Delayed but worth the wait: our report from the CLOSED FW’12 preview/presentation! It was our very last event during NYFW, winding down the whirl-wind week in the dimly lit lounge of the Bowery Hotel. We sipped whiskey sours and saw the collection modeled one ensemble at a time (on models who mingled and posed in a space open to everyone/anyone to jump in for a quick portrait). We were ecstatic to see a saturated cerulean blue jeans in the men’s collection, alongside an impeccably clean-cut denim workshirt, colored cords, and some two-toned knitwear that no man couldn’t find a way to work into his look.
The women’s collection was minimalist-preppy, with texture applied in maroon stripes and metallic embroidered polka-dot. We fawned over an elegant every-day layered one-piece tank top (uncomplicated despite its structure) and subtle tuxedo stripe chinos—a trend we were having a hard time loving until we saw the CLOSED adaptation. We posted about the full collection yesterday, so have a look if you missed it. Bottom line? This collection is clean, cool, and rich. Three things you can’t do fall without.
See our snaps from the presentation below.
We were thrilled to run into Lisette from Denimology while we were there!
More below:
Want some CLOSED right now? Shop their summer collection online and get a head start on your warm weather style.
Photos by Raffael Flores-Contreras and Michelle Christina Larsen.
—Michelle Christina Larsen
Tags: CLOSED fall 2012, colored denim, corduroys, New York Fashion Week, nyfw, tuxedo stripe
Public School FW’12 at Milk Studios was a real trip. They basically nailed every menswear trend we love right now, and then added in uber-wide brimmed hats that made the guys look like patron saints of bad-ass. Tailored blazers and leather jackets stood effortlessly next to varsity-style Japanese biker gang zip-up’s and preppy knit cardigans. Cuffed raw jeans were clean and crisp next to tailored wool slacks and (for good measure) a kilt. We couldn’t help but feel that the sum of all these elements added up to the essentials for the hippest dressers in Brooklyn right now. Lucky for Public School, this appeal is universal.
See the muse of the collection (Twin Shadow front man George Lewis Jr.) in the video he helped produce especially for this season, below:
PUBLIC SCHOOL x Twin Shadow from Michael Belcher on Vimeo.
Photos by Raffael Flores-Contreras.
—Michelle Christina Larsen
Tags: George Lewis Jr., mens denim, menswear, milk studios, New York Fashion Week, nyfw, Public School fall 2012, raw denim, Twin Shadow
For New York Fashion Week, we pulled together seven fashion brands that drove denim to new levels and offered inspiration on what should be made in denim. We were so in love with some pieces that were not quite denim, that we threw those photos in for your ogling. We think you’ll forgive us.
Band of Outsiders—We’ve known for a while that the fashion houses have been fixated on Great Depression and Dustbowl era fashion, and there’s still a bit of this here, but with a mix of glam and luxury fabrics (we count suede and fur collars), there’s a sense that the sun-kissed models in workwear-inspired denim jumpsuits and white-collar attire, offers hope that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Images via Style.com.
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Diesel Black Gold—From red to blue denim, not only has Diesel gone gaga over color, they’ve gone Jackson Pollock with their side-tie pants and cropped jeans. With a definite homage to an 80′s fashion trend, the paint splashes and printed jeans serve as a contradiction to their progressive leatherwear. We couldn’t escape the sense of a Mad Max meets Highlander effect when everything was pulled together. Images via Style.com.
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Concept Korea (V)—In an effort to bring visibility to South Korea’s top fashion labels, this collective was born. In it’s second year at NYFW, Concept features five top Korean labels. Most notably, the design duo Steve Jung and Yoni Pai (of the brand Steve J & Yoni P) with collaborations between Topshop and 10 Corso Como (Seoul) under their belt, they make denim part of their repertoire. Images via WWD and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week online.
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Kelly Wearstler—As if to defy anybody who had any reservations about 80s fashions, this brand has committed wholeheartedly to the styling of acid wash jeans and stirrup leggings. Even if the ultra high-waisted acid wash zipper skirts aren’t your thing, you might just have a crush on the jackets. Images via Style.com.
Need more fashion week fix? Read our coverage of Levi’s Fall 2012 and what denim heads wore at NYFW.
—Kathy Ng Hassan
Tags: Band of Outsiders, Concept Korea, Diesel Black Gold, fall 2012, Gilded Age, Kelly Wearstler, New York Fashion Week, Nicholas K, nyfw, rebecca minkoff, Steve J and Yoni P
DT attended the Levi’s Fall 2012 Global Collection Preview last week, witnessing an array of innovative exhibition-style representations of Levi’s brand DNA and current projects. Exhibits included a table full of utilities that represented the lifestyle of the commuter and jeans trapped in giant blocks of melting ice—the latter, a representation of the Water<Less effort.
A multi-tiered showing of the line included a presentation backdrop of models “getting dressed”, and a foreground runway show. The collection was a simplistic and sharp modern rendition of standard Levi’s principles, with crisp dark-wash denim, tailored tops, pop-colors, and a distinct kind of sex appeal that occurs because of clothing (rather than in its absence). Check out our photos and video of the event below—watch for the end of the runway show, which caps off with a live banjo performance.
Video:
Runway:
Atmosphere & exhibition:
Photos by Raffael Flores-Contreras.
—Michelle Christina Larsen
Tags: dark wash denim, fall 2012, Levi's Fall 2012, Levi's Global Collection, mens denim, New York Fashion Week, nyfw, womens denim
New York Fashion Week may be in full swing, but we didn’t want to blow through the week without acknowledging the menswear fashion shows in Europe. Decidedly more subdued this time around, not to say there weren’t theatrics in play (Jean Paul Gaulter and Ann Demeulemeester notwithstanding) nor performance art (check out Thom Browne’s presentation), many brands incorporated denim into their Fall-Winter 2012 menswear collections while continuing to reach far back to source 300 years of fashion.
Agnès B infused denim into its Fall 2012 collection, which started off as a predictable menswear show, until it took a sharp turn towards androgyny with the introduction of a denim wrap skirt and tunic silhouettes which softened the male silhouette against cuffed, loose-fit jeans. Some of the models were styled with ballet flats, which was not lost on us.
Olivier Rousteing isn’t trying to rock the boat too much at Balmain, after stepping in for Christophe Decarnin. As you can see, jeans for men continue to be biker-chic, while the rest of the collection invokes the aristocracy of the Napoleonic era.
Your Milk Man or Soda Jerk is reincarnated, thanks to Dolce & Gabbana‘s continued retro motif, juxtaposing a bit of Dandy style with some Blue Collar appeal. Heavily whiskered jeans with a deep cuff signals a changing of the guard: the inseams and the rise are going up.
Dries Van Noten may be showing his appreciation for Dutch master painters (though he, himself, is Belgian): a warm orange jean is both trendy and classic-looking against the collection’s wild and experimental takes on the classic denim jackets. Evidently, the brand is not afraid to work outside the box.
Dsquared2 has moved out of the Old West and continues to re-work denim in its various forms: a classic denim jacket holds metal appliques on its sleeves; drop-waist, contrast fabric waistband jeans are becoming the brand’s signature look, and an Argyle-washed chambray shirt was a creative turn and proof that the brand has placed a considerable amount of investment into denim fashion.
Images via Style.com. Stay tuned for more fashion show coverage, this time from New York!
—Kathy Ng Hassan
Tags: Agnes B, Balmain, denim for men, Dolce & Gabbana, Dries Van Noten, Dsquared2, jeans for men, Men's Fashion Week, menswear, Milan Fashion Week, Paris Fashion Week
Japanese brand White Mountaineering is said to be as technically strong as Visvim, and as fashion forward as Comme des Garçons. For Spring-Summer 2012, we see the man as the traveler through the desert, which is a change of landscape from its current Autumn-Winter 2011 collection in which the man braves the frosty wilderness. We don’t know this man, but we sense he is multifaceted; he’s a Bohemian punk rocker who absorbs a little bit of something from wherever he travels. Tribal motifs, Western shirt shoulder paneling, tattoo prints and patchwork denim provide a bit of rough, weathered and storied look that the collection conveys for the man who has a journey yet to take. Designer Yosuke Aizawa found a way to tastefully integrate denim into this collection’s DNA. And you thought White Mountaineering was just for hiking.
Images via Trend Crib. Video via High Snobiety.
—Kathy Ng Hassan
Tags: denim winter wear, japanese brand, Japanese denim, mens streetwear, patchwork denim, Western Denim Looks, White Mountaineering, Yosuke Aizawa
It’s no secret what big G-Star Raw fans we are, and as always, they do not disappoint us with their men’s and women’s line at the Bread & Butter Runway Show. They have staple pieces like denim workshirts, jean jackets and shorts, but what we love is how they put their own funky spin on them. This is best seen in the jean jacket that has side slits, making it resemble almost a poncho more than the common jean jacket. Most of the pieces in the collection have subtle but contrast stitching, giving the denim a structured and more polished look. Our favorite looks of the collection though were the ones that created sweet silhouettes, like the maxi denim skirt and and three-quarter sleeve A-line denim dress. The men’s pieces that really stood out to us were the printed denim coverall, light-wash denim blazer, and the denim jacket with contrasting washes. We are sad to say that the Bread & Butter line is never released for retail sale, but are definitely even more excited to see what G-Star Raw has in the future when we know that this is what they are capable of.
Images via G-Star Raw.
—Elyssa Linden
Tags: contrast stitching, Denim Menswear, denim workshirt, G-Star Raw, jean jacket, moulded denim, spring fashion, summer fashion
Denim Therapy has been so busy pounding the trade show floors that we barely had time to sleep. However, we couldn’t not talk about New York Fashion Week before we moved onto the next shows! Denim has gone glam in the form of metallic jeans for Spring 2012 (Diesel Black Gold), and there is a return to and continuation of patchwork and panel denim motifs (Charlotte Ronson and D&G). Although there were several other brands which had denim represented in their collections, we only chose to feature a few designer labels which we feel really worked with and integrated denim into their collections in a deeper sense. Which denim trend do you think will make a big splash come spring?
Diesel Black Gold Spring-Summer 2012: metallic jeans in reflective foil, reptilian and shimmery abalone-green hues offered lustre and texture to denim. The brand continues to redefine itself as not just a brand about blue jeans. More Diesel Black Gold online at Style.com.
Theyskens’ Theory Spring-Summer 2012: Olivier Theyskens still loves black and white, but he has thrown in vibrant acid-washed jeans and high-waisted, drop-crotch denim with drop-waist belt loops, creating an illusion of a low waist. Will this be the game changer? More Theyskens’ Theory online at Style.com.
D&G Spring-Summer 2012: Remember those menswear bandana silk shorts and shirts pieced together with denim? Now those same aesthetics have been reincarnated into women’s ready-to-wear in a variety of dresses. It’s a playful explosion of colors and patterns. However, the jury’s out on whether this collection is going to move the needle at retailers. More D&G online at Style.com.
—Kathy Ng Hassan
Tags: acid wash jeans, Charlotte Ronson, denim on the runway, Denim Skirts, Diesel Black Gold, drop crotch jeans, jeans for men, jeans for women, metallic jeans, New York Fashion Week, paneled denim, patchwork denim, patchwork jeans, shiny jeans, Spring 2012 jeans
We just got back from Jeremy Scott’s spring 2012 presentation at Milk Studios with the likes of Waris Ahluwalia and Peaches Geldof (and some dude on roller skates), and we were pleasantly surprised when the first four or five looks came parading down the runway. Head-to-toe denim! It translated quickly into neon colors, cactus-printed fabrics, assless-chaps and other design details that bring you straight back to a ’90s rave in an abandoned barn… but we gotta hand it to him—some of these womens’ denim looks were ready to wear right out onto the street (and we’d wear ‘em)!
—DT Staff
Tags: denim bustier, denim corset, denim jacket, denim jumpsuit, Denim On Denim, Jeremy Scott, milk studios, neon, New York Fashion Week, nyfw, Peaches Geldof, spring 2012, waris ahluwalia
Cheap Monday showed their spring summer 2012 collection last week during Stockholm Fashion Week and boy are pleasantly surprised with what we’ve seen. We’ve always been fans of the brand’s hard and ultra-futuristic aesthetic, however we have to admit we’re totally in love with their version of subtle (and even luxe) looks. Loose and comfortable silhouettes in bright colors such as electric blue, orange and bright yellow are styled along side simple denim separates in washed out tones. Beige lacquered pants and jackets are thrown into the mix for the perfect hint of texture. A definite breathe of fresh air, this collection is by far our favorite for spring thus far.
Images via Mercedes Benz Fashion Week.
—Sandoval Gomez
Tags: Cheap Monday, Cheap Monday Spring Summer 2012, Cheap Monday Spring Summer 2012 Runway, colored denim, mercedes benz fashion week, muted denim, Runway Shows, Spring Summer 2012, Stockholm Fashion Week Spring Summer 2012, washed out denim
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