Scene: Several emerging fashion designers at New York Men’s Day during Fashion Week Fall 2020 at Location05 in Hudson Yards. NYMD is an initiative intended to help nurture up-and-coming talent. This platform sets the stage for the world to see. Some of these designers include womanswear.
Starting with Mined on Denim, a men’s sustainable denim clothing line, ethically made in San Francisco. Ready to wear clothing made of only natural and organic fiber, or recycled materials. Collection by head designer Eden Slezin who utilized denim and basket-weave leather with a cool color palette of blue and white with a splash of orange.
Talent for the show: hair by Oribe team, lead hairstylist Coby Alcantar; makeup by Makeup Pro New York, lead makeup artist Chika. Shoes throughout Sperry. Above and below photo, Ilias Avaskantiras , renowned international model of Greek descent represented by LA Models and New Madison Paris. He is wearing a pacific blue recycled denim look with inverted front flap pockets.
Scene: The Apotts presentation. Aaron Potts was an intern for Marc Jacobs and Donna Karan. After an international career designing for Emanuel Ungaro, Anne Klein, Ellen Tracy, Escada, and Tamara Mellon, the time was right for Aaron to create Apotts. The brand embodies his embrace of creativity, diversity, artistic community, and self expression. His collections are designed to be unisex as well as trans-seasonal. Notable were the fuller pants, oversized smocks, and the big curly hair. While black was the predominant color, the use of greens, grays, and golds as well as color blocking were a great way to accentuate the pieces.
Talent for the show: hair by Oribe team, lead hairstylist Dan Nguyen; makeup by Makeup Pro New York, lead makeup artist Chika. Shoes throughout Florsheim.
Scene: The Carter Young presentation. Carter Altman started his career in fashion design at age 15. His first experience with bespoke tailoring came in 2014 when Altman assisted Alexander Nash learning the fundamentals of classical tailoring and garment construction. His designs are distinctive in how they galvanize influences, subvert the traditional, and synthesize opposites. This brand prides itself in creating unisex clothing with a strong anchor in utilitarian menswear. Some jackets and coats were fabricated from 1960’s deadstock olive Marine Corps wool and taupe California Highway Patrol cavalry twill. Motif embroidery embellished some garments. And their take on jeans was with suiting fabric. Carter’s collection was made in New York City. While other presentations treaded the line to the more gender non-conforming end of the spectrum, the Carter Young brand stayed more to the traditional views of menswear.
Talent for the show: hair by Oribe team, lead hairstylist Kien Hoang; makeup by Makeup Pro New York, lead makeup artist Chika. Vintage Boots throughout selected by Michael Andrew, stylist and head of fashion at Carter Young.
Scene: The Official Rebrand presentation. A gender free up-cycled fashion label founded by NY/Berlin based non-binary artist and designer, MI Leggett. Remade clothing with painting, drawing, and screen printing on used garments. The nature of these pieces nods to the excessive accumulation of objects and ideas. Their story is not so much a story of birth, but one of a series of rebirths. The brand celebrates the fluid expression and our uniqueness. The presentation was part performance as the models were free to move as if to the beat of their own drummer. Accessories like the bags and hats were important compliments to the looks.
Talent for the show: hair by Oribe team, lead hairstylist Milciades Manuel Rolon; makeup by Makeup Pro New York, lead makeup artist Chika. Head pieces Leila Jinnah.
Scene: The Todd Hessert presentation. An eponymous fashion label. He adopts an “all possibilities” mind-set. His collection is an abstract expression of sophisticated minimalism while remaining true to the brand’s tech-influenced notion. Coats and jackets were the focus, adorned puffer coats and embossed croc jackets with Cuban link chains. Playing with the shapes and textures of the coats made the looks refreshing. But even more significant is the how the use of technology embedded in the coats made them more desirable without hindering the style. Heating elements and mobile connectivity were seamlessly incorporated into the looks.
Talent for the show: hair by Oribe team, lead hairstylist Christian Ceja-Compin; makeup by Makeup Pro New York, lead makeup artist Chika. Shoes thoughout Reebok.
Scene: The Ka Wa Key presentation. The collection was entitled “The Twink Prince” and was inspired by The Little Prince novella by French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The design duo of Key Chow and Jarno Leppanen utilize traditional textile crafts and sustainable materials to rework everyday casualwear. Part presentation, part performance art, models moved between the audience and were seen dressing and undressing pieces of the collection. The brand that believes everyone can be a twink regardless of their sexuality, pushed texture and color at their presentation with fuzzy sweaters.
Talent for the show: hair by Oribe team, lead hairstylist Dan Nguyen; makeup by Makeup Pro New York, lead makeup artist Chika. Shoes throughout Sperry.
Scene: More stories from New York Men’s Day fashion designers to follow.
A special thank you to Helen Oppenheim, US Correspondent for Peluquerias Magazine, archivist, blogger, and hair guru, for asking me to collaborate during Fashion Week.