Monday, June 26, 2017

Alexander McQueen and Thom Browne men's spring 2018



Being very “unintellectual” about fashion, my vision is not tainted by the blah blah blah blah. I am, by my own admission, very shallow when it comes to fashion. I see clothes and not inspirations and not overly intellectualized bull... Simply, I see clothes… I even try block out who is wearing them since I am not a fan of barely teenaged boys playing dress up and I certainly don’t give a rat’s ass about the staging, front row and venue. If you have ever shopped ANYWHERE, clothes hang on rails, there are no romance cards, there are no representatives from each designer to explain the background/inspiration for each piece, that is to say they just hang there so all that peripheral  ephemeral bullshit in the end means squat!
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With all this said or ranted, if you will... next up are 2 of the more “outspoken” and out of the ordinary cookie cutter menswear brands … Thom Browne and Alexander McQueen. At best, both are an acquired taste and when “reviewing” them one needs to look with a much more discerning and critical eye as there is usually much more than meets the eye in both cases. Both are collections of master tailoring and both have stories to tell which again don’t really concern me BUT sometimes, and rarely, they might just explain a bit about what I’m/you're seeing. So it must be said that these guys are looked upon with a different set of rules or parameters in comparison to most of their colleagues when it comes to seasonal appraisals. Both are so much about the art and craft of fashion …. and not the latest and greatest
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Alexander McQueen… I’m not big on the artsy craftsy conceptual pieces save for a few but what I am always a fan of is the clothing… suits, jackets, coats, pants. The multi patterning pieces are just superb and to me and exemplify the DNA of the brand on a more commercial level but that doesn’t diminish their design prowess. They are potent standouts in a sea of sameness that pervades this industry. I can’t even comment on the broderie anglaise, the knits or the ciré puffer pieces or the once again too often shown everywhere motorcycle leather drag. For me it is the wools and a select few of the leathers and very few of  the more artisanal pieces but that’s it. It is not a rave   it is not a pan... it is just MY assessment of what was shown.
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Thom Browne ... well he is a whole other ballgame but the things that keeps me coming back are the workmanship, the outlandish inconceivable designs that come to life and of course that’s all part of parcel of the superb tailoring that he utilizes and expounds upon like few others. Do I think that men should wear dresses… well no not really… do I really believe in shrunken jackets… box pleated skirts on men … no not really… but I believe that this designer is true to himself in ways that others only ramble on about. Browne has some bizarre story to tell each season but look at the pieces as individuals and not a whole look... I agree the whole look couldn’t possibly be more absurd or off the grid. To me this is a collection about dissection, piece by piece one at a time... Take it for what its worth but I will take 1 Thom Browne against 200 Demnas or 2000 Jeremy Scotts.  And BTW I surely wouldn’t mind a few of those jackets!
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