BRIONI FALL 2021

 Here is a heritage brand that has set the gold standard for men’s suitings for decades.  It is only recently they have branched out into sportier looks and in my mind’s eye, this season in particular, is what rich men wear when they are not in the executive suite.

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It's slick, chic, conservative with a dash of trend and fashion and in fact if one is an heir to some kind of fortune, it’s ageless. In my opinion it’s not trying to be anything other than what they have always been and that is clothes for men of a certain station in life. This is, to me, what Hermes should have looked like instead of injecting too much fashion into a heritage brand that has always stood for discretion and not like look at me I’m wearing Hermes, unless of course you wear the H belt and shoes.

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Norbett Strumpf reinforces my faith that there are still some designers who actually understand who they design for... I will give them a pass on the gold suit but as a whole I think it’s rather exquisitely rendered and besides they won’t rely on these clothes hit their sales goals but I can say I do believe it is a growth category if they continue on this path. Add to that the pitch perfect styling in total!

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Fall 2016 Milan.. Brioni

 Brioni is one of those heritage brands that is in the process of reimagining itself especially after it has been sold to Kering. The brand has long been a staple of established and conservative businessmen from all over the world but now Brioni wants a younger customer albeit a very rich younger customer. The task has been entrusted to Brendan Mullane.

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That being said, the fit is younger, a bit more abbreviated and slicker and leaner, there are more patterns, plaids to be exact, and of course there are sportier pieces rather than just boiler plate business suits. Without a doubt the quality remains impeccable as well as fabrications and of course their manufacture. This is a prime example of a somewhat misguided journey to the brand’s reimagination. There was no need to use that oversized backpack so often.... and no back packs do not make clothes look young when worn over a suit, then there was this “nanook” harness/hood which was just plain silly and lastly there were the hats that just were placed atop the head!

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In essence all the parts were there but what might have been did not happen and that is this collection should have been wildly chic and masculine with a heavy dose of swagger. Well, no swagger here and the “superfly” minks didn’t help much especially the herringbone number. Given the hugely grey/black palette, don’t you think a chinchilla “puffer” might have been fabulous? While the loose pocketed smock top and wool pull overs are most definitely fashion items, there was something missing. The bottom line is that the collection looked uptight and not the relaxed younger mood that was hoped for and honestly this wasn’t a runway worthy designed collection.

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Without question Brioni did what it does best and that is tailored conservative menswear. Doesn’t it strike you odd that there were no evening/tuxedo/dinner jacket exits? One really would like to know the answer to that question. No doubt their business will not suffer but it surely might have grown if they pushed a little harder and thought it out a little better.

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BRIONI .. CAVALLI.. Dsquared² .. SPRING 2015 men's

Can we talk here? Rather than trash these collections for the obvious reasons, let me make this brief and to the point... WTF are these people thinking?

BRIONI... Long known as one of the great staples of the upper crust of men’s suitings has recently decided it needed to modernize its look as have so many others of the heritage brand variety. This is not to say they gave up their roots, it is to say they now have a so called more fashionable face to present or for that matter, a reason to present! Supposedly, its new creative director has his roots in Savile row tailoring but according to my eye he seems much more attuned and rooted to men’s contemporary sportswear. So the conundrum occurs here. .. Does the world of men’s fashion need a stratospherically expensive collection that looks like a rich man’s Original Penguin? Nuff said … let’s move on

ROBERTO CAVALLI... no question this man is smoking something but what strikes me is he seems to be doing Versace better than Donatellamommamia. Well, not really, but surely could be and had the show been more intelligently styled rather than adhering to the more is better school of design, this season might have been a winner.. Well, at least for a very fractional segment of the fashion population. Signor might have exercised a wee bit of restraint and offered some solid pants/ shorts as well just a more standard silhouette. He also might not have agreed with his stylist and forgone the scarf wrapped waists. Lastly he might have suggested that his models not look embarrassed or ashamed of wearing these get ups... a smile might have helped and gone a long way. Why did these clothes remind of The Rock?

Dsquared² … well I am sorry to see that the twins have not thrown in the towel on their circus of fashion. I was sort of hoping that whatever possessed them when designing the women’s resort collection had taken  over their collective minds for Spring men’s, but alas NOT! This is just one more season of clothes, just clothes and one more spectacle of a show that might hopefully detract from the non-importance of the collection. It is sad that these 2 cannot seem to figure out a way to stand out rather than blend in to the sea of sameness. I mean how many ridiculously expensive tricked out pairs of jeans does one fashion victim need? It is all about bells and whistles and maybe some smoke and mirrors but the end game is the same... so what! Again? and guys.. camo is dead!.. at least the way you showed it. And jeez louise.. Stephen Sprouse?? Day glow??

Brioni mens fall 2013

This is a collection that should serve as a lesson to designer and stylists. The lesson is simple… you do not have sacrifice who you are to achieve the end that you desire even if the intended result does not jive with the design philosophy of the of brand .

Brioni has always been known as a brand that caters to men of certain age and financial bracket and those qualities still holds true. The difference is that today, the brand shows itself as a slightly more trendy and slightly younger brand than it was at its onset. The styling is true to its original DNA, the palette is nothing extraordinary but it is the proportions that have changed and the variety of the offering. Add those to the use of more fabrications and a few more sportswear oriented styles and you have a recipe for what is the Brioni brand of the 21st century.

 

View slideshow: International fashion and style; Brioni men's fall 2013 Milan

There is something to be said for ageless and ever tasteful and Brioni is a shining example of what beautiful and expensive clothes look like. The collection can be shown on a 20 year old or a 50 year old and both will look equally chic and stylish and never looks foolish. Not many brands can say that about their collections.

As I said when I started this, this is also about the styling; it is amazing what a hairbrush and shave a can do … not to mention perfectly fitted clothes.