10 posts tagged "E. Tautz"
Gender Bender
From J.W. Anderson‘s tube tops and frilled shorts (above right) to Meadham Kirchhoff‘s tunics and skirts to Sibling‘s fluffy cotton-candy-pink shorts, London’s up-and-coming designers put some extreme feminine twists on their Fall ’13 menswear collections. But while men (who aren’t Marc Jacobs or Andrej Pejic, that is) may be a little hesitant to jump on the gender-bending bandwagon, it would seem that women are, once again, craving an androgynous edge. The proof? Due to popular demand, menswear designers are creating looks tailored just for the ladies. For instance, as deputy editor Matthew Schneier reported from Pitti Uomo yesterday, Andrea Pompilio sent out nine cross-dressing girls (above left) before allowing his male models to walk the Fall runway. “They ask so many times for very petite sizes for women, so why not do it?” he said after the show. Over in London, E. Tautz‘s Patrick Grant was feeling the same pressure. “We just started a very small line of women’s shirts, which kicked off at the request of one of the stores in Japan—who came to our men’s show and asked if they could have small versions of our men’s shirts,” Grant told British Vogue, hinting that a full-on Savile Row-inspired womenswear range might be in his future (the shirt capsule will be available at Matches.com this spring). Of course, shes dressed like hes isn’t a revolutionary trend (Le Smoking, anyone?), but the overlap of his and hers styles in the men’s collections certainly has our attention. So, are designers pushing us to become a bunch of sexless style-ites? Hardly. But if you’re tempted to walk in the other gender’s shoes, Fall ’13′s menswear will more than afford you the opportunity.
London’s Nascent Menswear Week Picks Up Steam
London’s fashion boom has been a particular boon for menswear, and as of last June, the city inaugurated its own menswear weekend to recognize it. I was glad to be in the early guard of editors who made the trip, alongside Style.com’s Tim Blanks, who serves on the Menswear Committee of the event, and came away impressed with the energy and individualism of the city’s designers. Even the youngest—the trio of Agi & Sam, Shaun Samson, and Astrid Andersen, who showed collectively as part of the MAN show—had more courage of their convictions than many far more seasoned labels in New York or elsewhere. And while everyone agreed that the start was an auspicious one, the unofficial consensus among the attendees I spoke to was that the week could use a few tentpoles from the big-time ranks to solidify its position and round out its offerings. The provisional schedule, announced today by the BFC, suggests it is getting just that. London is still extremely supportive of its emerging set—eBay and the mayor of London are teaming up for a Fashion Forward sponsorship, which will be extended as in seasons past to Christopher Shannon, E.Tautz, and J.W. Anderson, and for the first time, to the promising Lou Dalton—but several more established houses are planning to show as well. Alexander McQueen (a look from the Spring ’13 collection is at left) and Tom Ford, both of whom previously presented by appointment in Milan, will show in London; Savile Row’s own Hardy Amies, which showed in Paris, joins as well. More to follow? To be seen. In the meantime, to catch up on London’s Spring 2013 show coverage on Style.com, click here.
Brazil, By Way Of Britain
Raf Simons and Hedi Slimane’s new jobs sparked a flurry of conjecture about the impact on women’s fashion of designers who’d made their rep in menswear. And it’s not likely to die down any time soon because there are plenty more men’s designers waiting to cross over. Like Alexander Lewis, who trained as a pattern cutter on Savile Row (he worked at E. Tautz before going solo) but has chosen to launch his own business with a Resort collection for women. His name scarcely broadcasts Brazil, but that is, in fact, his family background, and his first collection is inspired by his girlfriends who may live in London or New York but who maintain a Brazilian nonchalance about the way they dress. “They mix the city, the beach and something from their boyfriends,” Lewis explains. That might mean a skirt with shirt-tails, or a swingy little crochet top that could go with shorts or a bikini, or an item Lewis calls a beach coat (though it’s a little luxe to expose to sand and salt water). Brazil makes its presence felt in some of the designer’s techniques, particularly that crochet, and a silk woven inspired by the way that straw is woven in Brazilian furniture. But there’s nothing geographical about Lewis’s pragmatism. “I know exactly what I wanted to do,” he says. “I decided to focus on pre-collections for the first few seasons, because they’re a little more commercial, and I don’t have to do a show. And also, I see what I do as situational, rather than seasonal.” The situation being, in his case, both his family’s beach house in Bahia, and his own stomping ground in London. Bold to try and bring the two together.
Letter from London:
The Men’s Collections, Day 2
After a more leisurely opening day, London ramped up the action considerably for Day 2 of its nascent London Collections: Men. Sibling’s first runway show had bodies in the seats at the unfriendly hour of 9 a.m., a requirement that proved worth it when their gold-flecked riot gear took the stage. E. Tautz’s Patrick Grant required a firm commitment from his guests, too, with a Wapping show space—his new studio#8212;farther afield than most. Once showgoers did secure cabs and made the journey out east, their perseverance was rewarded with a show about, appropriately enough, an explorer in foreign lands.
Traveling man segued into MAN, London’s group show for select up-and-comers. London is now quite good at supporting its young, and the heartening thing is, its young are quite good at supporting it. Happily, the three labels of MAN—Astrid Andersen, Agi & Sam, and Shaun Samson—were three of the most exciting of any seen so far. Andersen’s dark, sensual take on sportswear—as in, for sports—included sheer jerseys paneled with fur and boxing shorts worn over lace tights, mixing masculinity, sensuality, and exoticism is a way that at times recalled Riccardo Tisci. Her collection (pictured), she said backstage, owes something to the calm of her native Copenhagen and something to the turbulence of her adopted London—”and it’ll sell in Tokyo,” she added with a laugh. Shaun Samson, the most developed of the bunch, looked more than ready for his own show next season. The California native and Central Saint Martins grad added subtlety to the pieces he’s known for, like the felted and needlepunched chimera tunics, here worn over complementary pants. They gave way to low-slung, baggy shorts embellished in disco-ball silver with hand-embroidered tops whose silver beading made them look like gorgeous motherboards. There was a nineties flavor to the sagging plaids and ironic T-shirts—printed with Kawaii kittens, some sporting piercings to undermine the effect—and backstage, Samson cited Clueless as a point of reference. Continue Reading “Letter from London:
The Men’s Collections, Day 2″ »
More Details Emerge On London’s Menswear Week
After cramming a city’s worth of menswear offerings into a single MAN Day for the last few seasons, London is planning to give its standout men’s offerings a bit more room to breathe. The first men’s-only London fashion collections (technically three days, rather than a few weeks) will take place June 15 to 17, with opening programs including a launch event hosted by Prince Charles. In addition to the young London designers who have been showing on MAN DAY—like J.W. Anderson, James Long, Topman, Lou Dalton, and Christopher Shannon—the new opportunity has lured several U.K. brands back to their home turf, including Pringle of Scotland and Nicole Farhi, who have been showing in Milan, and Dunhill. E. Tautz, Hardy Amies, and Richard James will show ready-to-wear collections on Savile Row, and Richard Nicoll (pictured) will debut a menswear collection. The full schedule is now available at www.londoncollections.co.uk.