News of the Moment: Fit to Print

The menswear shows in Milan and Paris have concluded and editors are convinced that the overarching theme for Spring-Summer 2012 is sports. In Milan, Prada was at the golf course, Frankie Morello was cycling in the city (or perhaps just taking spinning classes), Calvin Klein was at the gym further toning an already sculpted physique, and Dolce and Gabbana was fishing, albeit leisurely, by the seaside. It’s clear that come next summer, while the Olympics lends its torch to jolly London, fashion folks will be playing their own sort of sport, dress-up!

After a deluge of color in Spring-Summer 2011, it's convenient that designers went back to what men are really about: potent, active and sinewy. This pretty much translated to heaps of sportswear in various silhouettes and myriad of fabrics. Nonetheless, designers kicked it up a notch by infusing prints and patterns to an otherwise hackneyed concept (ahem, Alexander Wang's menswear collection). I mean, if you’re willing to spend big bucks on these labels, it might as well not look like it’s Nike or some other athletic mass brand.

Fashion folks will be playing their own sort of sport, dress-up!

In Paris, the notion of discovery played a central role. Dries Van Noten experimented with fabrics; Thom Browne delved back to Paris' cabaret scenes for entertaining flourishes in menswear; Givenchy walked towards the light and paradise in a collection beaming with optimism (hello, birds of paradise prints!); and Louis Vuitton, with Kim Jones as new menswear director, found refuge in Jones' childhood in Africa.

My personal highlight from Paris definitely includes Raf Simons' almost-endangered-but-relieved-to-be-alive collection, which showed his craft in creating the best slim suiting. And the other is Lanvin which has garnered my special attention for their innovation in fabrics, silhouette and color. Dropped shoulders on jackets anyone?

P.S.: I'm so glad Style.com have now dedicated themselves to creating menswear videos! It doesn't cover every show of the season but it's a start.

Videos from youtube.com