Phillip Lim decided to show his men’s wear in a more intimate environment this season, skipping the runway to hold one-on-one appointments in an art gallery, where the designer created the decor of a tiny living room fit for his nomadic art collector New Yorker character who incarnated the fall collection. The room, filled with modernist furniture and cheeky Pop Art, was a reflection of the eclectic taste and eccentric curiosity peppering Lim’s reinterpretation of men’s essential wardrobe.
“I wanted to add fun to classic wardrobe items,” Lim said. He did so with cheeky Japanese illustrations inspired by ukiyo-e, a genre of art that was popular in Japan until the Thirties, printed on T-shirts, embroidered at the back of leather jackets and even knitted on chunky cardigans and scarfs, evoking the nostalgia of Fifties souvenir jackets.
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Also riffing on the Fifties, Lim energized his fall wardrobe with an eye-popping vintage leopard print that ran throughout the collection and which was, in his words, a challenge to use in a masculine way. Lim printed it on streetwear fleece zipped jackets, sporty nylon Windbreakers and a pajama pant, balancing the daring motif with a more classical color palette of black, beige and military green.
The designer got less lucky with his take on the military field jacket made from a black industrial fishnet layered over a white technical fabric and patched with army green utilitarian pockets, which created a busy looking and impractical silhouette.
What worked better was Lim’s interpretation of classic items such as denim and biker jackets executed in an ultralight technical poplin and worn like shirts under more substantial outerwear pieces.