Men’s Trend Report: Fall 2012’s Color Explosion

Moving from one season to the next, we expect something fresh and different from the fashion industry. However, the most sought after trend this season is consistency of color. Every season fashion-hungry consumers need their senses and wardrobes stimulated by collections that are fresh, innovative and push the proverbial fashion envelope. For fall 2012 menswear designers continue to incorporate lots of color and texture, a carryover from spring 2012. From John Varvatos to the always sexy DSquared2 to growing consumer favorite Moncler, men’s outerwear designers are eschewing the neutral color palettes usually associated with fall/winter collections for vibrant, bold color.

Emerging designer Stephen Mikhail confesses he found his inspiration for his unique fall men’s jackets in “romance and imagination.”  Gunmetal and ostrich highlight the designer’s bold collection. Fitting nicely into his fall/winter 2012-2013 line is a purple swakara and lambskin jacket that transitions beautifully between day and night, marked at $6,500. Mikhail asserts that his quality created the gunmetal jacket, which is made with ostrich leather, and black aged goatskin trim, priced at $7,500, and for the quality of the one-of-a-kind pieces, Mikhail says, “this is a bargain.”

Canada’s favorite twins, Dean and Dan Caten of the international fashion house Dsquared2 have created an appealing collection for men this fall that is an interesting mix of color, texture, and masculine ease. Dean and Dan put their talents to work when they created this season’s bouclé coat with strapped cuffs and button closing, selling for $2,175. Their choice in fabric (bouclé) has such an amazing texture that it creates a warmth to match its striking fall orange coloring. Also included in their winter line is an olive button close coat with a fur-lined hood. In more ways than one, fall/winter will be just as warm as spring/summer.  

Bumsuk Choi of General Idea looked to the `68 Grenoble Winter Olympics for inspiration for his fall/winter 2012 collection. Combining the athleticism of winter outdoor sportswear with current street fashion, Choi successfully blended these disparate points of view into a colorful collection that mixed in the continuing trends of colorblocking and variations on traditional silhouettes. Choi contemporized this collection by employing quilted fabrications with bold colors and creating varsity jackets with toggle buttons. This very accessible collection expands to a wider age demographic than some previous collections.

Moncler, the go-to brand for parkas, was in league with General Idea and many other iconic men’s brands this season as it infused bold color into its Gamme Bleu collection. Creative director Thom Browne looked to auto racing for inspiration for its 2012 collection. Padded and quilted jackets and volume-induced coats in a variety of colors was the order of the day in this outing. Though the brands outerwear runs upward of $1200, the fashion-forward sensibility and innovative construction makes Moncler definitely worth the price.

John Varvatos never leaves his beloved NYC far behind. For fall 2012, Varvatos looked to street fashion and the way an urban man wants to dress for inspiration. From curly-haired shearlings to more tailored jackets and coats, Varvatos went against the grain this season and stayed with the neutral palettes of asphalt and subway gray. Still, Varvatos’ point of view is so relevant that no compendium on men’s outerwear for fall 2012 would be complete without him.

 —William S. Gooch

 —Researched by Eric Arnold