Fashion Week SS10

Fashion week just ended and while the emphasis is on the women’s collections, there was definitely some news for the men. For Spring 2010, I decided to focus my presentation on Claiborne by John Bartlett and produced a wonderfully successful and wonderfully economical presentation that established the brand’s look for the coming season. I have found that the brand’s approach to color and pattern are setting it apart from the competition. With that in mind, I created very bold color and pattern statements with the Claiborne product and emphasized to anyone who attended that everything in the presentation was under $100, except for one tailored blazer that retails for $149. It felt important and very relevant to show that men’s style can be achieved with very little money and that great clothes don’t have to cost an arm and a legging.

For Spring 2010, I was inspired by a few ideas that coincided into one strong visual. For palette I began with the wonderful photographs from the sixties by Slim Aarons. The images on my inspiration board spoke of bold color and a very preppy and classic American viewpoint. Alongside the bright hues, I grounded the collection in the perfect navy, worthy of a sea captain, white, and khaki(the colors every guy builds his wardrobe around). Nautical stripes, deck hand denims, and a perfect cement grey were added to introduce levels of pattern and graphics. When working on a collection, I frequently look to film for a visual creative injection. This season, I watched one of my favorite sea movies, “White Squall” starring a very handsome Jeff Bridges and some very well styled student/sailors and felt it was a great reference for the look and feel of the guys. And to make it current and youthful, I threw in a bit of styling that I picked up from the somewhat obnoxious but great looking prep school kids from the Bravo reality show “New York Prep”, I love how the kids in this show dressed, very classic prep but also a bit disheveled and off beat. In the end, I entitled the presentation “Maritime-Prep” merging the two worlds of upper east side prep school style and a more rough hewn nautical classicism.

Being a menswear designer, it is a bit more challenging to present the idea of “fashion” to the public. The ideas, at least for the Claiborne by John Bartlett brand, have to be understandable and, yet, still fresh and “wantable”. Guys are not interested in the latest silhouette or the newest length. They want something that makes them feel like themselves, only a little bit better, and is affordable and easy to buy, wear, and care for. The editors, however, are coming to see ideas and while the prices are at the very low part of the spectrum of designer showings they will visit, it was imperative to capture their eye with a statement that spoke to newness, ideas and yet enhanced the core of the brand. I have learned so much working with the Liz Claiborne Company and I feel that realistic priced clothing can still be engaging, well made, and timely. It does not have to be “dumb”, nor over sized, nor beige. In the end, guys do want to feel good when they are getting dressed and when it is at their disposal, they will aspire to wear color and pattern and take some chances. And this is where “Claiborne by John Bartlett” lives. In the end, I loved the look of the presentation and the editors all agreed. And while I would have loved to have produced a big extravaganza catwalk spectacle, inviting the editors, bloggers, and fashionistas to the showroom was equally as satisfying..but watch out for next fashion week!!! That’s all I’m sayin’…love jb