There are some men who will not want to wear the bright greens, pinks, and sky blues that have been brightening spring s runways. For them, there s Cloak, where designer Alexandre Plokhov combines a penchant for detail with a relentlessly somber color palette. For spring, he pretty much stuck to basic black, but kept things interesting by adding some new shapes, including a priest s cassock and pleated Zouave trousers. Plokhov wasn t afraid to take things to extremes—an ensemble of a black hooded poncho, guardsman shirt, and skinny jeans looked like the Grim Reaper about to go to Burning Man—and his gambles mostly paid off. In outfits like a well-tailored black cotton-and-cashmere cardigan paired with a dark-gray sleeveless hoodie, he showed the sexier, grown-up side of Goth.
Intricate zippers and folds in a black tailcoat and cotton flight suit showcased Plokhov s attention to detail, but the occasional half-hearted stab at color—a light-blue V-neck under a gray cotton-cashmere sleeveless hoodie, for example—only served to prove that he s wise to adhere to the darker end of the spectrum. The odd detour aside, though, Plokhov successfully took some risks while staying true to his form.
