story by Freda Henry and Charles Beckwith
photos by Boris Marberg
Dip back into the early-’80s style file for men and you’ll find slim tight pants, burst colors, stripes, and mostly single color clothes, but every piece was worn matched with several other dissimilar pieces, which creating colorful match-ups and when done right sympathetic pattern jazz. It was the begining of pop fashion. John Travolta, the late Micheal Jackson, the hair metal bands, and even (in an Annie Hall gender bender way) Madonna all sported these looks.
Today’s trend-pushing designers are children of the 80’s, and it is only fitting that they should pull from what they found interesting in their own childhoods to make the now and tomorrow garments. Several designers in this group have recently described influences from the period, but only now are we really seeing these daring stabs at the more bold looks of the time. So now, for Fall 2009 and Spring 2010, we’ll start to see this come around again, cleanly re-imagined, as evidenced by Marc Jacobs’ Fall line for women and this new Moschino spring collection for men. Although, we can only imagine the horrors of the coming knockoffs.
Look for close-fitting pants (but not too tight, loose on the waist) and heavy concentration on the artistic patterns and prints of the shirts, pants, and hats, all displayed as a sophisticated look with more careful color choices, a refinement of what came before.
