Michael Kors is on a mission to update menswear. ”Women`s lives have changed tremendously in recent years and their wardrobes have adjusted accordingly. Men`s lives have also changed, but their clothing hasn`t,” says the 33-year-old New York designer.
In Chicago recently for a personal appearance at the Neiman Marcus store on North Michigan Avenue, Kors launched his first menswear collection this fall after 11 years designing women`s wear. His approach to menswear: classics with a twist.
The twist being sex appeal. ”Women`s clothes are provocative by nature, while men`s clothing is all about practicality,” explains Kors. He turns the tables around by engineering sensibility into his women`s clothing and injecting sensuality into the new men`s line.
For instance, Kors uses ”sexy” fabrics (cashmere, chamois cloth) in his fall menswear. And he`s introducing several provocative ideas. Among them: For spring `93, sleeveless dress shirts (”I don`t expect men to wear ties with them,” he says.) and bodysuits, which are in the stores now.
Bodysuits? For men?
Logic rules
”Everything I do is rooted in logic,” explains the designer. The logic here being: No shirttails to come untucked and less bulk to tuck into flat-front pants. The bodysuits, in Neiman`s for five weeks and selling for $150 to $200, are among best-sellers in the Kors collection, according to a spokeswoman at the North Michigan Avenue store.
Kors also builds more body into his T-shirts: They come with sleeves cut a little shorter and narrower. ”They flatter a man`s frame, making his shoulders look broader and waist trimmer,” he says.
There are a few outrageous items in the collection, Kors admits. Like a black sequin blazer. ”But it`s not to be worn with (dress) slacks,” he says. ”You want to do it tongue-in-cheek with beat-up jeans and motorcycle boots.”
Fall prices for Michael Kors menswear: Sport jackets sell for $500 to $650; jeans and casual pants start at $100; dress pants start at about $200;
and cashmere and camel hair sweaters range from $250 to $300.
Looking ahead to spring, Kors menswear collection crusades for comfort with tailored jackets in cotton knit-”They look like regular blazers but feel like sweaters”-and tissue weight linen T-shirts and drawstring pants.. –
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Michael Kors menswear collection is available at Neiman Marcus stores and at Marshall Field`s Water Tower Place store.
