WARM, COZY AND CASUAL

As it does every season NYMD kicked off New York Fashion Week:  Men’s.  It has a beautiful new home, Dune Studios, right on the riverfront, and a couple of new designers.  NYMD has been a mainstay, since long before there was an official Men’s Fashion Week, and every season, it just keeps getting better and better. We were only able to cover the afternoon session, but it was packed with independent designers, edgy looks and a decidedly casual vibe.

DAVID NAMAN

This is the sophomore season for Naman at NYMD, and he celebrated with a collection inspired by the ‘70s.  Color was a big part of the looks, with teal, maroon and a kind of pea-soup green mixing with the requisite blacks and grays.  Texture, too, played a big part.  Velvet blazers, corduroy pants and wooly turtle necks played into the season’s casual vibe.  Sweaters and sweat pants mixed with well-tailored suits. It’s young and playful, classic, comfortable and decidedly masculine.

BY ROBERT JAMES

There is always something edgy about a By Robert James collection, both in the looks themselves and in the way they are presented during NYMD.  Last season, it was a rock band.  This season, it’s the literal interpretation of his influence:  the times we live in. Models marched in a circle carrying signs bearing hashtags that have become all too familiar, all that have become the mottos of the resistance.  The looks, themselves, were as subversive as the presentation.   Clean cut leather biker jackets, perfectly tailored blazers, warm sweaters, tight-legged slacks.  There was, of course, lots of rebellious black, a few hoodies and even balaclavas.  Everything today’s man needs to go out and fight to change the world.

WOOD HOUSE

New to NYMD, WOOD HOUSE continued the casual, comfortable vibe that’s permeating men’s wear for Fall/Winter 2017.  The collection has a mix of mostly muted colors:  black, of course, khaki and gray, but big pops of color as well, with the odd powdery blue, teal, bright lemon yellow and, even, pink. Outerwear is king in this collection, with a mix of long and three-quarter length coats and short bomber jackets. Comfort is also key here, with lots of tapered sweat pants.  It appears to be designed with hipsters in mind, hipsters who know the value of warm winter clothes, as long as the looks are, well, hip. 

MAIDEN NOIR

“What does the world look like through the eyes of the painter?” That is the question posed by the designers of Maiden Noir, another newbie to NYMD.  Influenced by the photographs of Cy Twombly, the collection is filled with warm, soft colors, muted browns, tans and rich evergreen. It’s also a collection filled with opposing textures:  coats made from natural wools over cloth shirting, bright satins and soft velvets, cotton blends paired with mohair.  Fleece and whale cords filled out the looks, mixing modern with traditional, comfort and warmth, everything you need for winter men’s wear.

R SWIADER

Not only is this R. Swiader’s first visit to NYMD, it’s also their debut collection.  The New York-based design firm takes its inspiration from the city’s landscape.  It shows, in the structure of the design.  But, though the inspiration may come from NYC, it’s really a mish-mash of designer Rafal Swiader’s universe, from his native Poland, through the streets of Paris and the newly hip Brooklyn. It’s also a strange mix of mod and punk, with tailored pieces made in tartan plaids, plain and simple shirting and wild animal print.  There was even a two-piece band, putting its own folksy spin on familiar tunes.  It was crazy, hard to pin down, but easy to wear, a freshman collection to be proud of.

PRIVATE POLICY

For Fall/Winter 2017, Private Policy took on the theme of globalization as their inspiration.  They called it “Polycephaly”, having more than one head attached to a single body.  Their interpretation came in the form of collaging and big, graphic patterns.  None was bigger than a jacket and pants made from the flags of many, many nations.  Biker jackets mixed with cropped pants, chains hung from hats, lapels, pretty much anything.  But the idea of opposites attracting was mostly shown in the unorthodox mix of fabrics:  velvet and denim, canvas, quilting and nylon.  It is, in way, a metaphor for our times, military looks for a time when war and government control weighs heavily.

© Red Stiletto Media 2017