jonathan saunders

Last season the British lablel Preen jumped across the pond to show in New York and it looks like they started a growing trend with the American debut of burgeoning British designer Jonathan Saunders. Known for his innovative take on color blocking, pleating, and structured minimalism, he stands out in the club kid circus arena that has become the toast du jour in London fashion as of late. His sleek take on urban dressing can be suited for New York and for the most part, the ideas and the intention was there, but often certain looks were bogged down by excess and a dire need to pare down.

The silhouette was lithe, statuesque, and strong with the models' hair slicked to their head like cue balls and bare makeup. The linear designs stopped just above mid-calf length or full to the floor to extend that bold line. Along the way down Saunders added strips and panels of pleats to the hip, which was not the most intelligent move since most women want to conceal or flaunt their hips, not add big strips of fabric to them. The silhouette and body conscious attitude is already not for most and by adding even trickier elements seemed completely off. When those panels were absent, looks excelled, namely a sexy zip-front coat with a fox trim and a sexy black evening dress that hugged the model's frame tightly. Outwear tailored with razor sharp precision, tall boots, and cinched waists are in combination a severe look that won't allow for much room to breath, but Saunders has room to grow in New York and learn from such mistakes.

The colors were decidedly muted and unremarkable (shades of beige was a stumble). There should have been a vibrancy or an aliveness with clothes that clamored to the body, but perhaps Saunder's big debut proved too much for him because the usual appeal of his clothes is how calm and cool they appear.

Bitch, Please on:
James Coviello
Preen
Hervé Léger by Max Azria

i only watched for the commercials

Am I the only one that thought this was the oddest Super Bowl commercial ever?

Since when is Naomi Campbell a dancer? Why have a dance off with lizards? Why "Thriller"? Odd. Odd. Odd.

model of the week: jourdan dunn

Behold the upper lip that belongs to British beauty Jourdan Dunn. It's killer to say the least. Last year was her runway debut after being discovered while shopping in a Primark department store. She's been popping up all over the place this week from Oscar de la Renta to Peter Som and gets the award for wearing one of the shortest and tightest dresses of the week at Hervé Léger by Max Azria. Striking in a conventional sense, which at times can be a relief from the harshness of the eastern European models, Dunn is one to watch.

Looks from Hervé Léger by Max Azria, Threeasfour, DKNY,
Costello Tagliapietra, and Proenza Schouler

you didn't pick me, i picked you.

The opening sequence of Jerry Schatzberg's "Scarecrow"

What an elegant way to begin a movie. It's fitting for what will eventually be a poetic, sad road movie about the bond two men make as they try to desperately claim a sense of purpose and possibility. Cinema is rarely this good and poignant.

patrik ervell

For fear of sounding like a broken record, I'll refrain from mentioning that this is boyswear, not menswear, that we're talking about. I have not seen models for a mens show look so young since the Hedi Slimane days, and that was European fashion so we can give them a little of leeway. What does it say about men in the 21st century who want to look like little children? Granted, we are in an unusual state where men have been rendered unnecessary to a woman since they can work, procreate, and rule the world (and possibly this country) without the physical presence of a man. Without a sense of purpose it appears men have regressed to a childlike phase where responsibility is alien to them and we must dress like we did in fifth grade, proportions and all. You can look to the Sexual Revolution, the fetishization of the midcentury aesthetic as infantilized and perpetuated by designer Thom Browne, or the films of Judd Apatow and you can see something is a little off when it comes to the definition of man in the 2000s. Or you can look at Patrick Ervell's fall collection of slim suits, gold accented hoodies, and models with their best Jesus pretty boy hair and you begin to wonder if Ervell is in some way canonizing his subject and applying a bit of gold dust for just the right amount of true golden God shimmer. The stronger and less bothersome ideas of the collection existed in the outerwear and those wonderful shawl collar sweaters. Oatmeal and pale khaki are not my favorite colors, but the neutral colors worked for what was a simple, streamlined collection fueled by well tailored suits, parkas, and hoodies. To further his boyish message the collection was devoid of neckties but full of the sweater Grandma gives for Christmas and the letterman jacket handed down by your older brother. When will the man boy grow up in fashion? Not any time soon according to Ervell.

alexander wang

I really want to like Alexander Wang. I do, really. I appreciate the full trousers, sexy cocktail dresses, and I'll even take the ripped hosiery in his latest collection. However, I wonder if it's all styling and quite simply mirroring the taste of hipster fashion blogs. Not all fashion is capable or necessarily tied down to the idea that it must be forward thinking, but I'm not sure what to make of his fall collection. It just seems so easy to conjure up the grungy biker babe thing. None of these models look the least bit threatening, scary maybe due to their thinness and ratty looking hair, or tough as I'm sure was his sole intention. Their scowls are intense but you have to wonder wouldn't most leggy sixteen year-olds have a smile on their face if they got to wear overpriced high fashion? Isn't that the point of clothes is too elicit feelings of joy, confidence, and comfort? I'm curious what he's going to price these clothes because although they look well made, but they look so basic and neglected in care that it would be a riot if those beanies cost more than they would at a Goodwill bargain bin. Fashion is cyclical, so maybe this is a reaction the all of the '80s trends that have dominated fashion for the past few years, but I find it boring and too obvious. I don't know if Wang is too blame or his former model turned stylist Erin Wasson is the brains behind this goth, bohemian, streetwalker aesthetic, but it could use an actual point of view and one that Marc Jacobs wasn't doing in the early '90s. There are no rules in fashion, but showing a collection where some looks didn't include pants and others looked like recycled Mary-Kate Olsen throwaways seemed kind of hollow. I wouldn't say this is a bad collection, just as blah as the monochromatic and washed out color palette. Is there any thought in all of this? If so, maybe I missed it and maybe next season he can actually make clothes instead of sifting through the closet of Miss Olsen and calling it his own.

Bitch, Please on:
Baby Phat

Gold Digger, where art thou?

duckie brown

The ring of the school bell after an exhaustive summer break definitely signals fall and winter. Perhaps that was on mind of Duckie Brown designers Steven Cox and Daniel Silver for their fall/winter collection that was peppered with backpacks, beanies, and a youthful proportion that was part urban sophisticate and part school boy on-the-go. It was a bit of a sober collection for the designers who last season showed voluminous pants covered in floral prints and Technicolor outerwear. The silhouette was slimmer and refined, which to me shows a greater skill in their ability to tailor and create a more classic look. Gray, black, and eggplant dominated the collection and was most attractive in a suit combination with a long sleeve top protruding over gloved hands. That interesting and now signature proportion of long top, short jacket found its way into several windbreaker over an exaggerated suit jacket looks. It's as if the Duckie Brown ideal is a boy dressed up for the first day of school in his dad's suit with his favorite windbreaker casually thrown over it and their favorite beanie to make it all their own. I'm not sure that idea is relevant in men's fashion, especially when other designers are showing more grown-up looks for fall, but I can admire a designer attempting to evolve their work into refreshing territory.

nautica

Some very smart looking outerwear at an otherwise straightforward show.

eye candy of the week: amerie

Amerie at the Baby Phat Fall/Winter 08 collection
photographed by Jeremy Kost
via fashionista

Oh, Amerie, how I miss thee.

I appreciate that you're trying to make that money through the NBA, but let's be real, you need to be on the Beyonce level and this is not the way. You're multiracial, hot, and have legs for days; why aren't you more famous and praised? You look elusive and sexy in your polaroid, which can be difficult for most. Well, maybe it's my job to remind people of your greatness.

Old school case in point:

no. 11, possibly

I'm not sure how GQ missed Luchino Visconti's mesmerizing and bleak masterpiece "Rocco and His Brothers" (1960) on their list of "The Ten Best Guy Films You've Never Seen". It's a solid list and if my masculinity were in question, I would say I fared pretty well having seen seven out of ten of the films. In terms of it not being mentioned in the same laudatory breath as Fellini's "La Dolce Vita", Rossellini's "Roma Open City", and Antonioni's "L'Aventurra", and its issues concerning masculinity and identity, "Rocco and His Brothers" is a fitting description for GQ, but it's also a somber, exacting piece of Italian cinema featuring memorable performances by star Alain Deloin, Annie Girardot, and Renato Salvatore. The film centers around a fatherless family of five brothers who have recently moved from the squalor of Southern Italy to the land of hope and promise of Milan, where they come of age in a time when their country is economically devastated and culturally depressed. Each brother becomes the focus of a segment that pieces together the narrative and we learn their journey for self-preservation leads to a devastating end that as is cathartic and pulverizing as any humanist dramas made popular by the neo-realist movement of the immediate post-war years. Each boy in their pursuit of happiness finds that life is hard and damning and rising above it all can feel insurmountable. This is particularly crushing because their lives are devoid of the fantasy of an idealistic and prosperous home life where their roles as men are clear and performed without familial strife on an everyday basis. At times melodramatic and other times so subtle and succinct, "Rocco and His Brothers" is a movie about what it means to be a man, but often times how that definition can be so brutally arbitrary.