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Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation's Menswear Pick "Native Son" Debut a Stellar Collection That Pays Tribute to Classic American Menswear of the Past - the Present ... the Future?
This year marks the ten year anniversary of The Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation (EDFF). One would be hard-pressed to name any other entity that has done more than the EDFF to enrich
the catalog of design talent that has emerged in fashion in the last decade. Consider some of brands that have benefited from the EDFF's generous $25,000 grant: Alexander Wang,
Rodarte, Derek Lam, Zac Posen, Proenza Schouler. These are our contemporary giants - the brands that elevated and defined fashion in the noughties.
Every year, an elite panel of industry professionals hand pick four womenswear designers, one in accessories design, one in sustainable design and one for menswear. This year, EDFF
crowned Native Son with that final spot. This debut collection plays out as a triptych of American menswear - acknowledging what American men wore yesterday, what they're wearing today
and what they'll be wearing tomorrow.
But truth be told, looking around at the independent platforms assembled in the venue at Pier 59 Studios, it was rather hard to allocate an era to any of the given groups. Were the oil-slicked
boys in leather jackets a ode to the rugged bad boys of yesteryear ala James Dean in "Rebel Without a Cause"? How about the dewy faced, cummerbund and suit boys in the middle? Is
this formaldehyde-like gloss on the models' complexions supposed to convey a plastiline artificiality that is beyond the realm of "the now"? If there was indeed a triptych at play, then it
mainly resounded in the styling, because the clothes - despite the modern ankle-cut pants, the fitted silhouettes, and the whimsical, pendulous eyewear - were indisputably classic. It's a
wonder why so many brands feel the need to clutter their clothes with all this unnecessary rhetoric. The stellar assembly of classic American menswear manages to speak loads about
what men want to wear today, but there wasn't a look in sight that seemed to herald from a time we have yet come to pass. The chocolate wool suit, the black on black houndstooth evening
suit, the single breasted camel peacoat and all the exquisitely tailored leather jackets are all undoubtedly deserving of an EDFF grant, but it's not "the future". Some designers just need to
learn to make beautiful clothes we all love and then - just call it a day.
This year marks the ten year anniversary of The Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation (EDFF). One would be hard-pressed to name any other entity that has done more than the EDFF to enrich
the catalog of design talent that has emerged in fashion in the last decade. Consider some of brands that have benefited from the EDFF's generous $25,000 grant: Alexander Wang,
Rodarte, Derek Lam, Zac Posen, Proenza Schouler. These are our contemporary giants - the brands that elevated and defined fashion in the noughties.
Every year, an elite panel of industry professionals hand pick four womenswear designers, one in accessories design, one in sustainable design and one for menswear. This year, EDFF
crowned Native Son with that final spot. This debut collection plays out as a triptych of American menswear - acknowledging what American men wore yesterday, what they're wearing today
and what they'll be wearing tomorrow.
But truth be told, looking around at the independent platforms assembled in the venue at Pier 59 Studios, it was rather hard to allocate an era to any of the given groups. Were the oil-slicked
boys in leather jackets a ode to the rugged bad boys of yesteryear ala James Dean in "Rebel Without a Cause"? How about the dewy faced, cummerbund and suit boys in the middle? Is
this formaldehyde-like gloss on the models' complexions supposed to convey a plastiline artificiality that is beyond the realm of "the now"? If there was indeed a triptych at play, then it
mainly resounded in the styling, because the clothes - despite the modern ankle-cut pants, the fitted silhouettes, and the whimsical, pendulous eyewear - were indisputably classic. It's a
wonder why so many brands feel the need to clutter their clothes with all this unnecessary rhetoric. The stellar assembly of classic American menswear manages to speak loads about
what men want to wear today, but there wasn't a look in sight that seemed to herald from a time we have yet come to pass. The chocolate wool suit, the black on black houndstooth evening
suit, the single breasted camel peacoat and all the exquisitely tailored leather jackets are all undoubtedly deserving of an EDFF grant, but it's not "the future". Some designers just need to
learn to make beautiful clothes we all love and then - just call it a day.
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By Alexander Patino
POSTED February 14, 2011
The Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation's Menswear
Pick "Native Son" Debuts a Stellar Collection
Pick "Native Son" Debuts a Stellar Collection
