BERLUTI fall 2021

Here’s the thing about Berluti, from the start, it went from somewhat boring business like to slick, chic and excessively rich looking for men who truly appreciated timeless but fashionable clothes. Alessandro Sartori, in my opinion was the one who set the tone and held it tightly but always finding a way for the collection to morph and evolve. Haider’s reign was short and a bit more forgettable, if not a mismatch, but now we have Kris Van Assche who has jolted the collection in a way that is disturbing...at least on first glance!

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The tailoring is there, the fine line between evolution and revolution is there but that seems to happen because of the styling and not the clothes. For instance, look at the shoes, look at the bucket hats, look at the combination of pieces and those fashion nuances such as ankle gripping pants and high-water hems, draping hems and the color palette!

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I see this as a collection of pieces and not a collection to be worn as shown. Despite the blah blah blah, there are some beautiful pieces that retain the original DNA of the brand that can be worn with any of the pieces that came from 9 years of Berluti.

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No, I don’t harbor any illusions that this could ever be a mass appeal brand firstly because of its price and then secondly for all the reasons listed above but it holds my eye and makes me wonder about the direction that Van Assche will take.

Berluti fall men’s 2020

Well, that was refreshing! Kris Van Assche has done a masterful job with this   collection even if truly believe that Sartori was really a start at Berluti. Yes, the collection skews younger but I’m sure the prices haven’t done the same which is what really complicates the brand’s impact.

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Some of the clothes are truly fabulous like the full-length herringbone shaded puffer and the black/fuchsia double face top coat. Remember, Berluti started as a shoe brand and in keeping with that Van Assche certainly made use of the brands shaded leather patinas and added some truly great patternings like the “Bambi dot” and the stripings. My issue is that it’s too bad that the leathers were shown in such a matchy matchy way head to toe. 

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Color is surely a welcomed aspect but one really must face facts and ask if the man who can afford this brand will run out to buy a flaming red or hot pink suit or one that borders on chartreuse. I’m not quite sure why Van Assche chose trainers as the go to footwear since I believed that ship had sailed by now.

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Take away all the logic and  just focus on the visual and it’s a glorious celebration of what menswear can look like even when the fashion world has gone mad trying to justify and normalize the likes of Gucci et al! The collection is polished precise, a little superfly but a lot of simply wearable pieces whether bought as complete turnouts or as pieces.

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Last thing, its too bad the casting wasn’t a tad older looking and not so barely past 20 years old since as said Berluti doesn’t come cheap! One last thought is that it occurs to me that the collection does remind me of Paul Smith when he does color on steroids!

Berluti spring 2019

Alessandro Sartori, Haider Ackermann and now Kris Van Assche holds the reins for Berluti. So now you can see the demise of what was once a wildly sophisticated and soigné collection leaning on the classics to a more trendy mood when Haider came upon the scene and now you see what happens when trend and slick fly out the window when a designer thinks his client is 20 something and not 30, 40 or 50 something or more.

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High water pants, buttock clinging tailoring, logo tee shirts, bombers, track suits and leather jeans suddenly come under the awning of one of the more expensive collections once known as a go to resource for some of the most wildly expensive and innovative footwear. In place of that you have Frankenstein leaden shoes or Adidas knock offs and shoes aimed mainly at the trendoid crowd. Since price tags don’t hang off the clothes or shoes why bother? 

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There is nothing boastful or new about any of it except of course that they are impeccably made so you can carry a sign that says these shoes cost 1200 or maybe 2200 dollars because they are Berluti even though they look like they came from Footlocker or Payless and the same goes for the clothes except the stores would be H&M or Zara. **please take note of the absurd range of accessories such as the ombré croco briefcase that atches a sweater to the Peter Berlin cap ( google it) or the droopy deep vee tunic.

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Apparently gentlemen of taste and substance are getting their menu for tastefully slick and well-tailored apparel trimmed down to a scant few resources. Dior men's is head and shoulders above this and will no doubt be gaining an audience because of this cavalcade of no taste.

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Yes, the world of fashion is changing but it hasn’t changed that much that there is a clown bus on every corner and some fool willing to pay 1000s to be stared at like a circus freak rather than being ogled at for being well groomed and impeccably turned out.

Berluti fall men's 2018

Maximizing minimal.. here is yet one more side of Ackermann.. 

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The pared down razor sharp ageless totally unadorned menswear for those who seek quality and esthetic over trend and so called of the moment fashion. 

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These clothes truly exude an attitude of confidence and inherent good taste. Urbane slick and right to the point… you either love it or you don’t and even better if you can afford it! 

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Even the color palette has a refinement that some will find ho hum and others will drool at the prospect of …  regardless of the casting, the clothes can be worn by a reasonably universal audience of men. 

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BERLUTI spring 2018

Behold fashion evolved!! Ackermann took the trends and smoothed them out to the point of elegance, chic and a degree of sophistication that has been rarer than hen’s teeth on the runways this season. He also catapulted the brand into an unchartered sphere by adding women’s looks to the menu but taking androgyny to a place where it’s negligibly been seen and that is to a level of the intelligent manipulation of fashion. It's got attitude!

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The Berluti collection  ... from the shoes up ... reflects a taste level that surpasses and I’m sure evades many of its competing brands as well as their supposed critics. This is not just a case of dumbing down trends or putting men’s clothes on women … Ackermann offers this rather ... almost esoteric minimal point of view which is one of true high fashion in both a literal and cerebral level. Even the subtle color palette is refined to the point of an array of barely there tints, not colors, all offset with black.

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These are clothes that possess a slick polish and urbane approach to menswear which has been mostly void from the collections of the past several weeks. These are not clothes for the fey barely past pubescence these are the clothes of men who own their style and want to look stylish and somewhat trend driven. Let’s say it is classically trend driven! The cool factor has been set on high. There is a sort of intentional sprezzatura that few collections have achieved ... in other words. .. none of it seems contrived.

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