It’s a rare occasion you see Michael Kors out of his trusty New Balance sneakers. Even at this year’s Met Gala he wore glorified trainers with metallic silver uppers and white rubber soles. The point is: Kors appreciates sporty comfort, a quality in no short supply in his new men’s collection for Spring. It started from the ground up, where models wore chunky slip-on croc sneakers or lace-up oxfords with rugged soles.
That groundwork established, Kors riffed on a nautical theme, turning out a navy and nutmeg brown marinière-stripe sweater worn with full-legged “Gene Kelly” white pants, or pairing a white peacoat in linen sateen with matching loose-fit shorts. That peacoat aside, most of the outerwear had a utilitarian aspect. Trenches came with practical hoods, and the dressier balmacaans sported industrial snaps. The intended effect: unstudied, unfussy elegance. Suits were untraditional, in the sense that they were cut in a papery silk cotton poplin that Kors likened to Windbreaker fabric.
His guys might prove a little gun-shy when it comes to the polka dots and pindots, although the patterns provided a nice bit of synergy with the designer’s Pre-Spring women’s collection. The nautical stripes will be a safer bet; in fact they looked good enough that Kors’s gals are likely to swipe them from the men’s department. Us ladies like our sporty comfort, too.
