Carlos Campos Fall 2016

 Carlos Campos often looks to Latin—and more specifically South American—themes for inspiration for his menswear collections. For spring 2016, the “Forastero,” the mysterious outsider, inspired Campos— the “Forastero” is a common theme in Latin American literature. For fall 2016 Campos looked to the quiet elegance of “El Capataz” (The Foreman). And the foreman in this case is, the man who oversees the coffee plantation.

For fall 206, Carlos Campos takes up on a Latin American journey. His “Capataz” is a man who is reservedly sophisticated and we see this man throughout the jointure of his day.

Campos through his chosen color palette expresses the colors and tones of the coffee plantation. With his classic camel tones, Campos references the light roasted coffee beans. Campos’s deep navy and bold winter whites stay true to signature colors that pop up in his collection season after season. And with Campos’ injection of winter white, Campos is staying on trend this season with many other designers—Nautica, Duckie Brown, General Idea, and Custo Barcelona’s menswear—is no longer alienating to the American male consumer.

This collection in some aspects seemed a bit more utilitarian than other Campos outings. There were more pants with cargo pockets and strap appendages of all kinds that reminisce of the utilitarian need of male workers in mountain climates of South America. And one of the more playful injections in the collection was a camel sweatshirt that proclaimed “No Hay Café Sin Agua,” translated means “There is no coffee without water.”

The true joy of this fall 2016 collection was the camel outerwear that were presented in hooded bomber, wool trucker, single breasted, and poncho shawl fashions. Standouts in the collection were Campos’ camel double-breasted wool cropped jacket, winter white military cape, and camel kaleidoscope printed sweatshirt.

—William S. Gooch