Christopher Kane's menswear lives quite comfortably in the shadow of his more prepossessing women's collections, but it plays a valuable role in that it often renders his current fascinations more direct, especially when the silhouettes of menswear are so familiar. If his collections for men miss the eerie quality that infuses much of his womenswear (when he talks about an influence as unlikely as the cultists of Jonestown, it somehow makes perfect sense in the light of the clothing), they make up for it with an upbeat, boyish accessibility.
The key word there is "boyish," like the flolloping puppy-dogness of Kane himself. That meant the peachy tone that is a Kane standby could look fresh in a man's trenchcoat where it might occasionally look clammy in, say, a woman's sheath dress. The bolster detail (long broken strips of color borrowed from the necklaces Kane made for his graduate collection) had a rave-y verve that, toned down in a bomber over a matching top, will look particularly good on boys and girls (same with those irresistible aqua sneakers). And maybe it was the hearts all over Resort that made you think of surgery when you saw the sutured stitching, but for men it was a straight windowpane graphic, red on black, black on red.
And yet, Kane is definitely edging his menswear into more complex country. The molecular printed tweeds—matching coat, shirt, and pants—were quietly forceful. The designer's own favorite piece was a jacket in a jacquard silk taffeta with a decay print. A little dark, a little decadent, a little look into the future.
