Yigal Azrouel Interview

Here's an interview I did with Yigal Azrouel discussing his Fall/Winter 2009 collection:

Belted coats that cinch your waist, shrunken schoolboy suits, knee-high laced-up boots, and pants that fit more like a ballet legging than, well, pants -- after combing through the Fall ’09 shows, sometimes it seems like designers don’t have the slightest sartorial clue about what men will (actually) wear.

So, when a guy like Yigal Azrouel comes along whose pieces are as easy to understand as they are wearable, we like him. And when his answer to a commonly asked question about what his inspiration was is: “There isn’t a specific inspiration… It doesn’t have to be that serious; it’s a cool collection for a cool guy,” we like him even more.

Though his men’s line has only been around for two years, the New Yorker has been one of the pioneers transforming American menswear into the salient casual-deluxe market of the moment, and establishing a style you’ll be seeing a lot of this fall: layers of deconstructed, lived-in clothes.

Before he presents his Spring 2010 collection at New York Fashion Week this September, Yigal Azrouel sat down with AskMen.com to discuss men's fashion and how to look effortlessly cool this fall -- or how not to look like a ballerina.

Sachin Bhola: As a newcomer to men’s fashion, what challenges do you face designing menswear?
Yigal Azrouel: Well, with womenswear, I am a drape designer, so I have to switch gears in a sense because there isn’t as much drape in menswear. It isn’t really a challenge though, it’s more like one of the contrasts that makes the process more interesting.

Sachin: What’s on your iPod playlist?
Yigal: Iggy Pop, David Bowie , Nirvana, Chairlift, and the Violens.

For more check out the Yigal Azrouel interview on AskMen.com