MAN OF THE WEEK

Pride of New YorkNow that Andrew Cuomo has signed the gay marriage bill, he can turn his attention to his personal style. MW4

PLUS:John McEnroe and Björn Borg partner for underwear line set to launch at Wimbledon. MW2.

SPRING 2012

Merchants See Fresh Momentum In Strong SeasonBuyers boost men’s budgets for

Milan and Paris collections.

June 30, 2011

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Summer AdventureAdventure

Travel and leisure was the overriding sensibility for spring in Milan and Paris. Designers displayed their sense of adventure with lively prints, playful pant volumes, monotone dressing and multiple interpretations of the safari jacket — the season’s must-have. For more on the trends, see page MW3.

by WWD STAFF

MEN’S WEAR IS ONE of the brightest spots at retail this year — and what buy-ers saw in Milan and Paris for spring 2012 fueled opti-mism that the good times should keep on rolling.

Men’s apparel sales led other categories dur-ing holiday and spring and the momentum continued through Father’s Day when many retailers reported dou-ble-digit gains with strength in everything from suits and dress shirts to lightweight sweaters and casual shirts. The optimism spilled over to Europe, where retail-ers shopping for next year were upbeat and hopeful that the strength will con-tinue into next year.

Enticing color, innova-tive fabrics and creative newcomers were among the highlights of the Paris men’s wear collections, which ended here Sunday and followed a strong season of shows in Milan.

Though attendance was slightly lower than in Milan, as many buyers and senior ex-ecutives remained in Italy to complete order-writing sessions, Paris boasted high-impact collections both on and off the catwalk.

“There was this understated elegance in most of the collections with the juxtaposition of fantastic energy on the runway,” said Kevin Harter, vice president of fashion direction for men’s at Bloomingdale’s.

Among the most praised collections were Lanvin, Dries Van Noten, Givenchy, Paul Smith, Maison Martin Margiela, Acne and Carven, which made its men’s wear debut this season.

Eric Jennings, vice president and fashion director, men’s wear, home, gifts and food at Saks Fifth Avenue, noted the Paris season was less avant-garde. “This season the col-lections showed more breadth of wearable pieces without sacrifi cing imagination and novelty,” he said.

Budgets increased across the board, with buyers seeing good potential for lightweight jackets, linen knits, color and prints, and looser pants. Stores generally have seen their men’s business growing by double-digits, fu-eled by a customer who is more fashion savvy, a more relaxed attitude toward dressing and the beginnings of an economic recovery.

Here is what buyers had to say about the Paris season:

Paul Smith was one of the top

shows.

Salvatore Ferragamo

RobeRt GRaham is celebrating its 10th birthday with a special cap-sule collection of men’s woven tops that will be sold under the moniker X Collection by Robert Graham.

the 40-piece collection was in-spired by the brand’s most thought-provoking pieces over the past de-cade and will include classic oxfords and poplins with rubber overprints in paisleys as well as windowpanes, dots and rubber-trimmed armband stripes. there will be split insets in contrasting fabric on the backs of collars, extended double-buttoned cuffs and digital prints overlaid on some of the label’s most popular checks and stripes. the shirts will retail from $178 to $228.

“the X Collection by Robert Graham is a hybrid of athletic roots and classic, traditional styling,” said Robert Stock, creator and de-signer of Robert Graham, adding that it “represents our design high-lights over the past decade. the collection consists of luxury fabrics and treatments that bring new light to our classics.”

the collection will launch at re-tail in November. — JEAN E. PALMIERI

Robert Graham Marks 10th Year With New Line

Stephen Ayres, head of men’s wear buying, Liberty, LondonTrendspotting: “I really liked the use of clashing colors. acne epitomized this by showing a palette that really shouldn’t work together, but did.” Sound off: “Prices from a lot of brands have gone up but this is across the board. this, combined with a weak pound, is concerning.” Gérald Tesson, creative director for men’s wear buying, Le Bon Marché, ParisTrendspotting: “there were a lot of very light-weight semilined or cotton jackets which we think are going to do well. everybody has been inspired by Prada’s thick-soled shoes.” Sound off: “It’s becoming a little complicated jug-gling our timetable to include attending fashion shows and checking out more creative and acces-sible brands at the trade shows, in addition to buying appointments in showrooms.” George Yang, general merchandise manager of men’s wear, Lane Crawford, Hong KongTrendspotting: “a strong California, ‘West Coast,’ laid-back, cool attitude with compelling color schemes, geomet-ric patterns and stripes. there’s a strong offer in pants from the sporty to the dramatic full proportion of the Seventies.”Sound off: “envelopes were pushed in this whole ‘gender-bender’ theme consisting of skirts, tunic-dresses featured as next summer’s mascu-line separates.” Kevin Harter, vice president of fashion direction for men’s, Bloomingdale’s, New YorkTrendspotting: “hawaiian prints, geo-metric stripes, linen pants, lightweight parkas and mixed-texture knits.”Sound off: “Coming off a strong spring, we continue to be optimistic that the men’s business will continue to thrive.”

Grégoire Proffit, designer and casual men’s wear buyer, Galeries Lafayette, ParisTrendspotting: “Dior-style minimalism, na-ture [with green and floral inspirations]

and water effects with bright blue shades that are almost electric. In terms of products, the most saleable items remain suits and tuxedos.” Sound off: “the pace is very fast between shows, showroom presentations and buying appoint-ments for international buyers. We have to be well organized.”

Hirofumi Kurino, creative adviser, United Arrows, JapanTrendspotting: “a sportif influence, a hand-craft-ed feel, color, coats in various spring colors.”Sound off: “We expected to see more ethnic and nomadic influences, which were strong in milan.”

Tancrède de Lalun, merchandise manager for men’s and women’s wear, Printemps, ParisTrendspotting: “Pants are definitely no longer fit-ted. outerwear is almost technical, and we are seeing ethnic inspiration with ikat-like fabrics.”

Sound off: “We liked the fact that there was a new energy in Paris with brands that don’t necessarily show on the runway, like ami and Carven.”

John Gerhardt, creative director, Holt Renfrew, CanadaTrendspotting: “the double-breasted sport jacket, the summer parka, the four-pocket jacket, the bomb-er jacket, the colored pant, the bermuda short, the band-collar shirt and the pleated pant.”Sound off: “We have a heavy invest-ment in our sportswear assort-ment and with this season’s over-riding theme of casual elegance, we know we will have a very suc-cessful season.”

Eric Jennings, vice president and fashion director, men’s wear, home, gifts

and food, Saks Fifth Avenue, New YorkTrendspotting: “there was this fantas-tic shade of blue, somewhere between French blue and royal blue, that kept popping up over and over. Second, there were amazing prints this season, from tropical to geometric to ethnic. Last, the textured, mélange colored knits from fall continued into spring, now in lightweight, fine-gauge yarns.”

Sound off: “one of the things that I love in Paris is seeing more designers from Japan and Korea. I think they are tremendously inspirational and directional right now.”

Jason Broderick, menswear general merchandise manager, Harrods, LondonTrendspotting: “there was a very feminine ap-proach from some designers such as thom browne, Yves Saint Laurent and Lanvin draw-ing inspiration from women’s wear, but this new look translates well to sportswear.”Sound off: “the collections were better in the showroom in some cases. the brands are push-ing commerciality and restricting the super fashionable looks to the catwalk.”

Anita Barr, director of men’s wear, Selfridges, LondonTrendspotting: “We saw really strong tailoring, and it was mix-and-match, such as double- and single-breasted jackets with an ankle-length trouser. there was a strong sports luxe feel. there was an undercurrent of surf, with Givenchy’s bird of paradise print and also off the runways, with a lot of guys wearing hawaiian shirts. Color is still key and it re-sponds really well for us at retail.”

by KaRYN moNGet

LoNGtIme RIvaLS and grand slam champs björn borg and John mcenroe will be lending a new thrill to Wimbledon fans Friday: their own underwear line.

the two tennis legends will officially unveil their collabo-ration at a press conference at Wimbledon during this week’s matches, saying they have joined forces to launch a limited edi-tion collection of men’s underwear that will bear their signa-ture names. this will be the first time that a name other than borg’s will be featured on his 22-year-old underwear line.

the collection is inspired by the Golden age of tennis in the eighties — when borg fought off mcenroe in the classic 1980 Wimbledon final that remains one of the highest-quality clashes in the tournament’s history. the line, which will be introduced at retail in august for fall selling, will consist of 100 pieces of men’s underwear embellished with the signatures of borg and mcenroe. there will be four underwear styles, two designed by borg and two by mcenroe. the underwear will be available in 17 countries including europe, Canada and the U.S. as well as at bjornborg.com. Suggested retail prices have not been finalized.

“I loved the idea as soon as I heard it. It’s an opportunity to once again team up with John and beat him on new grounds,” borg jokingly said.

borg became a fashion entrepreneur in 1989 when he cre-ated björn borg underwear. the Stockholm-based $370 million björn borg ab, which includes fragrances, accessories, shoes and sportswear licenses, as well as 36 stores and franchises, went public in 2007. In addition to Sweden and the Netherlands, the underwear brand began selling in the U.K. in 2006 in 120

in-store shops at stores such as harvey Nichols, Selfridges and Urban outfitters. borg said he sought to start his brand with un-derwear because he envisioned a functional fashion product that would address his lifestyle needs, especially as an athlete.

as for mcenroe’s involvement with underwear design and its connection to tennis, he described his collaboration as hav-ing “my feel to it.”

“this is sort of a fun company…it kind of reminds me of the beautiful [tennis] clothes and old school short shorts we wore. those were the fun days,” said mcenroe, who is cur-rently featured with borg in hbo’s “Fire & Ice,” a documen-tary chronicling the rivalry between the mercurial mcenroe and the stoic borg.

“tennis really grew in the Seventies, and björn was a big

part of that, and in the late Seventies I got into the mix.…those were the Golden Years and there was a lot of personality in the game. but the game has changed a lot, everybody and the profes-sionalism of the sport. björn was one of the few people I got along with on and off the court.…We weren’t friends immediately. I looked at him from a distance as a kid, but once we got together in social situations, he actually took me under his wing and certainly gave credibility about me as a player,” said mcenroe, who has been a sports commentator for grand slam tennis matches for NbC and the bbC since 1991.

asked if he designed the underwear bear-ing his name, mcenroe replied, “over the years, björn has been nice enough to bring me the newest underwear designs. I thought this [proj-ect] would be a fun thing, but I didn’t realize we would be doing something together. and then the agents became involved because of the an-niversary…and I thought some money will go to charity and it will be a win-win situation.”

In addition to 4 percent of sales being donated to the John and Patty mcenroe Foundation — which in turn will benefit charities including beyond Nuclear, Laureus USa, the Sean Penn haiti Foundation and Riverkeeper — the collaboration will include an online charity auction that will auction off eight pieces of borg and mcenroe tennis memorabilia as well as one hour of ball time with each tennis icon. the auction begins Saturday at bjornborg.com.

Regarding what the underwear styles look like, mcenroe said, “one [style] is colorful and the other is tighty whitey.…I wear short boxers myself.…I think it’s good to express your-self with fashion. I thought the [tennis] clothes we wore back in the day were great. I always liked the short shorts, but no-body seems to agree with me.”

Men’s WeekMW2 WWD THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2011

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RetaileRs Cite WeaRability of PaRis sPRiNG ColleCtioNs

A look from the X Collection.

borg, Mcenroe finally on the same team tennis legends to introduce a men’s underwear collection under their own names at Wimbledon friday.

Ami

Björn Borg

John McEnroe

Acne

Men’s Week MW3WWD THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2011

BLUE BLOOD From left: Dior Homme, Maison Martin Margielaand Lanvin.

THE LONG BLAZERFrom left: Versace and Emporio Armani

PRINTS From left: D&G and Givenchy

GLOBAL EXPLORERFrom left: Louis Vuitton and Trussardi 1911

PLEATS From left: Yohji Yamamoto and Calvin Klein Collection

Euro TrendThe top trends, straight from the Milan and Paris

spring runway shows. — ALEX BADIA

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Around sunset on tuesday at the first-ever summer Party on the High Line, recent new York party scene institution Kellan Lutz turned to model Michea Crawford to check on her glass.

“How’s your drink?” the actor, dressed in a gray button-up and brown pants, asked. “do you need another one?”

WWd had just asked for a hypothetical 30 seconds of his time. eyeing the stopwatch on the digital recorder, it seemed that he was taking the request literally.

“oh I have a bandanna just like that,” Lutz said in rapid fire. “Is that an umbrella? I love your shoes. Your glasses are amazing. ten more seconds.”

Penn Badgley and Jessica Szohr sat on benches behind the actor on the park’s diller-von Furstenberg sundeck. other attendees at the party, presented by Coach Men’s Collection, included David Byrne, Jen Brill and Sky Ferreira. Bartenders handed out vodka-enhanced Popsicles. A half-block to Lutz’s right, revelers lined up to have Coach luggage tags made. the actor looked at a billboard above 15th street.

“did you see that ad for A|X?” he asked.“dude. 30 seconds up. thank you,” he went on, breaking into a smile.

“that’d be the dickest move ever.”At least another 30 seconds secured, the “twilight” actor explained

why he’d been such a fixture on the new York scene lately. “I’m doing a movie called ‘syrup’ with Shiloh Fernandez, Amber Heard,

Brittany Snow, and it’s amazing to work in new York,” he said. “I shoot two to three days a week. I have more off days, so it feels like a vacation. I have an apartment here.”

Proceeds from the party were going toward upkeep of the elevated park. so, had Lutz spent much time on the High Line?

“no, this is my first time being here,” he said with a laugh. “I mean, I’ve been trying to get up here. I didn’t know actually how to get up here.

— Matthew Lynch

Men’s WeekMW4 WWD THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2011

Time CopMan of THE WEEK Andrew Cuomo

Sloppy shoulder.

Sleek blazer fits him like a glove and makes him look powerful.

wide retro lapel with higher

notch is a more youthful

silhouette.

He showed his free spirit by

losing the tie.

unbuttoning another button

would have given him more of an

edge without losing his

credibility.

Gay flag as a pocket square is a perfect political statement

and a better choice than other Gay Pride memorabilia such as

rainbow ring necklaces.

Baggy suit jacket with

sleeves that are too long.

Light blue tie shows idealistic

spirit.

extra fabric in pants makes

him look overweight.

metallic square belt buckle is a hint of his casual

sensibility.

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Pete HAMILL isn’t much of a believer in the afterlife, but his hypothetical version of heaven looks something like a city room. “there’s going to be guys smoking every-where and yelling obscenities at each other as the deadline comes,” Hamill told me. “that’s what it should be like. Who wants to be sitting around with Jerry Falwell? I’m sure if there’s a God, he’s sitting around with Lenny Bruce.”

It’s about what you would expect from a man for whom newspapers are religion. He actually looked a little like a priest, in a black short-sleeve shirt, black pants and black, slightly geriatric sneakers, when I met him at his apartment in triBeCa, where his lives with his wife, Japanese jour-nalist Fukiko Aoki. It was two days after his 76th birthday, or “my 50th anniversary of my 26th,” as Hamill preferred it. I found him in front of the tV, watching coverage of Michele Bachmann’s announcement of her presiden-tial bid, with the new York daily news on the coffee table and the walls lined with full bookcases. Hamill appeared to be a fan of Mexican art, some collected, some his own, including two unfinished paintings, one fea-turing a mermaid, “La sirena,” which, as he told me, is a common motif on Mexican for-tune-telling cards. What does it symbolize? “Probably fatalism, since it’s Mexico.” I was prepared to be enlightened.

Pete Hamill started as a high school dropout from Brooklyn, who went to work for the new York Post when it was owned by dorothy schiff and was new York’s most liberal paper. “But we also had William Buckley,” said Hamill.

He got his first byline in 1960 when some-one called into the city desk to report a man sitting outside in the rain. Hamill was dis-patched to the scene to find the man had been evicted from his apartment with his wife and kids. “By noon that day, there were three jobs offers for him, offers for apartments, et cetera, from the readers,” said Hamill. “In the his-

tory of the planet it’s a very tiny thing, but it changed the guy’s life. I used to get Christmas cards from his daughters 10 years later. that’s just a small example of what I learned early by what they mean by the power of the press. You can help people.”

that was a long time ago. Pete Hamill is old school. In newspaper terms he may define it. His brand of journalism was dignified; with it he wielded power and led a sexy life, trav-

eling the world, covering wars in Vietnam, Lebanon and northern Ireland, and ended up in plenty of glamour spots. “I went to work in europe in 1963, and one night I found myself at a table with movie producer Joe Levine, who was a wonderful, insane guy, and Marcello Mastroianni, Federico Fellini, who was talking with me about comics, and Claudia Cardinale,” he said. “I remember sit-ting there one moment and thinking, ‘they’re paying me to do this?’ ”

He was one of the Post’s prized colum-nists when it was the home of columnists, and later went on to edit the paper — when it had the electric clappers on its chest and was being alternately killed and resuscitat-ed — as he did the daily news, all the while writing books. His 11th novel, “tabloid City,” has just come out. As the title sug-gests, the story revolves around a new York City tabloid in 2009 and a double homicide. there are socialites, a hedge-fund scandal, terrorism and, of course, what you might call the changing landscape of print jour-nalism. Hamill made a point to tell me it’s a novel, not an essay.

He said he didn’t want to come off as hope-less, not when he sees the passion of some of his students at new York university, where he teaches journalism. Besides, he believes journalism will flourish — he cited the new York times’ hyper-local project, which is con-centrated on a few blocks in the east Village and forces reporters to interact with their immediate surroundings. this is the kind of

thing he feels the digital age threatened most, the human interaction of the city room, which hasn’t been the same since photographers stopped coming in to develop their film and tell someone what they had seen.

“they often cover three to four stories a day and know what’s going on out there in a way that the editor from Larchmont doesn’t.” I told him that my editor lives in Larchmont. “so quote me on that,” Hamill said.

As for the new York Post, “I root for it — it gave me my life,” said Hamill. As for what story he would like to be covering right now: Afghanistan. As for baseball, Hamill has lost interest since steroids changed the game.

Baseball isn’t the only game that he has let drift by him. dominique strauss-Kahn has been staying around the corner from Hamill’s apartment, and he’s actually met Anthony Weiner a few times casually, yet he found neither story line consuming. “nothing surprises me, particularly men and their propensity to be fools,” said Hamill. “I’ve done it myself at different points; peo-ple do it all the time. What would Chaucer have written about if men were perfect? Why would we have ever invented the blues in this country if men were perfect?

“Gabriel García Márquez was a news-paperman originally in Colombia,” he said. “He talked about, and I agree, how every-body has a public life, a private life and a se-cret life. the public life, what he meant was if you take Lady Gaga to elaine’s, you’re fair game. the private life is by invitation only. You can’t go hanging over a tree limb to pho-tograph someone in the shower of their own home. the secret life, until very recently, has been nobody’s business. the secrets of what happens in a marriage, what is withheld and what is by mutual agreement not discussed.

“What would have been permissible last month would never have happened with Franklin roosevelt,” said Hamill. “even though he had mistresses here and there, even though eleanor had a couple of lov-ers — gay or otherwise — doesn’t matter. Because there was a common agreement that this isn’t good for the country, it doesn’t affect his performance as president. What the hell is the difference?” Like I said, Pete Hamill is old school.

“someone called me the day the Weiner thing was confirmed, and I said the only pos-sible headline was ‘schmuck.’ ” In his novel, he would have been right.

HaMill to PaPers: Don’t DroP DeaD

Tabloid City Lives

Boys’ night outBy Jessica Iredale

Lady Gaga, move aside: There’s a new gay icon in town. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo will go down in history for keeping his campaign promise and signing the gay marriage bill, but when it comes to his own personal style, he needs to chic it up.

eYe

PoLItICAL CHArISmA: A+ PerSonAL StYLe: B

Kellan Lutz and michea Crawford

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Very “Jersey Shore”: looks

as though he’s been hitting the

tanning bed.

Pete Hamill