At Christopher Kane s collection there were still the oversize tees and elastic-waist pants that have proved such a hit with the hip-hop community (this season, printed with the molecular design that the designer has adopted as the scientific motif de la saison for his women s Pre-Fall and his men s Fall), but what immediately stood out about the designer s new menswear was structure. Proper tailored suits and coats, in jacquards textured like snakeskin, instantly linked the clothes to his Pre-Fall collection, a celebration of the serpent. Also connecting to his womenswear was the use of black as the building block. But where Kane s men s collections will always diverge from his womenswear is their infusion of the quality he calls "super-boyishness": He can t help inserting his own playfulness. So here there were adorable cabled angoras in royal blue, orange, and the extraordinary toxic green that was so striking in Pre-Fall. There was a blue vinyl parka, a simple pleather mac, and a sleek black thing Kane called "an opera coat for boys." And, of course, those money-in-the-bank tees and sweats, deliciously squirming with serpentine molecules. Kane s menswear has turned into a serious business, but—structure or no—it is still spurred on by his sense of snake-fearin mischief.
