New York Men’s Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2019 brought us many stories of self-acceptance and expression. Through various garments and collaborations, we also saw a positive light shed on important topics like immigration and human connection. Here, we’ve included some of our favorites.
Linder’s new collection continues the brand’s story, celebrating the inner life of a queer man. As a tribute to the legacy each person leaves behind in life, designer Kirk Millar drew from the brand’s Dutch heritage, featuring pieces like a modern take on Dutch clogs and floral patterns cut out of a 1960s magazine by the designer’s grandmother. We also saw a modern guayaberas wedding shirt and shirst and socks embroidered with “boyfriend”—all illustrating how self-acceptance, coming out, and ridding the imposed outer shell of masculinity leads to discovering love, resiliency, and companionship.
Courtesy of Alessandro Trincone.
Willy Chavarria embraced how immigration lends inspiration and beauty to American culture with a collection inspired by fashion brought to our country from international newcomers. A simple black floor and bare backdrop let the clothing speak for itself, including looks like a denim-on-denim jacket and jeans pairing, completed with a pair of work boots. A collection highlight was the collaboration with the Danish soccer brand Hummel, which included a series of sports-inspired looks (like a pair of joggers and a pullover bearing the Hummel logo and the numbers “5683”) that highlight soccer as a positive game of unity.
Looking inward to find the things that make us whole, Feng Chen Wang’s collection continues the brand’s exploration of human connection by posing questions like, “Who is your other half?” A palette of neutral tones was accompanied by colors like cool green, blue, and salmon (signifying emotions like happiness, sadness, love, and hate), which were seen across a selection of layered jackets and jeans—all embodying the physical and quite literal iteration of the recurring theme of “half.” Standing in the center of the runway was a sculpture depicting a universal signifier of connection—a large pile of hands embracing one another.
Courtesy of Alessandro Trincone.
Alessandro Trincone made its New York Fashion Week debut with its “Avvolgimi,” collection—a celebration of people who have the courage to be themselves. In front of a simple wall of illuminated white panels, tiered tulle skirts, metallic tassels, pink satin bows, and other traditionally feminine details pushed aside barriers of gender roles and sexual standards, declaring that the freeing journey of self-discovery ends with the choice of self-expression.
Courtesy of Willy Shavarria.
