Navigating Womenswear Through the Lens of Men’s Fashion Week

If you think you know everything there is to know about fashion and you’re looking to feel humbled, try walking into a room at Men’s Fashion Week. The experience is pleasantly foreign — like stepping into a museum replete with paintings you’ve never seen.

At Cadillac’s New York Men’s Day, I found myself surrounded by the names of young designers and labels of whom I was distinctly unfamiliar — Kenneth Ning, Matiere, Fingers Crossed, Carlos Campos, Eponymovs. Their presentations were set up in separate rooms like galleries, and as I walked through each I tried to solidify an opinion.

Had the designers been different — had I known them — my words would have come immediately: “True to the brand’s identity…”; “a slight departure from last season”; etc.

But because they were new, I got to play. I allowed myself to look at the clothes like an outsider, wondering what would I wear?

So what would I wear? At Kenneth Ning, the geometric paisley — a pattern that also showed up at Orley.

But “my look“ at Ning was really the yellow three piece suit —  the Wes Anderson color of summer, revamped during the Resort 2015 in a shade that we called marigold. It also appeared at 3.1 Phillip Lim and Fingers Crossed, where palm trees flanked surf shorts and the Saint Laurent Men’s California skaters trend was further validated. Let’s not forget that for at least a few seasons, Rosie Assoulin has had longboards on her mind, too. (See also: my pants in Office Apropos.)

A sidebar note to self per the aforementioned Fingers Crossed: try out mismatched socks

At Matiere, I claimed the light blue bomber jacket (a shade that also popped up at Calvin Klein).

At Carlos Campos, I had my eye on the outerwear with loosely-tied waist belts and not — very Bianca Jagger.

Finally, at Eponymovs, I felt understood by an all-khaki look with boob-flap pockets. And seeing as the shade was on display up at Calvin, Ralph Lauren, Lim, and Michael Kors, I’d say with conviction that khaki is bhaki. Just add a white tee shirt.

Am I now fluent in the field of emerging menswear? Not quite. but we already know that fashion is a universal language. While we’re not always familiar with the technicalities of a certain dialogue, the moment we connect with a piece and make it ours, we find understanding through the context.

What would you wear?

In partnership with Cadillac

Photographs courtesy of designers and Style.com