On Monday, New York Men’s Fashion Week was host to the new collections from some designer staples. Sponsored by Cadillac, the show included the Fall/Winter 2016 looks from Krammer & Stoudt, Max ‘n Chester and PLAC. Each collection offered something interesting and unique, putting some variety into what can be a very drab and boring season for clothing. Read on to find out my impressions about each.
Krammer & Stoudt
The Krammer & Stoudt collection blended harsh modern lines with antiquated styles. The Wild West was the main thing invoked here, with plenty of hats, dusters, and vests. More modern, post-WWII stylings made an appearance in the form of Eisenhower jackets and bomber coats. Most of the looks were subtly layered with different patterns of color gradients, giving some variety to the mostly dark and earthy tones of the garments. The lines were mostly unbroken with not a lot of flow, resulting in more or less straight silhouettes for the looks; however, instead of being dull, it made the outfits modern and wearable in this day and age. The collection was a fresh take on quintessential American fashions, engrained in the collective consciousness by decades of novels and films.
Max ‘n Chester
On the looksheet, this series was described as the “Man | Woman Collection.” Normally, this wouldn’t be much of a big deal; however, it’s a big step when the collection is debuting at a men’s fashion show. Max ‘n Chester have crafted an androgynous if not exactly revolutionary line, blurring (if not destroying completely) the arbitrary gender barrier when it comes to the clothes we wear. As for the looks themselves, there were mostly suits (three- and two-piece) in a very late-Victorian to early-Edwardian style — a solid and timeless look. The only sore thumb of the group was the denim jacket and plaid shirt combo that wasn’t inherently a bad design, but seemed more suited to a Williamsburg organic coffee shop than on stage with the rest of the designs. Puzzlingly, there were two very plain-looking frocks on display, the kind you might see in a Depression-era photograph of a Dustbowl farm. Not only were they not particularly interesting when placed next to the luxurious suits, they ran counter to the theme and aesthetic of the collection as a whole.
Plac
Plac’s collection was the most winter-y of the bunch. It featured heavy, flowing garments layered on top of one another — outercoats and undercuts and sweaters and more (all long and flowing, perhaps, to the point of comical exaggeration). To synthesize the color spectrum and reduce it to a single word: gray. The clothes were all dark or dark-ish, with lots of blacks, light grays, and deep navys. While that could come across as dull, the layering and pattern work of the pieces kept the collection visually interesting and, even better, classy.
