Earlier this year, Simon Spurr was named one the 10 finalists for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund. Big deal? Well, if walking away with $200,000 and a mentoriship with industry buffs (say, Ana Wintour) isn't a big deal, I don't know what is.
With all of the buzz surrounding the Simon Spurr 2010 collection, I was looking forward to attending his show during New York Fashion Week.
Fast-forward a few (busy!) months later -- sorry for the late blog entries, guys -- and Spurr isn't the lucky recipient of the award. However, I now understand why he's on everyone's radar.
In the last two years or so we've seen what's been dubbed an "American revival" in menswear - an homage to the classic outdoor pieces of the Midwest that are now the ABCs of every hipster's wardrobe. Think well-worn denim shirts, coveralls, pre-wrinkled fabrics, lumberjack plaid, fishing smocks, and the blue-collar list goes on.
Is it just me, or is this "revival" not conjuring up flashbacks of Sanford and Son. Sign of the times? Maybe. Maybe menswear needed that traditional male (read: stereotypical) identity of the provider, outdoorsy-type to inspire men to, well, man-up during difficult times. Or, maybe it was a counter to the super-slim European aesthetic.
Either way, it was getting old. Just sayin'. And I would comment on the renewed interest of brands like J.Crew, Woolrich, L.L. Bean and so forth, but cearly I've digressed.
Anyway, leave it to Simon Spurr, a Brit-born designer, to reinterpret the American man. (Side note: Foreigners tend to nail the American heritage thing, despite their lack of any.) Instead of looking to coal mines and ranches, he looked to Ivy League college campuses -- or so I thought.
I had the chance to ask the designer what the inpiration was for the Simon Spurr 2010 collection:
Sachin Bhola: What is the inspiration behind your Spring/Summer 2010 collection?
Simon Spurr: The collection plays within a more romantic mood. Inspired by old Helmut Newton portraits, the collection remains tailored, but has a softer feeling due to the abundance of color and lighter-weight fabrics.
In the last two years or so we've seen what's been dubbed an "American revival" in menswear - an homage to the classic outdoor pieces of the Midwest that are now the ABCs of every hipster's wardrobe. Think well-worn denim shirts, coveralls, pre-wrinkled fabrics, lumberjack plaid, fishing smocks, and the blue-collar list goes on.
Is it just me, or is this "revival" not conjuring up flashbacks of Sanford and Son. Sign of the times? Maybe. Maybe menswear needed that traditional male (read: stereotypical) identity of the provider, outdoorsy-type to inspire men to, well, man-up during difficult times. Or, maybe it was a counter to the super-slim European aesthetic.
Either way, it was getting old. Just sayin'. And I would comment on the renewed interest of brands like J.Crew, Woolrich, L.L. Bean and so forth, but cearly I've digressed.
Anyway, leave it to Simon Spurr, a Brit-born designer, to reinterpret the American man. (Side note: Foreigners tend to nail the American heritage thing, despite their lack of any.) Instead of looking to coal mines and ranches, he looked to Ivy League college campuses -- or so I thought.
I had the chance to ask the designer what the inpiration was for the Simon Spurr 2010 collection:
Sachin Bhola: What is the inspiration behind your Spring/Summer 2010 collection?
Simon Spurr: The collection plays within a more romantic mood. Inspired by old Helmut Newton portraits, the collection remains tailored, but has a softer feeling due to the abundance of color and lighter-weight fabrics.
OK, so Helmut Newton may not be what I saw, but what I did see was an attempt to graduate our blue-collar American into a more sophisticated man -- who is movin' on up, to the East side, to a deluxe apartment in the sky -- and for that I say thank you, Simon.
Get the Simon Spurr 2010 look: Double-breasted suits, slim gingham button-downs, plaid-on-plaid, denim shirts, cuffed trousers and shorts, rolled-up jeans, white denim, espadrilles, boat shoes, aviator sunglasses, and vintage leather book bags.
There's more: Check out AskMen.com's Simon Spurr interview and my roundup of New York Fashion Week: Spring/Summer 2010.
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