Quite often, fashion is flipped off as being a mindless activity carried out by out-of-touch designers alone in their ivory towers. Nothing could be further than the truth. Clothing design is, after all, a multi-billion dollar business spanning the globe. Fashion designers are some of the most knowledgeable, culturally diverse people on the planet. Their job is to reinterpret all aspects of modern day life--from pop culture to politics, climate change to current events, contemporary art movements to cool new travel destination---into a line of clothing. As with women's wear, menswear trends also reflect everything that's happening in the world around us.
Gender Bender Skirts
Recent laws that have legalized gay marriage in the United States, former athletes and current film stars going public with their transgender identities...nothing went unnoticed or unaddressed in Paris. Jean Paul Gaultier was way ahead of his time when he featured skirts for men some 35 years ago. Some designers resurrected the debate by featuring "gender bender" skirts (with or without coordinated trousers) down the catwalk. This was more of a "nod" than an actual trend. Whether you love or hate it, this is an excellent illustration as to how fashion functions within the context modern lifestyles.
Easy, breezy, not girly at all, our guy Zak, was tempted to try one on for size. Think of the "skirt" as a sarong--like a bathrobe wrapped around the hips and worn around the house on a weekend holiday.
LOUNGING AROUND
This is a look borrowed from hip-hop with super-sized silhouettes. What's new is the choice of fabrics that sport colorful prints from nature.
As usual, everything including an XXL T-shirt, is cut with plenty of room to spare. Note the baggy pants.
PHOTO BOMBEDWith selfies so much a part of our culture today, it was just a matter of time before they'd end up on our backs. This is not a new concept--Gaultier did them years ago. But somehow now, with so many cellphone cameras flooding the internet with photos, it seems so natural that pants, jackets and shirts would end up in a photo vortex of extreme proportions!
URBAN COMBATTANTS We live in troubled times with S.W.A.T teams, secret service and other forms of urban militia have become incorporated into our society in their efforts help keep us safe. The nylon, technical clothing they don--complete with multi-usage pockets, zips, snaps and belts--easily fits into our complicated lifestyles of devices, gadgets and gewgaws.
FREAKS OF NATURE"Save the planet" is the battle cry from Pope Francis to Greenpeace. As our eyes shift towards preserving the wonders of nature, the designers play homage to Mother Nature's works of art by incorporating "placed prints" and vegetal patterns into jackets, trousers and the like.
THUNDERSTORMHere again, the story is about prints. XL shapes and silhouettes are zapped with "electric" prints. For our dolls (and our guys), these overall prints are a bit too much. But if you team up the jacket with a solid pair of pants or slide on the crazy trousers with a fitted tank top--it all works in a hip hop sort of way.
DESERT STORM
Let us not forget that we continue to be engaged in military actions in far away lands. Designers continue to borrow from the color palette of the desert, the utilitarian aspect of armed servicemen's garb. Think of safari jackets, drawstring pants, and clothing with pockets.
The message here was: textured top and drawstring baggy pants. Lamar's top was cut from the "wrong" side of a sweatshirt. The pants have drawstrings at both the waist and the ankles.
The best looking suit for the summer is topped off with a safari jacket!
CRAYOLA KIDS 2.0
We live in a diverse world of cultures, nationalities and ethnicities, each contributing to the melting pot of today's society. As such, color is a major force in fashion for next summer. What's different here (as opposed to the colorful garments in Part I) is that the colors are a little bit subdued for a more sophisticated look.
Mr. Ken's classic taste in suits and sports jackets is given a contemporary twist when drenched in a subdued but distinctly saturated color palette.
THE NEW CEOThe Millennials have now taken over from the Boomers and are now in charge. With them comes a more relaxed, less stuffy sense of aesthetics. They're keeping it real with simple 2-button sports jackets in lightweight fabrics and matching trousers or denims. T-shirts and sweaters are for the "daily grind" while suits with butt-grazing jackets worn over shirts and ties, are left for important business meetings.
Follow us on Twitter: @FashDollStylist
