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Monday February 4CHRIS BENZ
Chris Benz gets by with a little help from his friends: For fall, the Parsons alum collaborated with Manolo Blahnik to create gorgeous slashed oxfords and colorful pumps, and with Subversive Jewelry's Justin Giunta for silk brooches and crystal hair jewels. Benz has already established himself as a color guru, and the fall collection, presented in the tony Lotus Club, was arranged by color--bold combinations of moss, chartreuse, aqua, and coral in one room, and watered-down pale lilac, mauve, and periwinkle in the other. He captured a '20s preppy Deauville spirit (popularized by Chanel) via a schoolboy-meets-debutante aesthetic: sailor pants, boxy jackets with mohair trim, ruffled bed jackets, and colorful fur stoles--perfect for a girl who travels in all sorts of circles...uptown and down. Top looks: A sheer aqua blouse peeking out from a mustard-colored coat (and paired with pearly cat-eye glasses), a gold floral print chiffon dress layered with an ochre boyfriend cardigan, and slightly cropped coral pants paired with 3/4-sleeve nude blouses, one sheer and the other opaque.--Erin Wylie
A minute with: Chris Benz
R29: What was the idea behind this collection?
CB: It started in Paris last September when I was looking at fabrics and staying with my friend Elettra at her apartment in the Eighth. And there were these women who would sort of congregate in the Eighth and walk around the Avenue Montaigne and all of that. And we were looking at how they wear these huge fur collars and like an old slip peeking out. So, it's sort of an old Parisian woman in sort of a twisted moment.
R29: What's your favorite piece this season?
CB: I always love a trouser. I think our straight leg trouser is so great, it dresses up any moment. Or in a casual fabric, you could just wear it with a wifebeater. I think that's the moment!--Julie Ann Orsini
THOM BROWNE
Photos via men.style.com
Outside designer Thom Browne's menswear show--where many an attendee wore the designer's high-calved woolen suits--we overheard someone declare, "This will be his craziest show yet!" Under a black and white circus tent, complete with a grande chandelier, the answer came from the first model, a feather-clad ringmaster: "Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to the craziest show on Earth!" What followed was a black, white, and charcoal circus of winged blazers, German military coats with Russian and Polish flairs, feathered costumes, gypsy hats, sleeveless plastic argyle raincoats, and, yes, a stilt walker. Browne is ever the pace-setter in men's couture (really, who else could be?) and the construction of everything from his argyle sweater-suit to a Siamese jacket and trousers built for two, showed the extremes of his talent. Granted, only about 20 of the 40 looks were genuinely wearable (a long black coat with a split back joined by brass buttons, in particular), but even the bondage-inspired looks in this Weimar waltz were masterful. Top looks: A surprisingly simple black traveling jacket with three levels of pockets, a creamy camel coat with an oversized hood, and a high-set, four-button tailcoat with matching plastic-coated argyle pants.--Gabriel Bell
A minute with: Andre Leon Talley, VogueWhat was your style when you were 13?
Believe it or not, it's pretty much the same as it is today. It was classical and traditional, mixed with a good amount of imagination.
Where are you going after Fashion Week ends?
I'm headed off to Chicago to help campaign for Obama.
TIM HAMILTON PRESENTATION REVIEW
The designer of youthful menswear, Tim Hamilton, offered up more of his lightly fantastical blend of athletic materials and constructions and challenging casualwear. This season, however, came with a new wrinkle: Hamilton's new line of suits, presented in Chelsea, borrowed from his more casual creations. A camel suit, of 1940s Hollywood provenance featured sweatpant-style ankles, and the broad shoulders on a burgundy single-button jacket with dramatically oversized leftlapel suggested both Italian designers and Hugo Boss. Similar touches were seen on the untailored pieces, including wrinkle-textured jodhpurs, a double-breasted blue sweater with stark geometric color blocks, a fur-collared cardigan, and an electric-blue leather jacket. There was a sleek, European feel to many of the looks along with a blue-black color palette. Still Hamilton's odd, athletic constructions added a welcome American wink. Top looks: Wool dresspants with elasticized bottoms, a fur-trimmed cardigan. --Gabriel Bell
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