Easy Lines of Summer : Fashion: There’s no revolution in store in menswear. But the emphasis is on fabric and color--especially white.
PARIS — Like the song says: “Summertime and the living is easy.” The dressing is, too, according to the summer ’91 fashions shown here by English, Japanese, Italian, Belgian--and, by the way, French--menswear designers.
For the first time, Paris show dates were advanced from September to July, ahead of the Milan menswear collections. The primary reason for the change was so that retailers can order merchandise and receive deliveries earlier. While the crowds attending were certainly sparser than at past September shows, all the top American retailers were represented.
There was an air of uncertainty about the whole event because this city’s top draws, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Claude Montana and Thierry Mugler, at first refused to participate, claiming their collections weren’t ready. Ultimately, all three opted for small shows staged for carefully controlled audiences.
No one tried to revolutionize what men will wear next summer. Every designer included some baggy walking shorts and tight bike shorts, but the main emphasis was on easy sportswear pieces: unconstructed jackets and big, oversized shirts buttoned to the neck and worn, tieless and untucked, over pants that are pajama-like. Only Montana and Mugler emphasized narrow, pegged trousers.
The excitement came from color (pretty pastels and spices) and fabrics: washed silks and cottons that looked like suedes; linens with an iridescent shine or a rough, hopsacking texture; cool wools and, for evening, nubby and raw silks.
But the palette that made the most impact was white. The all-white look was major in every collection and often used instead of black for eveningwear. Ivory, vanilla, cream and mother-of-pearl were just a few of the seemingly endless hues of whites designers played with.
“The whites looked great, especially when they weren’t too white,” said Kal Ruttenstein, senior vice president of Bloomingdale’s, who was attending the menswear shows for the first time in eight years. “We didn’t have enough whites in stock this spring and could sense that customers wanted them. By next spring, white will be big.”
Some of the best of those white nights included Nino Cerruti’s cream-colored fringed cashmere poncho worn with a white T-shirt and white shorts, and cream-colored linen espadrilles and straw planter’s hat. At Christian Dior, it was designer Dominique Morlotti’s creamy cool wool suits with Mao-collared hand-embroidered cream silk shirts. Colors, both pastel and bright, have been on the Paris runways for several seasons and until now have looked, well, off-color. The new use of color shown at these collections should appeal to even the most conservative male. Picture, for example, a lavender sports coat paired with gray flannels and a classical striped shirt for an updated--yet somewhat conservative--outfit.
Shirts were used to add color and pattern with widely spaced, wide horizontal stripes looking fresh and exciting, especially as done in huge, oversized linen silhouettes by Issey Miyake.
Romeo Gigli was among the few designers holding to a stronger, richer palette for summer ’91. Typical of his approach was an eggplant-colored gabardine jacket worn over a purple shirt and chocolate brown trousers. This was the first season for Gigli, based in Milan, to show his menswear in Paris at his Rue de Sevigne boutique. He started presenting his women’s collections in Paris instead of Milan several seasons ago.
Like clothes in pastel colors, men’s vests have been part of designer collections for several seasons, but they rarely made it off the runways and into a wardrobe. Next summer, they’re an essential, whether a man chooses one of Paul Smith’s knits or the embroidered vests at Dior or Gigli’s patchwork creations. Vests turned up in Jean Paul Gaultier’s collection--always with a contrast front and back--on bare chests and under pinstriped suits.
Sonia Rykiel is a newcomer to the French menswear scene this season. Her collection is an easy adaptation of the striped knits and oversized tunic “message” sweaters that are the essence of her women’s designs. The messages on her first menswear knits: “artist” or “sweet homme .” Almost every outfit started with a cotton jersey hooded T-shirt.
Norma and Herb Fink, who own the Rykiel boutique in Beverly Hills, interrupted a holiday in Positano, Italy, to be at the designer’s show. “Nicely different,” was how Fink described the Rykiel menswear. A look that is appropriate for Los Angeles, seen at Rykiel and at Cerruti, is the sports coat or blazer tossed over a velour or sweat jogging outfit.
As part of a new, uncluttered look, designers showed fewer accessories than in the past. Hats were at a minimum, and there were no distractions such as attache cases or umbrellas. Shoes, too, were simple--mainly lace-ups in suede or, for more casual looks, sneakers.
The one item that will add an instant snap to any man’s wardrobe is a knee-length unlined car or trench coat, preferably in washed silk or cotton, particularly in pastel.
