Menswear Spring 2015 Review: Diesel Black Gold

It's all feeling very British post-punk on the Diesel Black Gold runway, with the models rocking bangs and skinny pants, oozing a sense of rebellious formal wear. 

Here's what I love about the collection: It can be easily adapted to any market, with luxe sport jackets hitting the Jozi Shore mark, parkas for the bearded, Sgt Pepper types and trenches and blazers making an appearance for formal wear. 

And that's the craziest part of this collection, the fact that while all the surface elements scream punk and edge, there are some quality formal pieces just tucked away between the melange and leather. 

These are my favourite looks though:

The Menswear Staple Face-Off

Quick question, what makes a guy's outfit pop, what's the one piece that every man should have? Is it something that can move between formal and casual with ease? Or would it be the statement piece, the signature of any man, that announces his arrival and cements his impression?

Here's the first face off, between the Desert Boot and the Denim Shirt. Which would you deem ESSENTIAL?

Menswear Essential: Denim Shirt or Desert Boot?

Muse of The Week: AKA

I know, most of my readers are from abroad, but that makes this muse even more of a revelation to you lucky sons and bitches. 

Meet AKA, South African rap phenomenon, and a fast-growing style icon in the music (and pretty soon, fashion) scene. 

Yes, he's as yellowbone as it gets, and I really should be focusing on getting some darker complexions onto my muse list, but there's an allure behind the new-age of South African Hip Hop that AKA is ushering in. It' s a more sophisticated feel, think of the man as SA's very own Rosewood Swag pioneer. AKA has got the sort of deft confidence that makes you do a double take. He's a sharp dresser too, with the clean suave attitude of a man on a mission, Hip Hop's James Bond?

Forget the new school neon, the Cream Cartel hairdos and the far too futuristic auto-tuned everything, AKA represents an old-school sophistication, and if that doesn't result in a southerly tsunami, I don't know what will. 

The Newly Refined Man

A lot can happen in the space of a year, and in an environment as fast paced and volatile as the fashion industry, 365 days leaves room for intense change. We've seen designers change places and we've seen designers take places, but as fashion observers, the evolution we've come to appreciate the most is that of the fashionable male. 

Not long ago, the eligible man was the toned, tanned bloke in a 3-piece suit with far too much money, and far too little grit or ambition, but by the end of 2011, the idea of the refined man began to change. 

On the fashion stage, it all started with the Balmain and Balenciaga shows, and The Rise of Journo Fashion, a concept of men who were men with and without the frills, street-wise gentlemen, just as comfy in 2-pleat pants as they are chic in khaki desert boots. 

Balmain Spring 2012

The street has made its appearance on the runway (or in the front row) on a number of occasions, but with the likes of Kanye West's design prowess and Alexander Wang's menswear showcases (with the likes of diplo, A$AP Rocky & Penn Badgely), we're looking at an era where the hustle is sexy, and for the first time since the Great Gatsby, the hustler is more eligible than the old-money-large-mansion pricks we've all grown to hate. 

Alexander Wang's Fall 2012 Menswear Showcase

Sapiosexualism has taken over, and the fashion industry has embraced it in the purest sense, keeping tabs on the men who work hard, think hard, and stunt hard, showing them off to the world, making the nerds appealing and the jocks mediocre. Making money with your mind and art is encouraged, and is the new dragon to chase. 

Kendrick Lamar for Complex Magazine 

Diplo for Alexander Wang

Men look up to them for their ability to progress, the fact that they can play ball on any day and the way the new-age gentleman carries himself. Women adore them for their refinement, the equality they strive for and the fact that they know their Gucci from their Prada all while being perfectly composed, maybe even chauvinistically comedic. 

 Kanye West's Rosewood Movement

 A$AP Rocky for Alexander Wang

Penn Badgely for GQ

And what's not to love when your suit is sharp, but your mindset is sharper?

Out With The 'Old'

Earlier this year was the Galliano coup, we've seen Raf Simon move, Lagerfeld's achievements for Chanel, so as a fashion community, should we really be that worried about a brand? After all, they say change is good.

The debacle at hand is between laying our loyalty with Nicholas Ghesquiere who has brought a substantial amount of attention to Balenciaga, not to mention an increase in sales. Ghesquiere took a brand on the edge of failure per se, stamped it with his own flavour and cemented the integrity of the brand and more importantly, its aesthetic. Will Alexander Wang be able to fill the desert boots? 

Nicholas Ghesquiere started by designing for the Balenciaga Asian market before heading the house at the gobsmacking age of 25. Both Ghesquiere and Wang are both familiar with building a brand from the ground up and both share certain traits which makes me one of the more optimistic people with regards to Wang's appointment at Balenciaga. 

Power Dressing Designs

Ghesquiere and Wang are wizards at accentuating the female form, and all the while, making their ensembles edgy.

Both designers focused on cut-outs for Spring, ensuring that their designs showcased the best parts of a woman's body without being trashy. 

Alexander Wang

Balenciaga

More similarity can be found in Wang's more recent collections, where some of his designs have had the distinctly Balenciaga-esque billowing sleeve.

The Balenciaga Sleeve as seen at the Spring 2013 Runway Show

Alexander Wang's uncannily Balenciaga-esque sleeve for Spring 2013

Street Goes Haute

If there was one thing I had to choose that these designers have in common, it would without a doubt be their love and leaning toward street style, sporty vibes, and creating garments which work well off the runway.

Balenciaga's sci-fi tees that rocked the blogosphere

Alexander Wangs's Duffel loved by celebs and civilians alike

Grunge Chic

Ghesquiere leans toward creating rebellious designs rooted in LSD colours, and this may clash somewhat with Wang's love for anti-colour. Regardless of their palettes though, both designers have a love for the grunge-chic look and have created street-style masterpieces in the process. 

Celeb Backing

Ghesquiere has become the designer behind Kristen Stewart's better fashion encounters and Wang has a cult-like following of celebs, even in menswear (YouTube his Fall 2012 campaign video with the likes of Diplo, Penn Badgely and A$AP Rocky)

Rihanna for Alexander Wang

Kristen Stewart for Nicholas Ghesquiere

A Word To The Guys: A Diagnosis

Every girl knows the burning sensation to cringe when she sees a fairly good looking fellow, dressed terribly. If we could wish for anything at all in that moment, it would be to send him into Lagerfeld's closet and pray that he emerges with a better sense of style. But since the world is far from perfect, I would like to make it clear to the okes on what is acceptable, and what is not. 

1. The ill-fitting suit jacket (male conveniens sectam)

By far the most off-putting anything a guy could wear is a suit jacket that hasn't been tailored. Think Steve Carrel in Crazy, Stupid, Love before The Gos turns him into a pimp-of-note.

A word to the guys though: While an untailored jacket may be the death of your game for sure, so can the gym bunny syndrome, also known as the TOO tailored suit jacket (nimis arcta sectam) as seen on Morningside gentleman all over. 




















2. The patent leather clown shoes (splendida maccus calceamenta)

Worn by the likes of Kenny Kunene, and other Capitalist retards, the clown shoe has to go. Style does not fall into the laps of the wealthy, and it certainly does not come in the form of eye-catching footwear that would make Mr. Jackson blush. 

A word to the guys though: Sure, patent leather shoes can be a sure-fire way to drive off respect, but the damage will be far worse to both your game and career if you choose to don the unpolished sebago (impolita calceus) to work. 

3. The Fly-Eye Shades (volare oculus vitra)

These sunglasses can be found EVERYWHERE unfortunately. I'm sure you know the type. He wears muscle tees (see #4), rocks clown shoes (see #2) and then finishes it off with those terrible, terrible rimless shades that make him look like he's a part of an Anastasia come-back tour. If you own a pair, burn them. Now.

I have no word to the guys on how they could do worse than these shades. Nothing, I promise you, NOTHING will ruin your game, the respect you wish to command in your career and the outfit you may have thought out rather well than bug-eye shades. 

And lastly, an ode to the guy who proved to be a perfect example of how  money doesn't buy style, Mr. Kunene. We salute you, money may not buy you style, but apparently it doesn't ruin your game. Even if you've got a permanent bow-tie.