Thom Browne F/W 07-08

[nqth]

Re: Thom Browne F/W 07-08



"A fresh take on the iconic 3 stripes" heehee.

[Faust]

Re: Thom Browne F/W 07-08

[quote user="nqth"]

"A fresh take on the iconic 3 stripes" heehee.

[/quote]

Inspired by Adidas

[Johnny]

Re: Thom Browne F/W 07-08

Very inspired by addidas I'd say.

[Faust]

Re: Thom Browne F/W 07-08



Cathy Horyn's take. Also interesting in light of our recent sparring on Rei's work.

February 5, 2007, 8:02 pm

Hobbitville

As much as I wanted to like Thom Browne?s collection,
I wanted more to tell the fellows from Brooks Brothers, ?Good luck!?
Browne, you may recall, signed a deal last year with Brooks to design a
special line of men?s and women?s clothes. The collection he presented
today, in a make-believe wood veiled in mist, was for his own label.

Of course, Browne showed his signature shrunken silhouette in those
familiar American fabrics. Here he was ingenious, using a tattersall
check and what appeared to be military-weight wools for slightly A-line
shaped coats. His knitwear was also imaginative, especially
over-the-knee ribbed socks with a row of little buttons behind the
knits. These were shown with wool shorts.

Still, if Browne could have thought of one more thing to do to these
clothes, I don?t know what it would have been. The suit coats had deep
double side vents and some of the overcoats had vents up to the bottom,
an unflattering picture, with trim and little extras that suggested an
inability to step back from his work and say to himself, ?Come on,
Thom, really??

Between the shorts and the longer silhouette of stern high-buttoned
coats and midi-skirts, you had a cross between a hobbit and Abraham
Lincoln. I don?t know what to make of tent-shaped capes trimmed out in
white fur. What I disliked most about the collection, though, was the
air of virtue and sincercity. It wasn?t real. It was an exercise gone
too far. And Browne has the goods. He has solid ideas.

Would I mind less if Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garcons or Junya
Watanabe had done the same clothes? Does their avant-garde status give
them a special warrant to be fantastical? The thing is, Kawakubo and
Watanabe, no matter what they do, never let down their customers. It?s
hard enough to sell their clothes at the prices they ask; it would be
next to impossible if the guys thought they?d look ridiculous. So the
standard applies to Browne as well.

[soultek]

Re: Thom Browne F/W 07-08



It will be interesting to see if his BB line will make him take a more realistic approach. If it's done right, I think it could be fantastic.

I have a Thom Browne short sleeve oxford shirt from S/S '06 it's absolutely great (especially since i got it 50% off). I get asked about it often. The fabric and construction is top notch, the cut is very flattering. I don't think I could justify it at the original price of 400$..

Just wanted to add my 2c to show that he does (or at least used to) make wearable pieces.

[nqth]

Re: Thom Browne F/W 07-08



I think BB really made the new proportion wearable and I am wondering if he will concentrate on making it becomes a "classic", maybe using "short - short" in diff. clothes of formal men's wear and/or colours, prints, fabric, cut... I think pushing it into shorter/shorter might not be a good way to develope.

EDIT: I have just read what CH worte about RK and JW, I think the difference is RK and JW always start from a concept. It might sound cliche, butthe concept is really very important. When the concept is smart, then clothes come "natural" and one can understand why this is cut like this and not like that. Their design is very logical. If you like their concept, you will probably like the clothes (you might not wear them but it's a different story:-)

And their concepts are neverever be just "short".

[casem]

Re: Thom Browne F/W 07-08



How about a 3rd definition of modernism for ya [:O]

I thought artistic movements generally have the same gist across mediums but maybe I'm wrong, because our definitions don't seem to be lining up. From music, modernism was all about erasing the past, starting from scratch and making something completely new without history or context (that works with Faust's definition of newness). This is what brought about the 12-tone system and a really academic approach to music. Composer's like Stravinksy would deny any connection to any tradition (despite him obviously borrowing from Russian folk music) and claim the music just came out of them. Music was also seen as completely self-contained, all of it's meaning was in the notes (or object of art)themselves, the meaning did NOT come from the listener's (observer's) perception or fromany historical context of the piece.

So in this respect, I wouldn't say what Thom is doing is modernism. Much of the effect of his clothes comes from the historical connotations he injects into them. That's part of the appeal, as someone else said it's a bit fetishistic, the way he shows these bizzare (and sometimes revealing) transformations of traditional clothes on these "strapping young men" that look like they come from some idyllic 1950's sitcom. This is what makes it seem surreal to me, all these clashing eras and movements that his presentations are loaded with. I suppose you could call it post-modernism (as musicians describe it again) which tries to reconnect with history and context but update or subvert is, it's sort of an "anything goes" attitude.

Anyway, all this mumbo jumbo aside, maybe I'm too easy on him because I don't really consider buying any of it. I don't look at his shows as a shopping list like I might Dior, Cloak or Ann. So I tend to overlook the function of what he's doing, but that's a whole 'nother debate, whether fashion needs function to be legitimate... (it seems to me this has been discussed on here before)

[macuser3of5]

Re: Thom Browne F/W 07-08

I too would say Thom Browne is more postmodern (in the artistic use of the word) than "modern".

[matthewhk]

Re: Thom Browne F/W 07-08



Even though i can't relate to the aesthetic, i've always appreciated Thom Browne for the craftsmanship. However, I feel this collection is too far out there...casem mentioned the possibility of another discussion, whether fashion needs function to be legitimate. I don't think fashion does (see A. McQueen f/w 07-08 for a good example of how I think the non-functional can still work well), but I am having a hard time seeing the merit in the midst of Thom's experimentation with this collection. It doesn't seem to be saying anything other than the sake of being experimental.

I'm looking forward to the Brooks Brothers X Thom Browne collaboration though.

[Seventh]

Re: Thom Browne F/W 07-08



I have to chime in and agree with Casem that Thom Browne seems to be working in a post-modern tradition--appropriation and re-contextualization.

Faust, I don't think Dada really would see themselves as modernist (it was more like modernism/industrial revolution was inflicted on them)--they were a reaction to the horror of WWI--after all the stupidity and death, what was there left to make meaning of anything? It was a fatalist reaction against logic, not about embracing the new, rather embracing anarchy.

Perhaps you are thinking more about the Futurists? They were all about the new and would fit with Ezra Pound, as both were big supporters of fascism.

(Had to speak up, as I am a fan of the Dadas [:)])

Thanks for posting the Cathy Horyn article, I think it was right-on with difference between Browne and Comme et al.

As for Mr. Browne... I am not a fan; there is a certain boyish cuteness to his work that irritates me.

[Johnny]

Re: Thom Browne F/W 07-08

Thanks Faust for the KH article. I was actually pondering exactly the same point (about the comparison with cdg etc) when looking that this, and wondering if I?d been unfair. First of all I think that Junya very, very rarely does anything properly weird for menswear, it?s actually all quite basic, especially the shapes, which never stray from the traditional (it?s really the shapes that he works around). In relation to cdg, I think that KH actually gets it wrong. I?ve felt over the last few seasons that RK has let her customers down. I?m afraid that anyone wearing a gold suit over a gold tee shirt with gold socks and gold shoes is going to look pretty stupid. It?s all a bit Elton John, no matter how laudable the underlying concept is (which in this case it isn?t, since actually it?s simply ?gold can be used as black?, which is plainly rubbish). Perhaps it comes down to the old point about wearing head to toe the same designer?s look, or indeed head to toe any combination of similar designers? looks. There?s something ?unreal? about that, and I think that ultimately with menswear you have to ?keep it real? to a very large extent. Most men have some or all of the following: jobs, wives/partners, kids, dinners to cook, groceries to buy, just generally lives to lead etc. You can look good and still do those things, and you might well wear a Thom Browne shirt (I agree those are excellent (although they are now £300 in Harvey Nicks!)) doing them, but I don?t think you can while wearing a gold lame suit or a fur lined tent-dress.

[Faust]

Re: Thom Browne F/W 07-08



Wow, that's crazy (the prices). BTW, if any New Yorker wants Thom Browne shirts at palatable prices, Tokyo7 has a bunch of them (and I mean a bunch) for $125-150.

Back on topic - Johnny, I don't think you described all men though. There are plenty of men who want to look like Elton John, and some men are single and want to remain so. Some men are pretty flamboyant. Some go to clubs where gaudy apparel required. And there is an increasing number of rich young kids for whom "making a living" is not in their vocabulary. I'm not in that camp, just saying that there is a market for everyone.

I am guessing that Thom's biggest market are gallery owners, magazine people, and such. Unfortunately, that often translates into being a fad, unless you cut out a name for yourself like Rei Kawakubo or Martin Margiela, which Thom certainly will not (just not enough talent, that's all).

One thing I will always give him of course are his fabrics and finishing. But I can give that to plenty of people, Spencer Hart, a whole slew of Saville Row tailors, Loro Piana, etc. - you know where I'm going with that.