14 International Herald Tribune
Friday, January 21, 2005
At Golden Globes, menswear comes into the limelight
By Jessica Michault
all it bow tie vs. no tie. The red
C carpet battle lines were drawn
at this year’s Golden Globes,
as Hollywood’s most hand-
some leading men took to the press line
in their evening finest.
After years of playing arm candy to
women in gorgeous gowns, men have
entered the fashion stakes, creating an
opportunity for high-profile menswear
houses to extend their reach and reap
the rewards of a celebrity endorsement.
The outfits they wore on Sunday ran
the gamut from the ultra-classic black
tuxedo with black bow tie, chosen by
the ‘‘Closer’’ star Clive Owens in an Ar-
mani tuxedo that would make James
Bond proud, to the actor Jamie Foxx’s
open-collar shirt and Versace Couture
striped suit in midnight blue worn with
Harry Winston cuff links.
In-between, a multitude of variations
popped up at the Globes, revealing a
menswear revolution: men are no
longer restricted by bygone definitions
of appropriate evening attire.
‘‘It is time for men to get their own
attention and not just be an escort,’’
says Ozwald Boateng, the new
menswear designer for the house of
Givenchy. He dressed the Golden Globe
nominee, the rapper turned actor Mos
Def, in one of the house’s black wool
polka dot motif tuxedos with a match-
ing black shirt tricked out with a re-
movable ‘‘officer’’ collar.
Boateng, who will show his sopho-
more collection at Givenchy on Jan. 31,
sees more and more men taking an in-
terest in what they wear to the awards
shows. ‘‘Men want to respect the his-
tory, but now they want to be different
and modern,’’ he says.
The black tuxedo with matching bow
tie has given way in recent years to a
modern classic favored by many young
men who want to look good but aren’t
ready to take a fashion leap. This red
carpet uniform, which takes its inspir-
3/5, RUE DU FAUBOURG SAINT-HONORÈ PARIS
www.dolcegabbana.it
ation from movies like ‘‘Men in Black’’
and ‘‘Reservoir Dogs,’’ is the black
tuxedo, white shirt, black tie combo.
That was the choice for heartthrobs Le-
onardo DiCaprio (in Armani) and Or-
lando Bloom (in Gucci).
‘‘What we are seeing is a little more
effort from the men,’’ says the stylist to
the stars, Jessica Paster, who dressed
the ‘‘Garden State’’ star Zac Braff and
Bloom along with Cate Blanchett and
Minnie Driver for the Golden Globes.
‘‘Men who go to these awards shows all
the time are getting tired of wearing
the same penguin suit over and over.’’
Another favorite option for men is to
wear an outfit that matches the dress
worn by their date. Charlie Sheen wore
a silver metallic tie that complimented
his wife Denise Richards’s white chif-
fon gown with crystal beading.
Ewan McGregor took the look one
step further by matching his wife’s
dress with a black on black tuxedo. De-
signed by Hedi Slimane for Christian
Dior, the skinny lapeled suit with
matching skinny black tie used con-
MEN’S FASHION
trasting fabrics to great effect, making
the outfit look sleek and sophisticated.
‘‘Ewan has a very natural ease and el-
egance. He still was doing his take on
black tie but with a lot of wit. I suppose
you need to be knowing what works for
you,’’ says Silmane, who has seen his
distinctively cut suits worn by both
men and women on the red carpet.
It is the inventive use of fabric, the
choice of accessories, and the little de-
tails like the type of collar, shoe or lapel
width that are the subtle rumblings of a
men’s fashion continental shift. Ex-
amples abounded at the Globes: There
was the Spanish actor Javier Bardem’s
all-black ensemble with an open collar
and velvet lapels, the singer Usher’s dia-
mond stud earring, and Johnny Depp’s
retro spats, pink tie and blue-tinted
glasses to match his double-breasted
suit.
Even the bow tied tuxedo got an up-
date thanks to Sean (P. Diddy) Combs
who donned a black velvet version, and
Clint Eastwood who traded in his black
bow tie for a metallic gold version (a
red carpet trend).
For Paster the future of the red car-
**
pet can be seen in the outfit worn by
the young ‘‘Dawn of the Dead’’ star
Meki Phifer. Wearing a classic black
double-breasted tuxedo and tie, the ac-
tor made the outfit thoroughly modern
by wearing shades of purple to accent
the ensemble. He personalized it fur-
ther with a bit of bling bling in the form
of a diamond-encrusted watch and
pinkie ring.
‘‘He looked absolutely gorgeous,’’
said Paster.
The men are doing more than just
making a fashion statement. By creat-
ing distinct looks within the confines of
the red carpet, they convey a bit of who
they are to the world. This can be quite Photos by Carlo Allegri/Getty Images; Kevin Winter/Getty Images;
a revealing glimpse at the soul of a man Carlos Diaz/NFGoff.com; Hector Mata/Agence France-Presse; Steve Granitz/wireimage.com
and it is, without a doubt, very sexy. Hollywood’s male stars showed more sartorial independence at this year’s Golden
Globes. Clockwise from top, Clint Eastwood, Clive Owen; Johnny Depp, Orlando
Jessica Michault is on the staff of the Bloom, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mekhi Phifer, Ewan McGregor with his wife Eve Mavrakis;
International Herald Tribune. Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards; Jamie Foxx with Leila Arcier, and Mos Def.
A surreal mix from Armani
Continued from Page 13
TRENDS OF THE SEASON
hair for fluffy sweaters. The story was µ Hats: Felt trilby, Rudolf Nureyev fur, knitted pull-on.
told as much in color as in fabric. The µ Tailoring: Short jackets, double-breasted suits, brief coats, formal wear,
designer Italo Zuchelli used wine red wing collars.
and a petrol green as a dark palette that µ Pants: Narrow from low crotch, baggy with higher waist.
overall gave a murky effect to a collec- µ Fabrics: Corduroy, velvet, pinstripes, plaid, tweed, camel.
tion whose original spirit was always µ Colors: Dung brown, russet, ginger, mustard, Bordeaux, teal green, blue.
ultra-clean. That was literally true of µ Fur: Shearling coats, collars, scarves.
the shoes, which were deliberately µ Belts: Tooled, bold buckles, inset jewels.
dusty, but count that as a touch of cool. µ Jewelry: Sparkling lapel pins, gilt and silvered chains.
Zuchelli worked details into the µ Gloves: Elbow-length wool, cashmere and leather.
clothes with a sheer shirt marked with µ Bags: Totes, briefcases, plaited leather, plush velvets.
a streak of pattern and ribbons set into µ Shoes: Side-buckled, narrow-toed, fur-lined boots.
a coat. But sparkling chains dangling µ Attitude: Elegant.
like a cheap fob watch from pants or
looped through as a belt looked like an
opportunist take on men’s jewelry,
rather than expressing the soul of the
Calvin Klein brand.
The Latin language has a phrase for
the MiuMiu show: ‘‘Rus in Urbis,’’ or
the country comes to town. It sums up
the feeling of the 2005/06 autumn/
winter season when sleek urban looks
are in retreat and country checks and
russet colors rule the runways.
Of course, none of MiuMiu’s peat
brown velvet pants, shearling coats the
color of dried mud, nor the narrow pol-
ished leather shoes with a sunset blush
across the toes are destined for the
country. Instead Prada gave an urban
edge to short tweed coats with leather
belts marking the waist and to the ubiq-
uitous knitted caps which had an echo
of Rastafarian style.
‘‘I wanted it to be elegant, slightly
pretty — and with a soul,’’ said Prada.
So a velvet shepherd’s smock hinted at
agrarian labor while paisley print
shirts and a blanket-patterned coat
suggested ethnic origins. But Prada
puts everything through her personal
artistic blender and from the plush vel-
vet briefcases, through the slim-line
cardigans to the light and shade of a
green suede coat, she expressed a new
fashion mood more strongly in this line
than in the namesake Prada collection.
Two intellectually stimulating de-
signers, whose clothes are produced by
Gibo, came up trumps. The designer
duo Viktor & Rolf are taking to
menswear like their Dutch compatriots
to canals. Holland — its sailors and its
royal history — was the joint inspira-
tion of a fine collection in which a
cable crossed a sailor’s sweater like a
knight’s sash and a sporty blazer car-
ried the V & R crest. Named Viktor and
Rolf Monsieur, the line has always had
an elegant base which looks in sweet HUSSEIN CHALAYAN
harmony with fashion now. Christopher Moore/Andrew Thomas
Hussein Chalayan is increasingly ad-
ept at getting his cerebral thoughts into Expert tailoring and well-propor- ated by the British set designer Shona
desirable clothes. His theme was shad- tioned casual clothes make Chalayan Heath. The clothes were more down to
ows, which not only fit with an increasingly strong menswear de- earth, in their speckled tweeds in col-
menswear’s attraction to light and signer. ors that the designer described as
shade, but also offered intriguing vari- Marni’s artistic presentation fea- ‘‘rope’’ and ‘‘mud.’’ Bold scarves added
ations. Shirts with Venetian blind pat- tured the ‘‘Happy People’’ world of the brightness and the collection, follow-
terns or a gray shadow under the collar designer Consuelo Castiglione where ing the general trend toward country
just hinted at the fears of Big Brother Is graphic flowers and mushrooms sprout looks, had a personality of its own.
Watching You that lay behind the col- in a fashion Neverland. Two-dimen-
lection. But it also brought witty shad- sional cardboard cut-outs of flora and Suzy Menkes is the fashion editor of
ow-play puppets printed on sweaters. abstract heads for the fauna were cre- the International Herald Tribune.