Kenneth Cole has the formula down pat now. He introduced his fall collection for men and women with a few celluloid spoofs that mildly nibbled at the fashion-industry hand that feeds him. But he was taking no such risks with his menswear, which this season walked a rigorously classic line. A thin gray line, in fact (though he labeled it charcoal, cement, or zinc).
For Cole, it was the season of the coat. "Indoors, outdoors, day, evening—coat-dressing is important in sportswear," he said after his show, as he fielded congratulations from Carrie Underwood and Carson Kressley. Said item meant business as a dark wool topcoat. Other variations: rabbit-collared in oiled cotton, military-styled in black alpaca, and knee-length in shearling. Underneath was a collection of sober tailoring in charcoal worsted or cement flannel, a distinct move away from the fashionably shrunken proportions Cole explored for spring. Wearability, he s clearly decided, is the name of his game. As for the footwear on which he built his business, Cole was endorsing the boot to go with the coat.
