lewis chong

 
The concept of trends work on an industry-wide level, a means for editors to easily rationalise the hundreds of collections and garments they see in any one season; fashion’s common denominators. For a consumer though trends can be a bit impersonal. Most individuals build a wardrobe with integrity, stocked with reliable pieces that work all together. Consistency matters. A wardrobe can be quite inseparable from its owner; an ongoing dialogue between wearer and worn.

Devotees of minimalism or technical sportswear aren’t suddenly going to splurge for ruffled shirts because they become ‘a thing’. That’s not to suggest complacency or middle of the road-ness. Out of character moments do happen. Especially when desirability comes into play. A left-field tie-dye might take the pattern averse by surprise. The sworn slim-trouser wearer might suddenly crave the movement of a wide leg. They are style developments. A much-needed contrast. So think of these Spring Summer 2017 suggestions as a sartorial expansion pack: the wardrobe 3.0.

PROPORTION BIGNESS & SLOUCH

The anti-fit. It’s dressing beyond your body. Drastically dropped shoulders, trailing sleeves and architectural proportions radicalise classic menswear forms; sweatshirts and jackets so boxy they almost become temporary structures. Oversized is a key message for Raf Simons this season. Distorting the silhouette is a signature of his, it’s one of the ways the Belgian designer best articulates his fascinations with boyhood and manliness, with outsiders and youth culture. Clothing as body modifiers. Hulking knitwear and tented shirts become frame and canvas for Robert Mapplethorpe’s powerful photography—whose portraits also explore the makings of identity. The late artist’s foundation approached Simons to collaborate and the pairing couldn’t be more genius.

PALETTE PINKS & NATURALS

Neutral colours are usually presented as the supporting cast for the core primary shades. For SS17 overlooked shades of sand, taupe, ecru, bone, chalk and more are recast as the main players. It’s a holistic approach to colour, all a bit weathered. And when applied to fabrics like tumbled cottons, washed linens and brushed silks there’s a richness, a rawness. To counter the harmony, shades of pink from dusty to magenta are incorporated. Meaning style staples—the sweater, the bomber jacket, the shirt—seem wholly brand new. A refreshing counterpoint to the characteristically muted nature of menswear.

PANTS HIGH-WAISTED & CLIPPED

It’s interesting how a classic garment like the trouser, with such an established tradition, can seem so original once twisted somehow. Two types of trousers resonate most for summer. A high-waisted flat-fronted workwear style loose in the thigh through the ankle—fitting the description of slacks—is one. E. Tautz’s are cut in utility cotton, Marni’s are in virgin wool, J. W. Anderson’s in denim. Some pool about the ankle and some stop just short of it, but all touch upon a sense of the ordinary made strange by being a bit too crisp, too generous. The other key trouser is the high-water; tapered down the leg and cropped around the calf. Haider Ackermann does a great version crafted with his typically rebellious hand. The high-water is also a favourite of Thom Browne’s, whose shrunken tailoring wouldn’t be complete without a bare ankle.

PATTERN MAXIMALIST STRIPES & LINES

These kinds of stripes aren’t so straight down the line. The precision and sequence expected from this pattern is deliberately disrupted through a garment’s deconstruction. Fabrics are cut at conflicting angles to fragment the simplicity of the Breton; seen at Lanvin, CMMN SWDN and Wooyoungmi. A pieced-together shirt from Stella McCartney’s new menswear collection repositions the classic pyjama stripe, and at Marni sweaters are made up of wool panels that, when arranged geometrically, evolve the humble stripe.