2012年6月14日星期四

At Pitti, Innovation and Inspiration


The Japanese clothing line ts(s) consistently surprises me at Pitti Uomo with its innovative fabrics and cleverly conceived garments. I’ve been following the line for quite a few seasons and am surprised by the scant retail attention it receives in the United States. The designer Takuji Suzuki created some wonderful lightweight pieces in stripes, not seersucker, that he mixed together for some interestingly graphic looks that remained willfully wearable. He designed one of the most clever pieces of the show: an A-line polo shirt. It is a deceptively simple piece make money online, with the slightly widening polo, in wide array of colors, draped like a Baroque statue. So cool.

Nigel Cabourn quoted the so-called Desert Rats of the British Army of World War II in his wide-legged campaign shorts and safari-style jackets. The North African campaign of Lord Montgomery inspired the sandy palette and utilitarian silhouette. Tailored jackets in textured cotton and lapel vests were paired with mesh tank tops and baggy shorts in looks straight from the Sahara, worn by Cabourn’s model-worthy design associates Kyle Jobes and James Nettleton.

Engineered Garments, another show favorite, did an amazing group of polka-dotted clothing that played with size and scale. Cotton sport jackets, shirts make money online, shorts, pants and ties — in differing sizes of dots, in bold navy and white or a more quiet, chic khaki and white — can be combined for bold, strong looks or worn separately as accent pieces. Make mine a combo, please.

Chris Olberding at Gitman Bros. shirtmakers is a tennis obsessive, toting his racket with him on business trips and to trade shows all over the world. He designed a group of colorful, lightweight cotton shirts he’s calling his “Grand Slam-brays” in an homage to the big four of the tennis world. Each color corresponds to the playing surface at each of the venues: grass green at Wimbledon, the Australian Open’s bright plexi-blue, the terra-cotta clay of Roland Garros for the French Open, and the United States Open’s blue. It is a very clever take on chambray, the summer staple.

The big shoe story at Pitti was linen. The textured fabric, in neutral colors like khaki make money online, navy and ivory, cropped up in shoe lines all over the fair. The classic American brand Walk-Over showed plain lace-ups as well as saddle shoes with contrasting leather trim, while Geox presented desert boots in a sand-colored linen. Fratelli Rossetti unveiled tasseled loafers with leather piping and Vintage Shoe Company showcased beautifully washed-out colors. The Britain-based Grenson crafted cap toes with lightweight white soles as well as plain oxfords with decorative printed details on the toe.

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