Ken's Eye View: Spring/Summer Trends 2022 Part I

Now that I have your attention!!! (LOL!!!)

I don't often post menswear trends for a reason. Over the past several years, things have gone wild and crazy in a way I have difficulty comprehending. While I embrace creativity and I do believe each generation has a right to their own mode of expression, originality for the sake of doing something different has little meaning when it comes to products destined for public consumption. Clothes, especially menswear is first and foremost, a product. If catwalk trends never descend down to the sidewalk, it is a waste of time, money and effort on the part of the designer. After numerous seasons of, what I'd like to call "circus performances" the spring/summer 2022 season of menswear collections finally offered some real clothes my guys wanted to wear. Due to virtual presentations imposed by Covid restrictions, there are no longer any time frames set for individual markets. So designers from all areas of the globe showed in no particular order. My dude dolls actually liked seeing everything at once. And as a result, they put in orders for quite few items, so much so, I decided to spread this trend report over two parts. This, part one, has younger menswear vibe while, part 2 is more classic.

Blues Brothers

We start out with the jeans story because no matter the style, things always look cool when cut from denim. All of these looks are timely as we search for something easy to wear now that everyone is back at work, school and social gatherings. I should point out, my guys were immediately drawn to the GmbH suit. It is a classic look that goes "red carpet" with the simple addition of a double sash. 

For Lamar's suit, I used a silk twill fabric that resembles denim but is much lighter in weight. It is easy to sew, works well with the scale of the doll and falls over the body beautifully. I decided however, not to sew the sashes into the side seams. I wanted the flexibility of turning it back into a classic suit. So the sashes are a separate entity for those special occasions..

The original Zegna trousers and coat were probably cut from a super lightweight merino wool. But it looks so much like washed denim, I decided to do just that...recreate the look using a bit of my dad's worn out jeans. There's nothing extraordinary here, but I liked the idea of an overcoat in washed denim with matching trousers. 

Art Smart

Tie-dye, shibori, hand dyed print, this is the easiest way to walk to the beat of this creative movement. (Don't forget to check our "dolly textiles" posts!) These craft techniques provide a great way to instantly transform an "ordinary" garment into something colorful and really special that can be worn over jeans or shorts!

In the photo, this look created by Deveaux, doesn't appear to be exceptional. But when we really studied it, there were a number of very interesting things happening here. Renauld really liked the idea of a waiter's apron worn over trousers. I was careful not to put too much volume into the apron so that it wouldn't resemble a skirt which is why you see so much of one pant leg. The straight legged trousers and matching apron were cut from a satin finished fine silk. The short sleeved shirt was cut from a shibori print we made awhile back. I will admit that at first, I made a purple tie dyed shirt out of cotton, but the top looked too casual for the dressy trousers. A change of color (and not the fabric) made all the difference. By using a blue tone for the printing, it works perfectly for a summer dressy event.

Color Me Cool

If there is only one trend your guys should be following, it is the idea of wearing lots of bright, refreshing colors! Everything from suits to casual shorts and tops are all color drenched in tart, bright tones. We really did love the Louis Vuitton dip dyed suit, but there simply wasn't enough time to attempt this. Still, we had a little fun.

A silky top and shorts is what Richard is wearing under this cotton broadcloth caban in cheery cherry red. 

And for Jamal, we pulled out his peach toned raw silk suit and added bright blue accessories. 

Havana

Relax, you're in style. The message here is to adapt a "don't worry-be happy" philosophy while styling your guys. Notice the eclectic choice of fabrics either as an accent or a head-to-toe look. Silhouettes are pretty loose from the parkas to the snakeskin printed top and pants.

 

Suiting Up for Summer

And while on the subject of summer suits....again, keep things loose and easy and have lots of fun. We all LOVED Yohji Yamamoto's contrasting suits!

Again, we referred back to one of the textile techniques (transfer of newspaper print onto cotton using a transfer medium) we showed you a while back (First Impressions) to get the newspaper printed fabric. I used a lightweight cotton so that then end result wouldn't get too bulky. 

Local Rock Star

Well....you know this guy. He's the one who totally ignores the seasons, the time of day and whatever else is going on.....and always shows up in leather and sunglasses! LOL. He's a star and he knows it! 

The jacket is a simple boxy jacket cut from faux leather worn over classic trousers in faux leather as well. For the fancy T-shirt, I used a dark silver lurez fabric. It's not sheer like the one in the original outfit, but it still lends itself to that pop star vibe.

The Hunks

Normally I do not do swimwear for the guys. But the girls insisted and I had to create something to show off the body of my new love.....

But before I show him to you, here is Atsushi wearing Dolce et Gabbana briefs and silk shirt. He's wearing the briefest of Speedos and a tiny belt (for fashion purposes only!)  That said, men do wear fashion accessories, so after the chain complete with dog tag, the silver tone watch, why not a belt with lots of little silvery bits as well..

And here he is....star of our show....Rob, the guy I created this theme for. It's not everyday you come across a doll with a 6-pack! His shorts aren't anything special, except for the little metal accent off to one side. I just thought you'd like to take another look at Rob's body. LOL!!!!

We're not finished here. Stay tuned for Part 2. (And yes, Rob will be back as well!)

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