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Tightening belts - and all else

Menswear designers slim things down for next spring

BY JOSEPH V. AMODIO | Special to Newsday

September 11, 2006

Premium denim goes hillbilly at Rag & Bone (Newsday/Robert Mecea)

The jeans were wrong. Andrew Buckler saw that right away. The British-born designer - an up-and-comer who is showing his collection today at a venue a half block from Bryant Park - was fitting models in his store last week. Around him, stylists jotted notes, an iron and ironing board stood at the ready, and a squadron of dagger-sharp shoes filled a corner of the floor.

"Let's try the Skinny Bastards," Buckler said, referring to a style of Buckler jeans. The model was wearing a pair of Angry Anglos - wide-legged, slouchy. Buckler reached for something, well, skinnier.

It's the look for spring inspiring most menswear designers, who are eager to revive the 1980s. Perhaps it also stems from environmental concerns - designers don't seem to want to use quite so much fabric. Or maybe it's the economy, which inspires little but the need to tighten the belt and cinch things in a bit.

Not everyone, mind you, is aping Thom Browne, the diminutive (and talented) designer with a fondness for flood pants and a honey-I-shrunk-the-suit style of habberdashery. But even Gap has rolled out skinny jeans, and elsewhere flat-front trousers, slim-fit sweaters and blazers dominate, all drawn with the same clean, straight lines, in safe, manly hues of steel, khaki and navy.

"There's a very classic, All-American mood happening, but I don't want to say preppy," says Saks Fifth Avenue men's fashion director Michael Macko. "It's sporty," he says, citing an abundance of track jackets and rugbys, seersucker and selvage. "Less prep, more jock."

At the Perry Ellis show in the tents Friday, seersucker, cable knits, and horizontal striped sweaters in pale-pale-pale neutral shades were what creative director John Crocco calls "very Perry," and a way to bring the label back to its roots.

"Perry Ellis created what is essentially American sportswear," said Crocco. "Good clothes to hang out in." A hang-out stand-out for spring: a leather pea coat with white jeans.

John Bartlett, who also showed at the tents Friday, was surprisingly straight-laced, with trim-cut blazers and striped knits. More intriguing: plaid suits so pale they seemed out of focus, and Barlett's jumbo leather overnight bags for Ghurka.

Edgy lines such as United Bamboo and Rag & Bone also offered basic, safe pieces. But it's odd how Bamboo (designed by Miho Aoki and Thuy Pham) provides its female customers with sweet and sophisticated fare, but for guys it's all Poindexter bow-tie shirts and sheer cable knits. One uber-nerd wore his cardigan with military pants and velvet Mary Janes. (Guys, if you don't know what those are, please refer to the feet of the nearest 3-year-old.) Maybe that'll fly in Tokyo, but Tallahassee?

Rag & Bone satisfies diehards who crave hand-spun denim. But when it's shown worn with suspenders, hillbilly-style, it begs the question: "Exactly how country dare I look in $250 jeans?" In better taste, perhaps, are the coats, like the lightweight cotton mac.

Proving there's an exception to every rule - Lacoste, which never shies from bright colors. Heating up the runway: vivid polos with skinny ties painted on, vintage-style (actually short) tennis shorts, and take-no-prisoners pants in fuchsia, turquoise, lime. These babies are bright and, yes, cropped short. (They're French - they can't help themselves.)

Then there's Duckie Brown duo Steven Cox and Daniel Silver. Where others draw straight lines and slim cuts, these two draw curves. Shirttails and sleeves billow out from under jackets, sweaters droop, pants puff. One blue bulky jacket and drawstring trouser looks like something for the interns of "Grey's Anatomy."

But, hey, kudos for trying something new. And, at the very least, reminding us about PF-Flyers (worn by all the Duckie models). They're the perfect complement to this season's sporty looks - and a whole lot more realistic than those Mary Janes.