Marc Jacobs men s collections, despite their increasing sophistication, are often exercises in camp—albeit exquisitely rendered, made-in-Italy, highbrow camp. It s how Jacobs gets his kicks, while bringing a dose of levity to his adoring fans. Spring was no exception. Nosing through the showroom racks, what at first seemed to be a salmon color story morphed into a fern story and on to a flamingo story—pink flamingos, that fifties icon of lawn kitsch. At first subtle, they soon flocked across shirts in allover prints and landed on the back of a black satiny bowling-style jacket as one big and flamboyant sequined centerpiece.
Aside from his feathery friends, however, Jacobs seemed to rediscover mid-century men s elegance, apparently nostalgic for that halcyon heyday of made-to-measure tailoring, cocktail attire, and vacation wardrobes. Glamorous bachelors would luxuriate in pastel hideaways like Miami s South Beach, Las Vegas, or, if they were feeling especially exotic, the casino resorts of Havana, where they d foster fantasies of hobnobbing with foppish, well-mannered gangsters. Jacobs deftly tapped into this subtropical noirish scenario with cream-colored linen suits, soft-pink striped polos, crisp white ties on crisp white shirts, diaphanous knits, and that quintessential item of the made man, the vest—with the bottom button undone, as it should be.
