Backstage before his first-ever menswear show, Greg Lauren prefaced his Spring 16 collection as a "Noah s Ark" of male archetypes. There were dandies, athletes, suits, and even fishermen, each one disheveled and distressed to the Greg Lauren standard. "I took the opportunity to have a true men s collection, a real story," he explained, noting how in the past he had included men s looks in his women s ready-to-wear shows. "I started by looking at classic male icons, but wanted to redefine them with an artistic, handmade approach," he said. That meant the show was a bit of a mixed bag, from peak-lapel blazers made of tattered linen from old duffel bags to roomy jeans with pieced-together cargo pockets and lots of Lauren s signature military jackets. To the uninitiated, there may be a disconnect between Lauren s threadbare garments and their four-figure price tags. But each scrap of fabric is rare, vintage, and hand-distressed; up close, it s easy to see how that one-of-a-kind quality keeps his customers coming back.
New developments this season included extra-long shirts, apron jackets, and new custom-distressed shoes, bags, and hats. But some of Lauren s simpler propositions were the most appealing. For example, his "athletes" walked the runway as a team wearing soft fleece joggers, beat-up sneakers, and waffle-knit thermals in cozy shades of cream and gray. "I think athletes are the new military in terms of style," he said. "They re a huge part of our world today." Amar e Stoudemire was in the front row, but Lauren wasn t thinking basketball—his athletes were a "hybrid" between rugby and soccer players.
Later in the show, Lauren took a break from his "artistic nomads" to show a twist on eveningwear: a three-piece suit made of rumpled vintage linen. He proposed men wear it to summer beach weddings in lieu of starchy shirts and trousers. Even the guys who aren t quite ready for Lauren s blanket coats and patchwork pants could surely get behind that idea.
