Thinking ‘trout loud’ at Issey Miyake Menswear

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Are you ready for a fish story? Just flick your wrist and cast your line into the babbling brook of Issey Miyake’s trout-inspired spring-summer 2011 collection, which came downstream -- excuse me -- down the runway -- on the first day of Paris Men’s Fashion Week.

Although that meant the obligatory fish motif -- here it was a series of orange trout on a white V-neck sweater and the hint of an all-over flyfishing fly print peeking from the collar of a button-front shirt -- the collection had a deeper current, referencing what the show notes called the noble trout’s abilities as ‘a master of disguise.’

‘Cautious and patient, he waits, and he watches,’ the notes explain. ‘Suddenly, when the chance arises, he reveals himself -- the flash of a beautifully dappled figure in the water -- and he takes his prey.’

Part of that inspiration came in the colors; vivid oranges and bright blues (both signature stand-out color trends in both Milan and Paris this season) mixed with a palette of utilitarian beige.

But most of it had to do with the pescatory Peter Sellers’ skill set; navy blue and steel gray pinstripe suits had stripes that briefly dart away and reappear, some pieces with hidden ‘trout pockets,’ and others with bold abstract plaid patterns that resembled river’s edge camouflage.

While the whole collection keyed in on the sense of fun that’s been leaping off the runways of both cities, over the last week, my favorite piece here was the woven red double dot ‘dappling’ pattern (at far left in the above photo), apparently inspired by the actual markings on the trout.

That’s the kind of back story that fishes me in every time -- hook, line and sinker.

-- Adam Tschorn, in Paris

Issey Miyake spring-summer 2011 menswear runway collection photo gallery

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