Funny thing: Neil Barrett s last men s collection so thoroughly revisited his past that he couldn t really go there again. He d been speaking the same language for so long that it was past time to find something new to say. That could have presented an overwhelming challenge for Barrett, a designer whose strengths always lie in his limits. But he rose to it, road-mapping his future in the process. A win-win.
He showed no bombers, sweatshirts, or sweatpants—in his words, "none of what I m known for." And Barrett did something else he d never done before, basing his collection on pattern rather than tone. Given that pattern is new for him, it s fearless to collect the most iconic masculine motifs from around the world—camouflage, batik, nautical stripes, and keffiyeh checks, along with animal and kimono prints—and fuse them into new combinations: a keffiyeh Jacquard bisected with marinière stripes, for instance, or a hybrid of leopard and batik. "Potential future classics," he confidently called them.
The fusion didn t stop with pattern. He also blended the utilitarian spirit of American workwear with the precision of European tailoring. Slouchy, cropped, cuffed jeans were shown with a crisp, printed poplin coat. A keffiyeh-like pattern was woven into a tone-on-tone evening jacket in midnight blue, the accompanying jeans, tuxedo-striped. Barrett may have inherited expertise when it comes to the sharpness of military garb, making him a master of a unique contemporary uniform, but that was a tempting cul-de-sac. Today he found a way out.
