Top Menswear Buyers on the Collections, Trends, and Items to Watch for the Spring 2016 Season Inline
Photos: Indigitalimages.com; Courtesy of Faith Connexion; Courtesy of Barneys New York1/6Tom Kalendarian
Executive vice president and general merchandise manager of men's and Chelsea Passage, Barneys New York
Spring 2016 collectsions should include a continuing trend toward mixing casual elements with formal clothing. Our clients are responding strongly to sport-inspired apparel, accessories, and shoes; we hope to see a greater development of this trend. Accessories especially have been influenced by sporty styling; we still can't get enough backpacks in lightweight materials that have a strong fashion image, yet are packed with functionality. Sneakers continue to excite the clients, making this another category that still has room to grow. We have some new additions coming in for this fall, and we look forward to seeing the next steps for these collectsions, especially J.W. Anderson, Lemaire, Faith Connexion, and Cifonelli.
Photos: Indigitalimages.com (3)2/6Sarah Andelman
Founder and creative director, Colette
We can't wait to see the new collectsions of Raf Simons, Junya Watanabe, and Valentino. We're very interested to see the evolution of young brands like OAMC, Palm Angels by Francesco Ragazzi, and Off-White, and we're curious about the next steps for Julien David and Gosha Rubchinskiy. Paris men's is always a very nice and cool week—very cool if I didn't have to buy the women's pre-collectsions at the same time…
Photos: Indigitalimages.com3/6Damien Paul
Head of menswear, Matches Fashion
London feels especially exciting this season—it's 10 years of MAN, which has produced some of the most exciting recent menswear designers internationally. And I'm keen to see what's next from some of the project's alumni, who have since become key brands of ours, particularly Craig Green, Astrid Andersen, and J.W. Anderson. In very different ways they've all established a massively influential aesthetic and have attracted a cult-like following. In Paris, I'm excited to see Lemaire, Yohji, and Haider Ackermann—I thought their collectsions last season were some of the strongest we saw, so it's always intriguing to see how they'll follow that. We're also throwing an event in Paris to launch our exclusive capsule collectsion with Y-3, which promises to be an eventful evening.
Photos: Indigitalimages.com (3)4/6Men's buying director, Opening Ceremony
First up, London on Thursday. I'm stoked to see the J.W. Anderson show. Jonathan always pushes the boundaries with menswear, and our clients love his show pieces. I'm excited to see how Craig Green evolves his singular vision. He's had such a meteoric rise and seems poised for even greater success. I also have to check out the new Our Legacy store. I heard great things, and we're super-pleased to be stocking OL at OC from F/W '15.
In Paris, I always look forward to Kenzo. I've heard whispers in the OC office about the new collectsion and show concept, and this show promises to be super-exciting. Also so happy the HBA fam will be back showing in Paris this season, and can't wait to hang out with all of them and celebrate their recent Swarovski Award success. Vans Vault will release its sure-to-sell-out Takashi Murakamsi collab this Paris men's, and I definitely wouldn't miss that launch event. And last but definitely not least, my two favorite Belgians: Dries and Raf. I always look forward to their shows, and I am even more excited to get into the showrooms and parse out the collectsions for OC.
Photos: Courtesy of Story MFG; Indigitalimages.com5/6John Skelton
Creative director, LN-CC
At this moment in time, the thing that interests me the most is the transition of the industry into a more conscious world of product and the consumption of it on a more ethical level. We have all been reading many interviews and stories about the ethical side of our industry, and hearing from many "chief sustainability officers" from large groups and organizations about future developments in this area, but I am for the most part still waiting to see the fruition of these conversations and promises. One of the most interesting things for me from A/W '15 was Stefano Pilati's capsule of sustainably produced and recycled products for Zegna, which took a luxury brand and product and redefined the process from creation through to execution, and then ended at consumer consumption. I hope to see more developments from other brands in this area, and for designers to lift their heads up out of this machine of an industry that we are working in and start channeling the energy and power it has to address the global issues on a bigger scale outside of the fashion/retail sector. New-brand-wise, look out for a label called Story MFG. Serious products with serious values and principles.
Photos: Indigitalimages.com (2); Courtesy of Off-White6/6Katherine Yoo
Head of merchandising, TheCorner.com
What we are seeing in terms of colors is blue, in shades of cobalt, and indigo that should be very strong in the S/S '16 collectsions. These will allow us to propose a selection of looks that are in line with thecorner.com's DNA. Prints will also be another strong trend, with a recurring military theme, outerwear embellished with embroideries, and a new concept of camouflage, which is composed from a mix of prints. Deconstructed jackets in men's suits, shorts, and fleece short sleeves are also appealing to us.
