New York Fashion Week: Men’s Spring 2016 Sketches and Mood Boards

Though many fashion designers don’t sketch their full collections anymore, there are several designers and design teams that follow that tradition of expressing inspiration, fabrication, silhouette and construction details through sketches and mood boards. Fashion Reverie has curated some sketches and mood boards from some known designers and from some not so well known.

This small sneak peak into the creative direction of the menswear collections this season is only a snippet of the brilliance to be experience during this inaugural season. But, since inquiring minds can never be satisfied, Fashion Reverie aims to please.

Since bursting onto the scene a few seasons ago, Asaf Ganot has become the new “It” guy in menswear design. Always focusing his collections on design vectors where minimalism meets luxury, the Asaf Ganot man juxtaposes controlled simplicity balanced against raw energy and feisty enthusiasm. And these two polar opposites work, expressed in an unconventional mix of fabrics and materials that exhibit Ganot’s controlled tension. For spring 2016 look to see a combination of familiar silhouettes fused through the lens of raw edges and deconstructed fabrics.

Though he is the scion of Ralph Lauren,  Greg Lauren’s design aesthetic is a far cry from of that of his esteemed uncle. Known for his deconstructed garments made from vintage or repurposed fabric, Greg Lauren’s menswear line in recent seasons has been getting more market play. Where his uncle consistently reflects on Americana and more specifically the American West, Greg Lauren sometimes dystopian projections combine tailored looks with deconstructed silhouettes.

Thaddeus O’Neil’s beach-bum luxury aesthetic sets him a part from most menswear designers showing during this inaugural season. Though he likes to marry his surfer boy point of view with very bold colors, the elegance of his designs make his collections assessable and approachable for many male consumers.

As the fashion industry’s wunderkinds for several seasons, Public School’s Maxwell Osborne and Dao Yi Chow have managed to fuse New York City street wear with a patina of elegance and fashion-forward sophistication. And their clothes are made in New York City!! As the anointed heirs to the Donna Karan’s DKNY line, this dynamic duo is primed for fashion greatness.

If you have a penchant for classic American sportswear, then Orley is not for you. However, if you have a predilection for irreverence and luxuriate in crazy, kaleidoscopic palettes of color, then Orley’s knitwear incarnations might just get your attention. A finalist in the 2014 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award, this family-owned business is racking up design nominations and setting their mark on menswear.

Edmund Ooi is one of the new kids on the block this season. And though the Belgium-based brand has only been around since 2014, this menswear brand likes to incorporate science fiction motifs into their design aesthetic of flamboyant tailoring. Finally, menswear fashion as art in New York City!!

—William S. Gooch