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Friday, April 8, 2011

Meet me halfway - MFW Day 3

Men's Fashion Week Day 3 was on last friday, and it was actually my day 1 ): I got invited to the opening show by Hugo Boss on Wed, but I couldn't go cos I had my SMU biz school interview. Then it was a no-show for me at the thursday showcase of Singapore's top design talents because the show was too late. Blame my parents. But by the time Friday rolled, around, I was going at full force, attending all 4 shows and the Rock it with Utt! party at night.

Highlights of the 4 shows (GIL Homme x Feiyue, DressCamp, Shanghai Tang & Emmanuel) for me were GIL Homme and Emmanuel.

Layering of a short bright tailored blazer over a trench coat
The play of volume through padding
 






(So sorry my camera's shutter speed was too slow to capture sharp photos, these few are the only ones I have that are presentable, so I've embeded GIL Homme's full show video here, credits to Senatus!)

GIL Homme was an amazing visual feast of colours with precise craftsmanship. What started out as an all-black collection gradually progressed to the incorporation of bright colours such as cerulean blue, bright green and even neon orange towards the end of the show. What made it more interesting was that the colours were introduced subtly through colour blocking and neutral colours such as light gray, tan and navy, before progressing to solid, bright colours.

Despite the first few looks being engulfed in black, the mix of interesting fabrics such as smooth leather on the lapels of jackets, shiny black patent panels on the sides of the blazer and the use of double layered lapels made ordinary outerwear look refreshing. I especially liked how the styling was done - the layering of a shorter blazer over a trench coat instead of the usual way round was one of those moments when I say "Why didn't I think of doing that!". And it was done extremely well too.

Subsequently, the layering of a padded vest over a long cerulean blue trench coat with tailored black leather lapels subtly hinted at a play of volume, while an electric blue blazer layered over a plain grey trench coat was extremely refreshing. It is notable that despite all these multiple layering, each look did not feel overwhelming, but the impeccable tailoring made the lines extremely clean and pleasing to the eye.

Leopard prints and gold utility hardware the feature of DressCamp's show
Interesting to see baroque prints made into a vest
Man's Wedges = Medges!

The rock n roll attitude was very prominently featured throughout DressCamp as the models strutted their stuff out in gold utility hardware, leopard prints, leather motorcycle jackets and knee high leather boots. Fur was incorporated towards the back of the show in the form of shrugs and a snow leopard print white fur jacket. The aesthetic was young and edgy, but I felt slightly overwhelmed by the mixing of leopard prints and excessive gold buttons along the lapels of the military jackets. It just felt a little overdone.
Footwear saved the day with "medges" (man wedges), those gold studded boots, red leather lace-ups and knee-high leather boots that looked like something Cap'n Jack Sparrow would wear.

My fav model: Johnny from Tianjing, China walked for all 4 shows on that day!
Lose those black beads please. Love the lattice cutout wide belt though.
Shanghai Tang was...one word: commercial. Besides sharp tailoring, the silhouette shown was nothing new, and fabrics used were those that are traditionally considered luxe: such as satin, silk and velvet. At times, it even felt cliche when a model came out dressed in a crisp white shirt with a dragon motif adorned at the right breast.

Noted: Croc skin brown tote!
Amazing detailing. Red thread stitching along pocket flaps and on shoulders
Interesting use of stripes
Gold brocade blazer
Hailing all the way from Spain is Emmanuel, which saw a full house for their show at 11:00PM (We fashion people don't sleep). Dr Georgia Lee, Dr. Frank Cintamani, David Gan, as well as the korean boyband TOUCH graced the event as well. I was lucky enough to be seated front row, just a few seats away from the pretty faces of TOUCH and diagonally across Dr. Frank Cintamani and his entourage.

Despite being relatively obscure (a search on Google before the show didn't give me any info on Emmanuel at all), I was surprised by the fresh designs sent down the runway, coupled with great styling and leather accessories. The heavily lined eyes and slicked back hair, worn together with fur, stripes and dark colours made the models look as though they were part of a Spanish mafia. I especially liked the play of stripes on the button-up shirts, pants and even fur boleros as the stripes were not only black on white, but in bright colours like hot pink and neon yellow as well. Some of the blazers, shirts and pants had the same striped pattern running along its sides or seating on the shoulders, and that gave each look almost a geometric feel to it.
My favourite looks include that shiny gold brocade blazer and of course, those monochrome baroque prints on the pants and blazers. The interesting use of fabric coupled with refreshing prints make them an instant like for me!

I feel that menswear is limiting in its silhouette as compared to womenswear, because it is always about a shirt and a pair of pants. To refresh the designs in menswear, I think designers need to greatly explore in the use of fabrics, prints and layering to make each look interesting, especially through the mixing of different fabrics and prints together, as demonstrated by Songzio on MFW Day 4, to be featured next!

1 comment :

I would love to see what you say!