Rochambeau Fall 2016

Rochambeau drew it's inspiration for its Fall 2016 collection from Tupac Shakur's movie "Juice". According to the designers their guy was "tough and layered" but even if there was no inspiration this collection works on a few different levels. With only showing 28 looks there's quite a bit of ground covered here, from sleek cut jackets to more relaxed baseball styles with guy friendly colors to boot! My personal standout was the two-tone mohair style coat and the black long coat towards the end. Comparative to other designers it's a small collection but 28 pieces could have been 20 and still delivered the diversity they showed. The urban vibe showed through this collection and should be responsive to a younger audience.

Photos: Firstvew

Nautica S/S 2016

Remember the old phrase "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"? Well it seems that's what Nautica's recipe is for the Spring 2016 season. The presentation was just a small sample of what they have to offer to men next year. The majority of the pieces are very "regular guy" friendly meaning that their customer base is not fashion obsessed but still want's to look nice. The take away from Nautica as a menswear company is that, the price points are very easy on the pocket and stay in line with there beach boat theme. As for their "black sail" offshoot it seems that's on hold for the moment, maybe the tech fabrics they utilized for that line might not have agreed with customers?

Nevertheless Nautica showed what we all expected from this long standing company, solid basic summer beachwear which most; if not all men can enjoy.

Photos:R.Spiegel

Duckie Brown Fall 2015

It's been a few seasons since i've attended a Duckie Brown show, either by show conflict, bad weather or some unforeseen circumstance this has been my track record with this design house. For Fall 2015 it seems that Steven Cox and Daniel Silver has dipped back into the archives of past seasons to create this new collection which is not a bad thing to utilize.

The show was sent out like race horses out of the gate with boys moving quickly; so shooting this was a challenge I did not win. As for the clothing that were shown, traditional structural lines could be seen from previous seasons which is what cemented Duckie Brown years ago. The colors range seem to be dominated by deep navy, dark grey and  black. There were some pink pops in the beginning. Microfiber tech style fabrics dotted the collection; but it seemed that their more straightforward pieces ruled the day, with sharply cut pants and a drop dead grey overcoat. Overall it's one of their best collections to date, i'm glad I attended.

Nautica Right Here Right Now

For this season Nautica decided not to show for Spring but instead did a private showing for press showing us what's in stores right now. The styles keep in the easy relaxed look Nautica is known for.

The price points are well within the range of the typical Nautica consumer who is looking for stylish pieces without the high price tag. The current line can be found at major department stores and Nautica shops in Europe and Asia. More information can be found at www.nautica.com

En Noir Fall 2014 Safety Dance

Relative new design house En Noir showed and small and safe collection for Fall 2014 at the Armory on 67th street and Park Ave. The entire collection is done in different shades of black and pretty much has a focus on coats and jackets which all men need. It seems that the house has a good understanding of what men want and more so how they might shop. Making easy choices for men is a plus and translates into quicker sales, I myself enjoy getting in and getting out of a shopping experience as quickly as possible.

For women they showed a few looks which seem to have a bit more flair and seem to take more design chances than on the mens side, but let's remember women are much different shoppers than the guys. Either way its a good staple collection and reinforces the statement "when in doubt, dress in black".

Photos: Thomas Kletecka

Parke & Ronen S/S 2014

My my my, how times flies by! I can remember being in Miami for swim week and this line showed roughly 10 years ago and look at Parke & Ronen now! What was once swim suits for men has now turned into a full scale mens wear line which they have been doing for a few years now and from the looks they showed; they might have hit the fashion daily double!

Some of the suits might be aimed for the "boys club" but many of their other looks work well for the straight fashion conscious men out there, I know there are not many, but they do exist. One thing that's positive is their price point, it's current trend style clothing that does not break the bank and is easily digestible for men in general. Furthermore it's nice to see this line still chugging along since mens wear in general is a very tough market.

  Photos: R.Spiegel

Domenico Vacca S/S 2013 Edited Looks

ALL IMAGES: DOMENICO VACCA

Loehmann's supports Friend Movement

Photos: Totally Cool International

On April 19th Loehmann's in New York City played host to a shopping event to support Friend Movement, an innovative anti-bullying organization. The event open to the public was a huge success with shoppers enjoying a 25% discount after they made a $5 donation.

Among the featured men's labels where: Life after Denim,Seven7, Buffalo and True Religion just to name a few. For those who needed help with clothing advice the room was attended with men's fashion bloggers Closet Freaks and Scout Sixteen.

Friend Movement is a grass roots organization to help show anti-bully images with such A-list people like Ryan Forbes, Tim Gunn, Adam Lambert and LeAnn Rimes. The awareness campaign is designed to invoke inspiration and conversation, there also is a feature film in the works.

Men of the cloth Promo Video

MEN OF THE CLOTH Kickstarter Campaign 2012 from Vicki Vasilopoulos on Vimeo.

Siki Im S/S 2011

The inspiration for the 2011 Siki Im mens collection was Xenophobia: the uncontrollable fear of foreigners along with the notion of isolation and integration driven by the physical, emotional, and political context of immigration. The collection was shown in all places a parking garage while pre-show militant rap music played in the background, we spotted a vintage silver jaguar to hot wire if we needed a get away car!

In all our years of covering fashion shows this is the first time we came across an inspiration such as this. As for the clothing the feeling we came away with was somewhat of a Japanese "urban kimono" as well somewhat feminine with a few of the looks. More important, we tried to wrap our brain around who the Siki Im customer is and we came up blank! The best pieces to this collection were their hand tailored blazers done in super 130 wool. We might be wrong but fashion inspiration should revolve around a theme, location, a person,  not a way of thinking. Delving into Xenophobia for inspiration is very deep and it seems the design house of Siki Im over analyzed it.

Photos: Richard Spiegel

Oumlil F/W 2010

The Oumlil fall 2010 show was titled "shades of a man" with different colors representing emotion. Men might not be dressing via emotion but they are dressing for style and this is a very small segment in America since most men are clueless regarding fashion and sports have a higher prominence then looking good. Designer Hisham Oumlil it seems has gone in a new direction with his line for fall incorporating different fabrics and treatments to his jackets such as a diamond quilt pattern for a jacket and different colored lapels. While most mens designers seem to be playing it safe this season Mr. Oumlil is pushing the envelope with this collection. Our verdict is that its a risky move due to the current economic situation despite his private clientele. The ultimate victory would be having buyers ordering this collection for there stores but with mixed fabrics and patterns we feel this collection does not translate to the majority of men or women who might buy for their boyfriends/husbands. We have seen more focused collections in the past but we cannot fault a designer for trying new things. We feel his strongest outing for this collection are his overcoats which seem straight forward and very stylish.

Oumlil S/S 2010

Men's wear is a rough game in the fashion world since most men don't like to shop, don't know what looks good on them and would rather spend their money on anything besides clothing. For Hisham Oumlil the clothing he presented is for men who reflect the opposite. For Spring 2010 his inspiration draws from Wall Street and powerful men but with a flair for style and not $5,000.00 Armani suits. Sticking true to his design his clothing still has major edge in the tailoring department and his fabric choices allow him to create such great pieces. This collection is more in line for modern day and evening dressing and his color range can suit many different tastes. Mr. Oumlil boasts an international private client which has served him well but seeks the attention of retail buyers which we hope comes his way, but like we stated before men's fashion is a rough game.

Spurr S/S 2010

Men's collections these days are few and far between when shown during fashion week. Most designers have chosen to show in Milan and Paris during Men's fashion week but Spurr has decided to keep showing in New York. This is one of our favorite design houses for men's wear and the collection for Spring provided options for stylish men to revel in the spring offerings. From suits to casual pieces and a stylish bag this line is quality all the way. There are no cheap fabrics or cut corners to this line and the price points show this. Be prepared to spend big but the old phrase rings true "you get what you pay for". From well tailored suits, Palm Beach looks and casual options the Spurr collection has all the bases covered