Shinya Kozuka, who was the guest designer at Pitti Uomo this past winter, has been at it with his eponymously named menswear line since he graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2013. But this Spring Summer '27 collection entitled "watercolor path" marks his official debut on the Milan menswear schedule. And the collection has a curious impact ... like a haiku, it is streamlined and subtle but packed with poetic meaning.
Apparently, Kozuka often forgets his glasses at home and navigates his Tokyo neighborhood in a blur. From this experience came the idea of making the collection feel as if it exists in a haze. In his show notes, he said," There is something nice about being out of focus. Not everything needs to be perfectly clear. Not everything needs to be sharply defined. I think there is something important about repetition." The motif that flew into frame was birds in a beautiful spectrum of greens and blues. For the narrative, witness the design on a sweater in Look 18 that depicts a lone figure walking hrough a cityscape, casting a shadow onto a nearby flying bird.
The hand-made, hand-painted aspect of the collection is what makes it feel like a haiku ... something from the mind of an artist, from the hand of the maker. Looks 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, and 13 are literally caked with paint. Many pieces are made from sheer material ... I love the jumpsuit in Look 6. And one tunic poignantly and simply announces, "homecoming." Like a haiku, we glean a bigger sense of meaning from each of the lines and garments in this pensive collection.
It was a sad day last September when we learned of the death of a legend, Giorgio Armani. He had just celebrated his 91st birthday in July but had been ill in hospital for a bit. While it is not a surprise when someone of an advanced age dies (a dear friend of mine who checked out at 92 a couple of years ago asked me a few days before she died, "How much longer do I think I'm going to live?"), it is still a loss. But Sig. Armani lived a full life of creativity and left behind a legacy of true beauty.
It is impossible to exaggerate his achievements and contribution to culture, to design (not only of clothing, but of home furnishings and architecture), and to fashion history during his fifty year career. Along with names who changed silhouettes and shapes and ushered in new cuts and styles and materials, Armani takes his place in the pantheon. He deconstructed the men's suit in the 80s, turning it into something soft and sensual, something sexy and flowing, without altering the basic concept of what it was. He removed layers of felting inside suits, making them relaxed and able to behave like thin silk. Just take a look at the iconic clothing from the film "American Gigolo" and you will see what I mean. It was soft and casual with a sense of effortless power. This revolution rippled out into the industry and we see its waves even now: designers still grapple with ways to make suiting less stiff, to make clothing more luxe without being precious, and to make pieces with more innate ease without being sloppy. In short, to make clothes more Armani. But no one does Armani like Armani. Clean lined and impeccably tailored, Armani's sensibility is about luxe fabrics and the way a garment hangs and drapes on the body (of both men and women). But there is something else that I really respond to in each Armani collection and that is a vague sense, a shadow, an echo of historical fashion. The way a jacket or coat is cut or its stance, the inclusion of waistcoats, belted outerwear, loose cut and high waisted trousers...it all reminds me of...what, the 1920s and 30s? The 1880s and 1890s? The 1940s and 50s? Yes to all of it.
So this Spring Summer '27 collection shown at Milano Moda Uomo, is the second to exist without any direct input from the master himself. Armani's partner in business and in life, Leo Dell'Orco (the two had worked together for nearly forty-five years, and became romantic partners after the death of Armani's first love, Sergio Galeotti). He is certainly carrying on the DNA of the house with gorgeous, loose-fitting and flowing trousers but this collection seemed to be about the cuts of jackets and the addition of denim...and lots of it, or at least a lot in the Armani-verse. But this is a denim that appears to be the typical woven canvas structure but which actually looks and feels more like shantung silk ... of course. In his show notes, Dell-Orco said, "I envisioned a collection that is very Armani: fluid lines, this time closer to the body, and fabrics with a lived-in appearance—vibrant, sun-scorched, and full of character. I believe that in menswear it is essential to return to researching and innovating materials."
As for the jackets, we see a newcomer to Armani... a roomier version of a classic academic's jacket, longer and looser than the traditional version (seen in Looks 5, 11, 12, 15, 17). And the collection ended with a great section of eveningwear, stripped down to its essential silhouette, clean, unencumbered ... and featuring lapel pins of the zodiac symbols for Scorpio and Cancer, Dell-Orco's and Armani's signs respectively. A touching gesture of love across the gap...
Thom Browne. Milano Moda Uomo. Spring Summer 2027.
This absolutely delightful collection using Browne's classic vocabulary sprung up from the idea of gardens and all the life that occupies one: dragonflies, bees (aside from beekeeper hats, we see literal representations of bees but also garments with a honeycomb motif), butterflies (and designs of their wings arching across jackets), grasshoppers, and ants (click on Look #16 to see some tiny ants on the short red sweater vest). Stalks of blooming lilies and the lush silhouettes of peonies appear. And the fairytale of The Princess and The Frog weaves its way in, but according to Browne, this time it is The Prince and The Frog...lily pads on a pond, tiny embroidered frogs on neck ties, and Browne himself taking a bow in a giant frog head!
All this on light, breezy coats along with skirts both kilt-like and pencil, in spring-y pastel deliciousness. And I think this is the first time Browne has sent jeans down a runway (see Look #16 again ). But the most fun: the black rain slicker and the beautiful white bridal look at the end of the show! Watch the video below.
Hot on the heels of Pitti Uomo in Florence, we have Milano Moda Uomo. And we can always count on Domenico Dolce and Steffano Gabbana to mine the rich cultural, social, topographical, religious, and visual culture of Italy, and in particular, their homeland of Sicily.
For this collection of 80 looks (D & G have always been prolific), a sense of the sea and shore and prints with Sicilian citrus and antique postcards waft through woven jackets and eyelet lace pants and shirts ... it is called "Sicilian Vacation" after all. And although the collection starts off with plenty of looks in black (very Catholic of them), it blossoms into something from the heyday of Italian cinema, between the 1950s to the 1970s. There's a bit of "La Dolce Vita" (look at the cuts of some of the trousers and suiting) and a bit of 1970s mod prints. There are plenty of jackets, shirts, and pants encrusted with beads and jewels. The addition of easy-breezy beachwear makes it a holiday. Tutto fantastico!
And take a look at the incredible, over-the-top beaded and encrusted shoes, looking like altar pieces from a Baroque church. Some feature the coral motif seen on garments! Click on the photos below for a jaw-dropping close-up!
Regular readers know that twice a year, I blog about all the fascinating, beautiful, mesmerizing, strange, puzzling, outrageous, outstanding, unusual, artistic, inspiring sartorial creations coming out of the exquisite imaginations of designers, and down the runway. Regular readers may have also gleaned that I follow fashion the way some people delve into the art world. I think of "fashion" as "costume" or "performance"--as a way to convey an idea or a concept. I appreciate what some designers do the same way one appreciates what an avant garde sculptor or painter or performance artist does. And in a way, these designers are performance artists. For me, it is not about what is hanging on racks in stores, but what these artists are creating and the ideas and concepts they are working with as an influence on their marvelous creativity. It is moving sculpture. It is theater. Fashion and clothing at this level serve as a kind of visual shorthand. A piece of clothing in the hands of a designer can evoke a place, a region, a country, a specific time or an entire era, a work of art such as a novel or film or painting, a class of people, even a social, financial, or spiritual element... and the combination of such pieces of clothing, as well as their harmony or contrast, can tell a fascinating story.
Here is the season schedule (London is quite late this year)...
JUNE 2026 FASHION SCHEDULE -- FOR SPRING/SUMMER 2027
It was a sad day last September when we learned of the death of a legend, Giorgio Armani. He had just celebrated his 91st birthday in July but had been ill in hospital for a bit. While it is not a surprise when someone of an advanced age dies (a dear friend of mine who checked out at 92 asked me a few days before she died, "How much longer do I think I'm going to live?"), it is still a loss. But Sig. Armani lived a full life of creativity and left behind a legacy of true beauty.
It is impossible to exaggerate his achievements and contribution to culture, to design (not only of clothing, but of home furnishings and architecture), and to fashion history during his fifty year career. Along with names who changed silhouettes and shapes and ushered in new cuts and styles and materials, Armani takes his place in the pantheon. He deconstructed the men's suit in the 80s, turning it into something soft and sensual, something sexy and flowing, without altering the basic concept of what it was. He removed layers of felting inside suits, making them relaxed and able to behave like thin silk. Just take a look at the iconic clothing from the film "American Gigolo" and you will see what I mean. It was soft and casual with a sense of effortless power. This revolution rippled out into the industry and we see its waves even now: designers still grapple with ways to make suiting less stiff, to make clothing more luxe without being precious, and to make pieces with more innate ease without being sloppy. In short, to make clothes more Armani. But no one does Armani like Armani. Clean lined and impeccably tailored, Armani's sensibility is about luxe fabrics and the way a garment hangs and drapes on the body (of both men and women). But there is something else that I really respond to in each Armani collection and that is a vague sense, a shadow, an echo of historical fashion. The way a jacket or coat is cut or its stance, the inclusion of waistcoats, belted outerwear, loose cut and high waisted trousers...it all reminds me of...what, the 1920s and 30s? The 1880s and 1890s? The 1940s and 50s? Yes to all of it.
So this Fall Winter '26-'27 collection shown at Milano Moda Uomo, is the first to exist without any direct input from the master himself. Armani's partner in business and in life, Leo Dell'Orco (the two had worked together for nearly forty-five years, and became romantic partners after the death of Armani's first love, Sergio Galeotti) assumed the title of Creative Director for menswear and created a solo debut collection that was a relieving continuation of the DNA of the house Armani built over fifty years. Although with some personal touches.
The show was held in Giorgio Armani’s house (shared for decades with Dell’Orco) which features a basement theatre for runway shows and Dell'Orco said, "He wrote an important chapter in the history of fashion, and we feel this responsibility. It’s scary, yes. No one will be able to replicate what he did; no one will be able to become him... It’s impossible to try and even get close to him. But I tried to add something: maybe I was a bit more eccentric with certain colors; the purples, the greens, and the iridescence. Maybe Giorgio would have cut them, or had them a little darker, but I wanted a little shine. And I wanted to bring the proportions back just a little bit, more close to the body. So yes, shapes that caress the body... I certainly don’t want to make a revolution. But I will try and be a little bit more personal, expressing what I know and I like, with lightness."
"Oh, By The Way" is my digital scrap book of things I like, things I would share with a close friend and say: “Oh, by the way, do you know of this artist/ clothing or interior designer/ model/ singer/ actor/ gorgeous man… or, have you seen this video/ photo/ film... or heard (or do you remember) this song/ band... or, read this book/ poem/ inspiring quote... or, visited this place/ museum/ restaurant/ famous building... or, have you heard of this amazing new scientific discovery?”
I am dedicated to posting the positive, the fascinating, the beautiful, the interesting, the moving, and the inspiring and uplifting. Sometimes I post cultural as well as personal observations, milestones, and remembrances. And just like life, all of these things may often have a bit of melancholy or even sadness in them, which is what makes our time here so lovely and bittersweet and precious.
Some of the photos, art, poetry, and prose are my own original work, credited with my initials, JEF. When it isn't, I always try to post links to the original source material, but often I find photos on the web that are not linked or other material that is not sourced. In these instances, I post them without malice since it is assumed that such things, by being globally posted on something as uncontrollable as the internet to begin with, are in the public domain. If you identify the source of an image that is not linked, please politely let me know (without accusing me of theft) and I will be happy to provide a link. If you are the owner of an image and would prefer it be removed, I am happy to do that as well.
I hope to inspire and entertain my readers with things that inspire and entertain me. There is a startling amount of beauty and creativity in the world and it enriches us all to participate in it.
All-time Favorite Films
2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick)
After Hours (Hysterical, hair-raising ride through NYC at night)
Amelie
American Beauty (Alan Ball)
Baraka (Stunning, transcending—the "spiritus mundi" on film)
Belle et Bete (Cocteau)
Big Sleep, The (The epitome of film noir)
Bringing Up Baby (Hepburn & Grant—the epitome of screwball comedy)
Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover, The (Greenaway)
Crash (Cronenberg—DIFFICULT subject, not for everyone)
Don’t Look Now (Nicolas Roeg—ultimate modern gothic horror)
Drowning By Numbers (Greenaway)
Easy Rider
Edward II (Derek Jarman)
Erendira (From magic realist Marquez’ brilliant short story)
Eyes Wide Shut (Kubrick's last film)
Fearless (Jeff Bridges—life and death)
Funny Bones (Leslie Caron, Jerry Lewis, and the brilliant Lee Evans)
Holiday (Hepburn & Grant)
Howard’s End (The ultimate statement of the unfairness of class systems)
