"I love dressing up, but I m still young," Phillip Lim said today during his first Paris menswear presentation, at the city s breathtaking Mint. "So how do you keep elegance youthful?"
He found his answer in what he calls "sartorial idiosyncrasies"—hook-and-eye closure blazers, electric green and navy jacquards, evening sweatpants, and a sleeveless knit turtleneck pullover that he put over a suit and likened to a car cover. And yet for all those idiosyncrasies, there was a renewed emphasis on tailoring here, and an inquisitiveness and openness to experiment that pushed Lim s men s collection into a stronger space than it has occupied before. Take a lapel-less car coat: The designer was thinking about structure, but also about comfort, so while the front side is traditionally cut, the back is raglan, and it falls like a cardigan. Not a bad idea.
There s a space-age strain to Lim s designs that sometimes sends him a little far afield. A marled French terry sweat suit looked like a television s static fuzz. But for every piece that didn t quite come off, there was one with verve to spare.
