Anyone who still imagines fashion remains willfully oblivious to current events would probably be surprised to learn that Tomas Maier was inspired by 2011 s Arab Spring, when he conceived the latest men s collection for Bottega Veneta. The Arab world s pursuit of democracy got him thinking about the integration of different sartorial traditions in a way that was about genuine synthesis, rather than banal ethnic influences. By the time they reached the catwalk, Maier s creative impulses had been well and truly sublimated. A casual overview might suggest that relatively conventional two-piece tailoring ruled (even if the suits were crumpled). Still, a residue of the Great Elsewhere lingered in the unplaceability of a number of the clothes, neither Middle East nor Midwest, but with an undertow of both. The buttoned-up-tight mandarin-collared jackets and matching pants had a military mien—add sunglasses, a general s cap, and a hundred kilos, and you d have yourself a best-dressed dictator. That control was contrasted with a shopping list of fabric treatments: washing, creasing, over-printing, over-dyeing, dip-dyeing. Checks were bleared like they d been hand-blocked. A tweed was really a printed cotton. Just a fashion illusion, but here it poked as much as it pleased.
Maier never really lets go. Even the peculiar denim and leather breakout he allowed himself today was pinpoint-precise. Will BV men be thinking of the Arab Spring when they re shopping this time next year? Unlikely. But Maier s abstract inspiration actually did yield a hint of out of control that his customers may find refreshing come Spring 2012.
