July 2002

Six for the Season

Photos by Francesco Scavullo

Esquire's crack fashion team combed the fall collections of our favorite designers to preview, with the help of Alias's Michael Vartan, the best of the new Fall trends.

1. Rustic
Some call it old-fashioned Americana, other note the influence of rugged, mid-century, Southern-Italian dress (think Michael Corleone in exile, marching the dirt roads of Sicily with his bodyguards). Either way, one of the seasons major trends longs for bygone days, with band-collared shirts, for three-piece suits, and that most manly of sweaters, the cardigan. Two-button single-breasted three-piece wool suit ($1,610), cotton shirt ($235), and leather loafers ($390) by Dolce & Gabbana.

2. Mod
With a nod to the neat, trim style of the Sixties, this Fall's ultraslim-fitting suits and narrow jackets will continue to streamline Americas urban dwellers, who are catching on to the well-cut clothing that their European counterparts have been wearing for years. Nylon blend trench coat ($1,385) cotton shirt ($335), wool trousers ($490), and leather lace-ups ($380) by Prada

3. Layered
the relatively new idea that clothing should look good and be comfortable gets a boost this season with soft, brushed fabrics cut nice and loose. So get yourself a good three-quarter wool coat that had some room inside, throw it over a wool biker-jacket-esque shirt thing, put your hands in your pockets, and smile - you've nailed the smart look of the urbane hipster. Wool-blend coat ($2,260), wool jacket ($1,440), wool trousers ($450), and leather boots ($510) by Jil Sander.

4. Flexible
We'd like to dispel a long-half myth about men's wear. Suits are not uncomfortable (cheap suits are) and this suit is made of wool jersey, so it feels more like pajamas than any business-casual ensemble you could concoct. Three-button, single-breasted wool-jersey suit ($1,800) and wool sweater ($425) by Georgio Armani; wool scarf ($275) by Armani Collezioni.

5. Roomy
After years of clothing shrinking closer and closer to the body, a handle of designers are ready to let loose again. Big flowy pants, with things like pleats, cuffs, and waists that actually reach the waistline, bust in on the skinny-suit party, and the shape and movement of them evoke plaxico burress after a game as much as Jay Gatsby at the garden party. One button single-breasted suede sport coat ($2,495), cotton V-neck shirt ($180), wool trousers ($420), and patent-leather lace-ups ($425) by Tom Ford for Gucci.

6. Ghetto Fabulous
There is one group of people that influences, more than it is influenced by, clothing designs: musicians. Designers have always tried to bring music's almost costumes to the masses-especially the folks at Versace. We recommend tempering the rock 'n' roll shirt and tie with a very quiet suit or you'll definitely wake the neighbors. Leather coat ($5,388), three-button single breasted wool pinstriped suit ($2,038), silk shirt ($442), and silk tie ($110) by Versace.

Michael Vartan
You should know Michael Vartan from his role opposite the lovely, ass kicking Jennifer Garner on ABC's Alias; which returns next month for a second promising season. You might even know him from guest spots on Ally McBeal and Friends. But you decidedly should not know him from his starring role in the 1999 Drew Barrymore vehicle Never Been Kissed. The thirty-three-year-old French-born accent-free actor has been in the Hollywood game for only seven years, but thanks to a mug that the camera has taken to and a nice bit of action opposite Robin Williams and Connie Nielsen in the Sundance darling One Hour Photo out this month, he should be around for a while yet. Enough time, we hope, for us to forgive him for being from France.

Thanks to vartanetc.!

© Esquire Magazine 2002

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