I generally try not to take anything in life too
seriously, especially fashion. If anything, I take it all with a pinch of salt
as I’m fully aware that certain things taken seriously will leave you with egg
on the face. So when Mercedes-Benz
Fashion Week 2012 (MBFWJ12) released the line-up of designers for this year’s
showing, and I only saw three menswear brands, I didn’t get a heart attack.
Sure, some heartbreak was experienced, but my heart is still pumping blood to
my vital organs perfectly fine.
This year, we saw the labels – Fabiani, CSquared
and Distinctive Man – take to the ramp. Out of these three, my research
indicates that Distinctive Man is the youngest label of out the lot, with
Fabiani and CSquared being the more matured labels of the tag team. For this
post, I’m going to do a recap of their showings and give my personal (operative
word here being personal) opinion on their A/W 12 collections, which should be
in-store by now, otherwise they’re going to miss the season.
Thursday,
March 8 – Fabiani
Fabiani showcased on Thursday, March 8, at
around 19h00. To be honest with you, I didn’t have much to consider about the
collection showcased this year. The brand is very limited in its creativity and
also I think they are bound by other design restrictions. We know their staples
– tailored slim-fit suits, 2-button or double-breasted; the mafia hat;
pocket-squares and the like. So frankly, I’m not going to talk about their
showing as I feel they didn’t push their boundaries far enough.
Friday,
March 9 – CSquared
CSquared is one of those brands that can easily
take you by surprise if you’re not paying attention. They could also be one of
those brands that get caught up in their own campaign and forget to check how
far the concept has been articulated in the work they produce. Coming out with
a bang, CSquared presented a collection they politically correctly titled,
#CsquaredRed. A somewhat, Russian Revolution theme.
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| Courtesy of SDR Photo |
What I didn’t like about the collection was the
lack of fur or wool use in the cuffs and lapels of the coats, especially the
overcoats. The big bushy hats were not reinforced throughout the collection,
only at the opening of the show and the lack of bold reflective squared-off sunglasses
(those similar to skiing goggles). There were no knits whatsoever, not even a
cardigan of some sort. I saw one or two scarves and no gloves. Boots were
nowhere to be seen but there was quite a showing of glitterati vests on the
ramp. There was also inclusion of a summery look using white pants, shirt and
sports jackets in light but bright-ish fabrics.
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| Images courtesy of SDR Photo |
What I “Oh-So-Loved” from the collection were
the following: The simple yet effective translation of military coats, double
breasted and mid-thigh in length were fun. The shoulder details were also a bit
edgy for the cut and consumer targeted with this show. The tailored ‘day/work’
look using the slim-cut navy pants with powder blue shirt with tassel on pocket
and baroque shoulder chain detail finished with the pastel pink bow tie really
kicked it for me when it came to going to work with an edge. I thought the blue
checked shirt with purple checked bow tie ensemble was rocking. It deserves
major respect as the look can be worn as is on the street but you will need the
attitude to carry it. And then, there were the jackets with the leather upper
lapels. I died momentarily and went to heaven. Leather is back people, in case
you didn’t know, and I think the application thereof in these jackets is key to
introducing a man to leather.
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| Courtesy of SDR Photo |
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| Courtesy of SDR Photo |
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| Courtesy of SDR Photo |
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| Courtesy of SDR Photo |
Saturday,
March 10 – Distinctive Man
Distinctive Man is a label that took me by
surprised. They had showcased last year at Africa Fashion Week, according to my
research and it’s a brand born from creative minds seeing a gap in the market
and going for it. Wish more people would follow suit. This year, at MBFWJ12,
Distinctive Man showcased around 16h00 in the afternoon, in a time slot shared
with Grapevine and Thabani Mavundla. Being allocated a shared time slot does
throw you into a disadvantage because now the number of garments showcased is
limited. It also poses a great challenge because now you’re expected to really
only showcase the best of what you have to offer. Meaning you don’t have time
to waste.
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| Courtesy of SDR Photo |
With having only, figuratively speaking, five
minutes to make a mark, Distinctive Man left very little to get excited
about. The cuts and styles were not
breakthrough or any fresher than what you would find in Fabiani. It felt as
though the styles depicted were comfortable being in the safe zone and didn’t
push the consumer into the realm of style and just kept them in fashion. They
also pulled from the military theme the use of mid-thigh coats, but used a more
refined, thinner fabric, which doesn’t make practical sense for me if I’m going
to wear it as a coat in winter. Would prefer thicker fabrics in order to keep
warm.
Anyway, enough of what I didn’t like. I
“Oh-So-Loved” the use of colour. The variety of colour was not overwhelming but
the consistent use thereof made for something interesting to see for A/W. I
enjoyed the incorporation of the printed vests, although for the season, maybe
translating those into shirts would have been a killer option. Essentially I
think what worked for this label was it’s fun factor. You could see it wasn’t
going to take itself too seriously and just wanted to present the African man
with someone light-hearted to wear this season.
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| Courtesy of SDR Photo |
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| Courtesy of SDR Photo |
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| Courtesy of SDR Photo |
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| Courtesy of SDR Photo |
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| Courtesy of SDR Photo |
Essentially, the collections presented by both
CSquared and Distinctive Man are great. They are fun and easy to wear for both
work and play. They are presenting options for the South African man this
season and we should congratulate them on work well done. CSquared could have
added some wool and more fur hats to the mix and there definitely should have
been some red, as the collections title, #CsquaredRed, suggests. As for
Distinctive Man, more use of African prints and more colour combinations would
have been knock-out.
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| Courtesy of SDR Photo |
So until next A/W, I’d like to say thanks to
Distinctive Man and CSquared for making the cut and showcasing at MBFWJ12. It
always warms my heart to see designers and labels supporting menswear in this
country.
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| Courtesy of SDR Photo |
And African Fashion International, where was
Adriaan Kuiters, Robert Daniel, Stiaan Louw, or Ephymol? Surely as an
establishment that pegs itself as the platform for designers in South Africa
and Africa alike, you should be doing more to not only promote a healthy
fashion industry in this country but a healthy support of menswear too. We
shall wait and see what happens in the near future.
