Coming from a long line of naval tailors, Neil Barrett has the cut in his blood. There is always a military precision in the way he creates new hybrids from his influences. This season, for instance, he blended army fatigues, biker leathers, and the natty houndstooths and herringbones of the 2 Tone ska revival. Then he shrunk and cropped the whole lot to Barrett s signature proportions and sat it on top of chunky cyber-bovver sandals. Some of the combinations looked completely natural, like the tan trench or wool blazer hybridized with a motocross jacket, or the biker vest with the army green cotton back. They were the most convincing. Other pairings were less so. True, within the mandate of the collection, a leather-patched aviator jacket over houndstooth shorts was logical enough. Likewise, the herringbone blouson with the cropped pants.
But at some point, Barrett s signature has become a formula. It may have made him the go-to guy for composite iterations of Youth Cults We Have Known and Loved, but it s boxed him into a corner. Oddly enough, as his hybrids whizzed past to one of his typically fabulous soundtracks (always among Milan s best), the thought occurred that help may be at hand in the form of Barrett s genetic legacy. Gallingly conventional though it would probably seem to him, a purely sartorial collection—minus the crop and the shrink—would highlight his skill, his taste, and his instinct for what makes a man look hot. Or cool. Or maybe just good.
