings for the Fall/Winter 2019 Men’s Collections, it became evident to me… my countless nights (and mornings!) spent on the dancefloors of the clubs in the mid to late 80’s in New York was preparing me for this aesthetic moment some 30+ years later.
Literally, collection by collection, Fall 2019 Men’s seemed to be castfrom another era, yet, I would be loath to call it a simple rehash. That would not be giving the designers proper credit, as these collections seemed genuinely inspired, not a common word used lately in fashion… inspired! Yes, some collections played to the extremes, like Amsterdam’s Maison the Faux or New York’s Alessandro Trincone, NoSesso, ThreeASFOUR and Vasilis Loizides, but each had points to make, especially Maison the Faux, which cast several models that were well into their 70’s & lived the aesthetic both times it walked the runways! Extremes aside, the bulk of the collections made strong statements that will resonate well with fashion fanatics for certain.
The trends that resounded the strongest in color were head to toe Black or White as well as bold, graphic color blocking. Nearly every collection showed a version of each of these three color plays, with Todd Snyder, David Hart, Versace, N. Hoolywood and NPC being the strongest statements.
The giant overcoat or enormous knit sweater are the pieces to purchase for certain for a silhouette statement. Every collection presented its own version of the proportion with each one being nearly more covetable than the next. How is one to decide? True standouts were versions by a range of design aesthetics like N. Hoolywood, David Hart, Todd Snyder, Emenegildo Zegna, NPC and Keenkee.
While Black & White monochrome was a major force, rest assured, prints and patterns were still seen in major ways, especially Leopard prints and, shockingly still, Camouflage. Both prints emerged in a variety of ways, but looked best when the scale had been altered, or when the traditional color combinations were altered. The best amongst these were done by Descendants of Thieves which mastered both plays on prints, Ackermann Paris’ slick silver Leopard suit, Peacebird’s street take on the pattern and Versace which won the Leopard race hands down with an oversized version on a coat that was strikingly procured by the model who dyed his hair in the exact same pattern. It’s the image of the season in my mind. In fact, Versace won the print game across the board, freshly reprising the house’s signature prints upon which the empire was founded. They even brought back the oversized gold safety pins a al Elizabeth Hurley for good measure. Could Versace be back???
So often in fashion, we criticize designers for borrowing too heavily from one another, or from an era, as we seem to place “original” design on a wrung of the creative ladder above referenced design. This is sad, in ways, as if we sit and wait for true original design, it would be like waiting for fashion’s equivalent of Godot. True original design is so rare and so fleeting, that if we only honor the true originals, the glorious pieces like these for Fall 2019 would be missed. That would be sad indeed. I, for one, cannot wait for Fall 2019! I’m going to pull out a few pieces from the past, add in a healthy dose from the present and I may even go down to East 14th Street at midnight and listen for a few beats of music that may still be reverberating from the days of old or being reprised by the NYU students who now live in the dorm that is built on the site. Likely, they will be playing the tunes once again… on vinyl.