Umit Benan Menswear 2012

Umit Benan likes to be literal. At his Trussardi anniversary collection, he showed a lot of literal “anniversary” fare for the brand: huge luggage swamping waifish modelswearing retro clothes. In his menswear show this season, Benan kept to his close-handed approach, offering a military rendition of, well, the military. But this time, Benan designed something that he knew about personally.

Umit is Turkish, and, according to the law of his home country, he must complete military service, just as his friends had. He used the influence of his friends as a basis for this collection. The vibe was clear and direct: men in the barracks in training. In fifteen concise looks, men woke up, went to bed, battled, and came home.

This brand of alacrity makes Benan stand out during this week of collections, where designers have chosen to place their trends on the backdrop of Milanese traditions (e.g. tailoring, skinny suits). Not for Benan. Instead, Benan chose men of varying shapes and sizes, a move similar to Prada’s. He wanted his depiction to be as real as possible. But he also wanted it to be practical. Benan didn’t weigh down his militaristic uniforms in boring cotton and linen. The collection’s first look features a paratrooper outfit in cashmere. One the flak-inspired jackets didn’t seem too heavy.

The “parody of male power” as Miuccia Prada called it has been a central idea in the past collections. So Benan’s military fare seems oh so appropriate. It’s a joke about the suit that has been so passionately pushed by Ferragamo, Gucci, and Jil Sander. Whereas those collections had a sinister look, this one has strange lightness. It’s as if Benan’s men are combating the evils of traditional dressing. They are a return to basics.

(Source: style.com)

Marni Menswear Fall 2012

It’s not very often that a menswear brand finds parallels with one of the opposite gender. So Consuelo Castiglioni’s offerings for Marni’s masculine line were a bit surprising in the direct connection they established with a more feminine devotion—Phoebe Philo’s Céline.

For many seasons, Castiglioni has retained a sense of minimalism in her menswear collections. Many of the pieces are balanced and direct in nature. At Céline, the tone is similar. Especially for Philo’s pre-fall collection, erring on the side of simplicity fulfilled previous seasons’ habits. But what kind of simplicity is it? Without doubt, it’s a complex one. In this Marni collection, clothes weren’t just minimalist. Following Philo’s formula, Castiglioni made them special. Notice the fur accents on the pieces, which coincidentally appeared in this collection’s twin of a few weeks ago.

There’s always been something very masculine about Céline, and this Marni collection highlights that quality in a weird way. There is an addition of special details to the Céline look—an interesting seam here, a small novel accessory there. Marni defines these details with its own additions, like the fur bag attachments and reverse-colored linings in jackets.

Although there has always been an inherent masculinity in Céline, an undercurrent of femininity at Marni flows. The very sensibility of “special” minimalism seems to refer back the something traditionally female in nature. Whether it’s the small change in proportions or the overall ease that seems to contradict the rest of what being shown in Milan, Castiglioni’s collection showcased an interplay between masculine and feminine. It was something memorable for the season.

(Source: shiver, via neighborhood-tunnels)

Jil Sander FW 12.13

(Source: fahrenheithommes, via twinb)

(Source: thembadkids)

balloonies:

Marni F/W ‘12

(via petiteprince)