August '04
Hint pays attention to retail

Alexander McQueen found inspiration for his debut fall '04 men's collection across the English channel, among the curly chops of Antwerp's orthodox Jewry. In contrast to the erotic short film that served as the show's backdrop, the seductively formal style of the city's large Hasidic population informed the designer's dark overcoats, superfine cashmere knits, Atkins-thin leathers and expensive details such as fox fur hood trim and black embroidery. Construction-wise, McQueen only had to look as far as his own past as a Savile Row apprentice, partnering with Huntsman, among England's most prestigious old-school tailors, with a view to introduce the age-old craft of bespoke tailoring to a new generation. "Menswear has got to be timeless," McQueen told the press at showtime. "Men in particular look for quality rather than over-designed clothes. Even though I'm gay, most of my mates are straight, and none of us want to stand out as a walking clothes hanger." Available at Alexander McQueen stores worldwide.


Talk about military industrial complex. Referencing American imperialism, neoclassical architecture, and artist Julian LaVerdiere, Oliver Helden's debut menswear collection, Empire of the Son, was an auspicious beginning. The west coast native of half Japanese descent, who had a stint at Marc Jacobs, has continued to draw upon military, fascistic, and vaguely gothic symbolism, incorporating them into bespoke tailoring, with laser-etched buttons of horn or shell thrown into the mix. For fall 04, the ten-year veteran of the rag trade enlisted artists Amy Gartrell, Pieter Schoolwerth and Jeff Jank to provide images for the hand-silkscreened prints, while the shirts are meticulously single-needle tailored, and merciless hand stitching is a mainstay throughout. Fine fabrics like cashmere, combed Japanese cotton and stretch Italian wool further enhance the line's sartorial sophistication. From his base in New York City, Helden recently won the Gen Art Project Global Tradeshow Design Vision Award for Menswear. Available in Tokyo at Cassidy's, and, coming soon, in East Hampton to Springer's. -Robyn Dutra
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
Study fashion at Parsons The New School for Design in NYC
 

Looks like Scott Morrison's got the jeans market all sewn up. The former designer and co-founder of Paper, Denim & Cloth has launched his own denim label, Earnest Sewn, a "boutique-based brand that mixes a traditional American denim work aesthetic with the ancient Japanese visual system of Wabi-sabi." No, not wasabi. Wabi-sabi, the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete. Quite a company ethos, one that pervades the construction of each pair of jeans which, incidentally, takes 18 hours to complete. Using ringspun and selvedge denims, the manufacturing process is intense, as the line's name would imply. Hand sanding, grinding, sand blasting, bleaching, washing, oven-baking and finishing hardware all lend to the label's unique vintage look. Available in New York at Barneys; in Los Angeles at Fred Segal; in Paris at Colette; and in London at Browns Focus. –RD
Fluent in speaking volumes, Junya Watanabe has the fall season all wrapped up with his inflated, duvet-in-scale collection of filled plaid capes with wadding and padded tweed suits. Barely exposing the shape of the body, he uses notions of space and distance to create low-slung skirts, bright parkas and sweaters, and pants that hang loosely off the body in a mix of black and faded denim, invoking a kind of Alpine wanderer. Seen here with eyeshades by Bless. Available in New York at Barneys, Jeffrey and Bagutta Life.
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