For designer Kiminori Morishita the skinny leg pant is still alive! For most of his collection the design stuck to the rocker chic skinny leg pant. The strongest statements for the collection were his use of prints and outerwear. The opening section was a series of skinny pant looks so tight to he leg that the crotch was tight. As the collection progresses Morishita started loosen up the fit. The models look was very similar to that of the Ramones in the 70’s and Steven Tyler. One of the strongest looks in the opening section is one of the most out of character pieces from the collection. A cream silk damask blazer worn with a white silk vest and a low-rise treated leather pant. While the pant was just a little too skinny for the look this season the sophistication of the blazer and vest is unique.

In the second section there were two strong looks that really went in two directions away from the rocker chic look that opened the collection. First Kiminori went in the direction of American sportswear with several 70’s style sports jacket. The strongest piece from this section was the white sports jacket with a blue and orange stripe design on the font of the jacket. The designer also moved in the direction of the Goth rock with a series of all black looks that incorporated a few unique prints. Like the black snakeskin print on velvet vest worn with a black skinny leg pant and black sleeveless dress shirt and tie. Morishita then showed more American sportswear looks that incorporated key pieces like the khaki p-coat and printed blazers.

There were two must have pieces in the collection. First is the sleeveless gray dress jacket worn with a matching skinny leg pant. The other must have piece is a army green treated leather jacket with a mow collar. The fit of the jacket is loose but still has a tailored look to the jacket. Morishita hit several unique trends from this season like the skinny tie as well as several sleeveless jackets in the evening section. The only miss from the collection was Morishita’s skinny leg pant; I would like to have seen more variations in the collection.

View complete collection at Wireimage

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For his menswear collection for Spring/Summer 07’, designer Hiroaki Ohya showed only three looks. The looks consisted of a variation of styles molded with some of this season growing trends, like prints and full leg pants. The only downer is that Ohya only showed one of the three looks with a full pant leg. The other two looks included a skinny leg velour suit and a skinny pant. The standout look from the collection incorporated two of this seasons biggest trends, the full leg pant and prints. A turquoise full leg pant worn with a printed short sleeve cotton shirt. While the selection was small and the only key look seemed to be a junior attempt at menswear. I would like to have seen more color like the full leg pant looks.

View complete collection at Wireimage

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One of the safest looks to show at a menswear collection is silkscreen print on pretty much anything. Guys love it, designers love it, but do editors love it? For her Spring/Summer collection Kumar opted to add a silkscreen image to everything from blazer and even sweat jackets. One of the standout pieces in the opening section was a white cotton voile cropped sleeve jacket with a mow collar. The white cotton voile is printed with a peace sign print; the look was finished with a long sleeve orange shirt with a silkscreen image of Jim Morrison on the front. Through out the collection Kumar made sure that her pants were relaxed with a full leg. Kumar did not stop there with her pants; she used different textured fabrics for the pants as well.

The must have piece from the collection is gray cotton voile pant with ribbed knit elastic used for the waist. A trend that is starting to pickup from Fashion Week to Fashion Week! The pant is silk screened with a modern print and worn with a brown dress shirt with 60’s geometric design embroidered on the front of the shirt and on the matching necktie. The key to Kumar’s mens looks is in the details. She made sure the look for Spring/Summer was a more relaxed look, abandoning the skinny pant and tapered shirts. Bravo Madame Kumar!

View complete collection at Wireimage

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At Xenheist its more hooded jackets and plaids but its Bernard Taylor’s full leg pant that is the show stopper. While he incorporated a paisley print into one look, one of the strongest looks from the collection are all the full leg pants, which he showed with several printed t-shirts. Another strong pant look was a black cotton full leg pant with a diamond print on the fabric. The pant is worn with a white and black pullover that has a snap hood. In the closing section Taylor showed a series of matching pant and jacket suits. The fabric for the suits was a combination of odd color palettes used in the prints.

The must have piece from the collection is the read and gray plaid print jacket. The design is very simple and clean but Taylor added some modern embellishment like the dashes on the collar bone which a suto-military. The look is completed with a black wool full leg pant. While Taylor was keeping with a loose silhouette for mens the overall focus of the collection was little off base. On a side note, in the designer notes the designer listed Gemma Ward as a client. Now I don’t see Gemma Ward as being the burly gurly kind of girl.

View complete collection at Vogue Australia

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One of my first notes for the mens and womens at Fashionassassin was on the models hair. The womens hair was shapeless and way to messy while the mens hair was cleaner and prettier, a rare thing! For his menswear Alex continued add more bold prints but making sure they were in guy friendly colors of red/black/blue. He used a honeycomb geometric print on several looks and the print seemed to jump out at you, not in a pleasing way! There was one look that the print was done in soft canary yellow, which is probably the only toned down version of the print. The print was used on wide crewneck t-shirt with the shoulder seaming detailed with a black cotton stripe.

There is one must have piece from the collection and one must have look. First there is the olive green cardigan, which Alex used in his womenswear collection. Then there is his must have look for the season, which is a trend that we saw in San Francisco. The reverse cargo pant, a full leg cargo pant with the cargo pockets moved from the side to the front of the pant. Alex showed this pant several time throughout the collection. One of the strongest looks was the cargo pocket pant in khaki brown worn with asparagus yellow and white print shirt and white cotton vest. You have to have more than beautiful hair and cute little details to have a great collection. What is really distracting in this collection is Alex’s loud prints that opened the collection. I would like to have seen more toned down prints and more emphasis on the details

View complete collection at Vogue Australia

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Only four designers showed menswear during San Francisco Fashion Week. While there was a broad spectrum of looks, from Richard Hallmaq’s water polo suit clad models to Daniel and David Concepcion everyday chic. There were only two really strong trends shown during Fashion Week. These two trends first made light during Milan Menswear in July. One of the strongest trends hitting the mens runway is the full leg pant. Slowly designers are moving away from the slim fit or skinny leg pant. Both emerging designers J9 and Concepcion stuck to the full leg pant, while Gypsy & Loic and Hallmarq showed both the full and skinny leg pant.

Another unique trend that we saw during SF Fashion Week is the use of ribbed knit elastic to detail mens pants and shorts. This elastic is commonly used on mens bomber jackets or “member’s only” jackets. At the Gypsy & Loic collection the designer duo used the knit elastic to trim the pockets on two pants and to cuff a mens short. While the menswear shown at SFFW was very broad, what was lacking was mens eveningwear or even men’s suits. Hopefully next season we see more menswear on the runway.

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Designers Gypsy and Loic keep to their Haight and SF Skater roots and build another wearable collection. While a lot of the looks in the collection a very simple the character is in the little details they added to some key pieces. The duo did show several hooded looks in the collection but their standout trend is their gravitation towards the new full leg pant we are seeing on the runway for both men and women. One of the standout pants in the collection was the full leg cotton pant with a navy and pale blue hound’s-tooth print on the fabric.

Standout pieces aside the collection was very simple and very safe, giving the Gypsy & Loic customer the essentials like cargo pocket pants and shorts in earthy colors. Gypsy and Loic added several unique details to these current day pieces. One the standout pieces was a brown corduroy pant with the pocket opening done on slant and the opening is finished with the same ribbed elastic cotton trim that is used on aviator and flight jackets. This slant opening was also used on the shorts as well. But another standout look was the gray cotton ¾ length short that the duo finished the cuff of the short with the same elastic ribbed cotton.

The must have piece from the collection is the full leg pant with that f is finished with a ridding pant look. The inside of the pant leg is detailed with the crescent seaming from the groin down to the leg, their take on the ridding pant is a more modern with numerous seams running down the inside leg. While the Gypsy and Loic showed several standout pieces in their collection, there were just as many to simple and to safe pieces. I would have like to have seen more daring looks and less of the hotbod male models showing off their abs! Overall Gypsy & Loic has some new pieces that any man would like to add to their wardrobe.

View the complete collection at wireimage.com

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To the avid fashionista, twin brothers David & Daniel Concepcion work was very simple and lacked any originality. Take another look, there is a lot more to their collection than the young clean-cut look they conveyed with the overall look of their collection. It’s in the little details here and there. The duo jumped at the hooded trend, very common for men and women, the strongest statement was their nod to the full leg pant. They showed two long pant looks and one short look. Their inspiration is their design philosophy, clean aesthetics with emphasis on keeping the looks functional, casual and most importantly modern. While their full leg pants were a key look to the collection another strong look is their sleeveless knit sweaters, which they showed with two different necklines (v-neck & a plunging neckline.)

The must have piece from the collection is one of my favorite pieces. The white twill knee-length short with the bottom of the short cuffed. What makes this look standout if the Concepcion twins moved the typical cargo pant from the side of the short to replace the front pocket of the short. A unique design feature and one I would love to see copied at collections next week in New York. David & Daniel Concepcion are certainly young and fresh to the design world and this collection is proof they really can produce quality that can sell. What I am interested in seeing is how they start to mold this clean design aesthetic with their influences from comic books, cartoons and classic art. Bravo Monsieur y Monsieur Concepcion!

View the complete collection at wireimage.com

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Designer Antonia Marguerite was the first designer to show menswear looks at San Francisco Fashion Week. Luckily Marguerite’s vision for S/S 07’ is fits with emerging trend of the Menswear collections in Milan, Paris and Rio, the darker the palette the better. Her inspiration for her first menswear collection was a play on hot rock stars and their sexual allure over women. The only downside to her vision was she focus on rock stars of the 80’s compared to sexiness of rock stars of the 70’s or 90’s. The end result was a parade of several black leather looks. One of the strongest looks he showed was a sleeveless black leather jacket. The shoulders of the jacket were caped and the wide lapels done in leather are attached to inside of the jacket. So the front of the jacket lays open like lapels with the black leather lapels lying on top. The jacket is cropped of above the waist and She lined with a black/white/red.

Marguerite took the new dark palette in mind with her collection; sadly she fell for the skinny pant trend, which is slowly starting to disappear from the runways. The must have piece from her collection was the sleeveless black leather and black cotton hooded jacket. Antonia detailed the jacket with a red zipper, wide lapels and the hood is lined with the black/red/white print she used on all her looks. While Antonia was trying to achieve a complete rocker look with this collection, her outerwear pieces were the highlight. She certainly has the ability to do menswear although I think she needs to really stand back and make sure the look she is creating is not too out there, men scare easily. Overall Antonia showed three really strong and focused looks. Bravo Mademoiselle Marguerite!

View the complete collection at wireimage.com

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For Spring/Summer Junya Watanabe takes on America and the world of Sporting Goods. The recent collaboration with his new Nike line was the focus of this collection, emphasizing the iconic styles of American sports. The end result is the morphing of bold lines and color of uniforms with Watanabe experimentation of reconstruction of the gentleman’s wardrobe. In the opening of the collection Watanabe was took off running, showing two really strong looks. First is the powder blue, teal and white suit. The red lines added below the teal satin shoulders and the darting of the powder blue fabric into the white panels on the sides of the jacket. Its all line, so many lovely lines! The other standout look is the powder blue and teal satin suit with similar darting that creates a modern look.

Slowly Watanabe moved away from the bold colors and focused on a darker palette of black, dark grays and blues. The standard sports jersey slowly morphed into leisure suits and even dress suits. One the best morphed looks was the navy blue velour pants worn with a navy blue satin jacket with panels of white detailing the darts of blue and panels of football cone orange satin. This style of molding athletic looks and colors into wearable day and evening looks seemed to flow through the collection. Then the collection came to a complete stop when Watanabe showed a handful of overcoats and parkas. The nylon material is too puckered at the seams and trim, giving the jackets a messy look.

For the close of the collection, Watanabe finally showed several knitwear looks that incorporated several football jersey designs and colors. One of the standout looks was a navy blue and powder blue sweater, Watanabe uses this color combination through out the collection. Another standout look was a yellow sweater with a blue and red stripe design along the sleeves and the sides of the torso.

While there were many must have looks in the collection. There were two really unique pieces in the collection. First was the heather gray jacket with a mandarin collar. The jacket is made of cotton jersey material used for sweatshirts and pants. The detailing of the zippers and straps is what finishes off the piece. Another unique piece is the dark blue jersey suit for evening. The jacket is pinned to the torso creating a athletic shape for the jacket. To finish of the jacket Watanabe added detailing of darting around the torso in white. Bottom line this collection is pure genius, Watanabe’s experimentation of lines and reconstruction of athletic American looks. While adding some colors that we don’t see today but certainly would have seen on the field back in the 70’s and 80’s. Watanabe’s tailoring and play with lines really stands out in the jackets and knitwear. There are too many key finds in this collection to list them off, if you can get your hands on just one piece, your lucky! Bravo Monsieur Watanabe!

View the complete collection at style.com

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John Galliano and Frankenstein, what a dramatic combination! Designer John Galliano lined his back light metal grate catwalk with power line towers complete with spark fireworks and neon lights. Only Galliano would go so far to take the inspiration of Frankenstein, Literally! The music is even reminiscent of the “Munsters”. My first reaction to the collection is this Spring/Summer or is it a Fall/Winter collection? Galliano has fallen victim to the dark palette that is plaguing the Spring collection. In the opening section molded his zoot suits and overcoats in some of the daring shapes of the season. Full and Large, almost to large! I was not a big fan of the large zoot-coats but when Galliano added some tailoring to some of the looks they became appealing. Like the gray/brown distressed leather blazer, which he kept the wide shoulders but pined the torso of the jacket close to the body.

From the opening section Galliano shifts his inspiration towards a combination of a Rasta male models parading in bikini bottoms and Speedos. Then he swings away from the island style to a morphing of the SNL punk style with thick lines of the Rock-a-Billy look. In this section Galliano showed a lot playful looks and several bold looks. He plays with animal prints One the strongest looks in this section is the baggy and loose fit denim pant worn with a creamy yellow and black cheetah print silk shirt. Sadly the pant is one of only two loose fitted pants in the collection.

While Galliano is well known for his flare for the dramatic he certainly creates pieces and looks that stand-alone. This collection is no different two of the must have looks are from the Punk/Rock-a-Billy section and the other from the tailored section of the zoot suits. The first look is the denim pant with a tiger print embroidered onto the pant and detailed with beading as highlight to the print. The combination of the tiger print pant and the cheetah print knee-length overcoat is perfect. The lapels and cuffs of the coat are beaded, adding more decadence to the look. The other must have look is a black sheer blazer, the torso panels are made of black organza and the sleeves and shoulders are black silk crepe.

Galliano’s collection fits into the theme or focus that Galliano is known for. His remarkable eye for outerwear is evident but his absence of color is what really makes you rethink the entire collection. Yes the bikini bottoms and Speedos were colorful, but not enough color in the collection overall. What I was happy to see is the number of unique pieces and editorial pieces in the collection. From the organza jackets to the crepe straight jackets, even the mafia silkscreen print shirt. Not to mention the whole Rock-a-Billy gone punk section.

View the complete collection at style.com

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For the Spring/Summer 2007 Louis Vuitton designer Marc Jacobs handed over the design reigns to his second in command Paul Helber’s. In hopes that he would get a break and possibly hand-off the control of the men’s line to Helber in the future. The collection was small and the models walked through a window opening, minus the runway. The backdrop was a series of panels with photographs of pool water in sunlight as a background to photos of models underwater shot prior to the show, wearing the clothes and accessories from the collection. Sadly, there was no digital backdrop as some big industry names reported! On an interesting twist to the collection is the casting of the models for the show. Almost every other model in the collection looked like Jacobs’s ex-lover Jason Preston. The quirky highlight to the collection was all the Elvis Hawaiian songs.

In the opening section Helber’s showed several suit looks that incorporated a big trend this season, the vest! Now right off the bat, I would like to say I was not keen on the silver and gold lame shoes in the collection. Several buyers and editors commented post show that shoes will be the new wait list item for Vuitton. One of the strong looks in the opening section incorporated one of this seasons “it” colors, Aqua. Helber showed a black/white & aqua printed silk shirt worn with a black satin dress slack and a knee-length black overcoat. The coat is also worn with a pair of the classic Vuitton slim tailored pant, sadly this skinny leg pant is a dying repeat look, Helber did not show any full leg pants in the collection. While the pants are a bit of a disappointment in the collection Helber did show one unique pant. A white denim pant with a black line design creating a floral print on the denim. The downside to this look is the pant is cut to the leg.

In the second section Helber moved away from his dark pallet and the combination of black and white looks. He slowly add some color but then moved back to a dark palette. While the looks seem to be recycled from one section to the next. Some of the key and standout looks in the collection are two outerwear pieces. At the close of the show Helber showed two trench coats, in white and a dark olive green. The trench coats are probably the only real big sell of this collection.

The must have look from the collection is one of the long lapel blazers Helber’s showed in the collection, the only unique piece in the collection. It’s a white linen blazer with a long lapel that runs past the stomach. The jacket is worn with a collarless black shirt and a dark blue plaid print vest. Sadly missing from the collection are any knitwear pieces, Helber did incorporate one piece a navy blue chunky knit cardigan with the opening of the cardigan lined with a ribbed knit. With Helber’s at the helm he managed to shift the Louis Vuitton collection into reverse. All of Jacob’s strides and progression he established in the last 4 years seemed to disappear in this collection. There were to many trends used in this collection that were borrowed or repeated from seasons passed. It’s great to barrow from the archives, but only when a decade or two have passed, at least! The collection really limits the LV client with summer options. Helber’s dark palette of black, gray, blue and dark greens gave the collection a Fall/Winter look and style. While Helber made sure that his skinny leg pant was fluid throughout the collection. The Vuitton style is what is absent from the collection and the looks Helber created were to far from each other in style.
View the complete collection at style.com

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More Italian Bambinos in Paris! Designer Yoji Yamamoto took inspiration from the mobster looks from the early 20th century. Yoji opened the collection with a non-stop parade of his oversized suits and pant looks. A signature! Its in the tailoring and ornamentation of the suits do we see the whole Italian mafia inspiration. An interesting twist to the collection was Yamamoto showed all of his suits with suspenders and later in the collection he took the suspender seriously and even made up slogan shirts to praise the accessories. Yoji played with the suspender and the Y-shape created at the back support. He added slits to the back of jackets allowing the Y-shape support to be displayed on the outside of the jacket.

Yamamoto even went as far to add slits to the front of jackets so the front straps could weave in and out of the front of the jacket. Another strong point to the collection is the relaxed Yamamoto pant has gotten even baggier. The designer moved away from the straight leg pant of last season to a really loose or baggy fitting pant. While Yamamoto continues to play with the suspenders he also played with some color. One of the weak colors he added to the collection was the military green he used on several shirts and pants. Another weak look was the silver lame overalls. But Yoji found little trend look to play with, overalls! One of the best overall looks was the black jersey overalls worn with a sheer cotton button down shirts and a matching jersey blazer.

There was one must have looks in the collection, the black pinstripe zoot suit in the opening of the collection. What is interesting about this suit is Yoji used sheer linen fabric; you could almost see the models bits! The must have pieces from the collection are the white dress shirts that have panels of fabric that allow suspenders to be threaded through them, acting as an anchor. So why can’t suspenders come back into style? It seems that Yoji is trying to make a statement that all those hip-hop boys with their pants hanging below their ass and all of those low-rise jeans must go. I could jump onto that bandwagon. Outside of the play on word and statements, Yoji produced a rather dark collection but a classic Yoji collection. Endless options! Bravo Monsieur Yamamoto!
View the complete collection at style.com

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The Gieves & Hawkins design team summoned the fashion rogues to the Hotel de Monaco in Paris for an outside showing of the their Gieves line. The designer showed his Spring/Summer collection on the grounds of the hotel, models walked the gravel pathways while editors in shorts and tennis shoes watched on. The collections theme was “I am a Camera”. My take on this was the models were camera ready! Right from the opening look the silhouette were very simple and very light. Each look appeared to be so lightweight; the fabrics just seem to float as the model walked adding a refreshing look to a hot and sticky day!

One of the best looking in the opening section was the yellow collarless overcoat cropped at the waist. The opening of the jacket overlaps adding to the modern tailoring that Grieves used in the tailoring of the shoulders and torso of the coat. Another strong outwear look was the off-white collarless trench coat that Grieves constructed to be cascading down the body. The trench fabric just floated upward with each step the model took.

The must have pieces from the collection are two knitwear pieces. First was the tan mohair and cashmere knit sweater with a crewneck. The sweater weave design is a combination of a ribbed weave and a cable knit weave. Grieves also showed alternate version of the same sweater, this version was cardigan with v-neckline. The weak part of the look was the tapered leg pant paired with both sweaters. This collection is certainly one of Grieve’s colorful and subtle collections. The overall look is very clean and his use of color really brings some life to the collection. Bravo Monsieur Grieves!

View the complete collection at PrettyPretty.be

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Spring/Summer 2007, Boateng is Color! Boateng is Energy! Boateng is Love! Although Ozwald Boateng collection may appear serious, thanks to the models striking stares down the runway. It’s the energy that Boateng and his team give the clothes that really set the runway on fire. To open the collection Boateng opted for some of his classic suits and threw hints of color here and there and then he moved into more daywear looks. On of the prominent pieces in the opening section was the striking yellow-green dress shirt with a mandarin collar. The shirt is worn with a dark red (almost blood red) silk sheen dress pant with a salmon satin belt tied around the waist.

The collection is filled with a lot of Boateng’s classic shapes and tailoring but its his knitwear that really jumped out at you. One of the softer looks was a white knit sweater that is trimmed with in a aqua colored knit. The sweater was paired with a pale aqua silk shirt and a thin white tie. All this is pulled together with a tailored straight leg gray twill pant and thigh length jacket. The overall look is almost 80’s but Boateng’s combination of color and tailoring is very forward. The only real weak points of the collection were the metallic leather piece and the silk satin pullover. At the close of the collection Boateng added more black to the collection. One of the standout looks was a black cashmere sweater with aqua trimming the neckline and cuffs. The sweater is worn with a black velvet pant tailored straight.

The only must have piece in the collection is the pearled aqua pant worn with a soft cream color blazer that is tailored loose around the torso. The decadence of the pant is eye catching on the runway. Many of you might have seen Ozwald Boateng’s recent venture into television with his new reality series that is following him on his journey of concurring the retail market of America. This collection is proof that Boateng still has it after 20 years and he plans to keep going on no matter what. The collection embraced one of the new hot colors seen over and over in Milan – Aqua and a lot of it. Boateng took the color and made a collection of endless options. The result is an honest collection that really gives his clients the ability to mix and match as he pleases. Bravo Monsieur Boateng!

View the complete collection at UK Vogue.com

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