Last evening, J. Crew presented their Fall '11 collections at the wonderfully chosen Industria Studios on Washington. The first time presenting both men's and women's together, it was yet another home run for the J Crew team. While I loved the women's looks(as usual, wonderfully put together), here, we'll have a good look at the men's side of the room.
For Fall, Frank and his team took notes from the work of iconic photographer and social reformer Lewis Hine(you may be most familiar with the Walkmen's cover for 'Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Gone'). Fall is always exciting for heftier fabrics and layering, something J. Crew does extremely well. As always so well styled, Frank and the team has taken rustic and functional work wear fabrics, using them in more formal and classic pieces. Harris tweed and covert twills. Buckle-back, wider legged trousers. Variations and combinations in navy and denim dressed up. Fair Isle knits. Sturdy totes and handsome scarfs, wool plaids and indigos. Waxed canvas and wool cruisers. Tough quilted work inspired vests and jackets. A stand out pop of red by way of a great anorak beneath a Harris Tweed sports coat. Super sharp footwear by Crockett & Jones and Alden. Hefty yet refined wool outerwear; functional trenches, Great Coats and the classic and oft revisited Pea Coat. Suiting(a recent strong suit of theirs. No pun intended) in J.Crew's well cut, trim and tailored silhouettes. Strong knits. Stronger raw selvedge denim. Ivory and whites for Fall in knits, chinos and denim.
Frank and the talented bunch he's got with him have again, and in commanding fashion, presented yet another focused, functional and refined collection that, although not even summer yet, has me looking forward to Fall with all it's hearty fabrics and layering. J. Crew has again done what they've been doing well for some time now; presenting classic pieces refined and updated. Mixing textures. Attention to detail. Not overly complicated, yet extremely well considered, modern and thoroughly wearable. A huge congrats to Frank and Co. for yet another great collection.
Event images, mine. Thanks to Shawn at J. Crew for the photos of individual looks.
33 comments:
steven alan, wings and horns, for spring/summer, i see sunny sports...
so who is frank ripping off for fall 2011?
Dig the Chelsea boot, Navy Sweater with Black Pea Coat look and the wayfarer crew-neck khaki look! Thanks for posting.
Lookin' good. Great footwear and textures.
Good to see J. Crew trying different (wider) silhouettes and even new models. Things were getting redundant.
I especially like all the taller boots that will be coming our way.
Snow still on the ground here, so these look just about right today. Nice!
the italian pant proportions and cuffing seem to be really taking off; as always, the collection is cohesive and well thought out and really desirable.
http://dallianceswithsuitsandskirts.blogspot.com/
LOVEEE j.crew.
beautiful collection
the cover of my favorite lucero album, "rogues, rebels and sworn brothers" is also a levis pic, btw
There are some nice pieces in there, but I find the relentless cuffing a little distracting. Variety Frank, variety.
Fine pieces, nothing special. Redundancy++
Same ole, same ole. Mass produced and Made in China.
Hey James,
Unrelated question here.Thinking about getting some Quoddy's for the summer and know that you have commented in the past about your trail mocs. Would you say those are good summer shoes (trying to shed the flip flop habit), or would another pair of Quoddy's be better for that (say, the Dawson)?
Thanks, man.
Great stuff....if you don't mind Made in China crap. Oh, and cheap materials that don't last. Oh, and the fit is always large. And let's not forget they copy the hard work of real designers who have pride in their products, and are Made in America. And those pushy sales people who know nothing about clothes and a good fit. But hey, who cares about all that depressing stuff--it's cheap! Go Jcrew!
such anonymous vitriol...
indeed. last i checked damn near everything in this country is made in china. don't complain we're all to blame.
I hope they are paying you or giving you free gear
The boots stole the show
Just because the commenter didn't leave his name doesn't make his post vitriol. I totally agree with his comment, that is my J. Crew experience...made in China, cheap materials, and always large.
Been there, done that.
No thanks.
But I do like when you spotlight stuff like Apolis--nice fabrics, made in USA.
cheers
J. Crew neither pays me nor gives me anything.
For mall clothes, it's not bad, but none of these pieces with stand the test of time and be a coveted piece that you wish you still had in 10 years. The stuff that I'm seeing in all these preview recaps isn't what the average J Crew consumer experiences or buys IMO. Unless you live in Manhattan. Seems that the really good stuff is all third party sourced. The J Crew stuff seems inspired by other designers' work...
james, im actually interested in your thoughts on the matter. in my opinion, frank and co blatantly rip off creative designers, make a cheap copy of their best work and get all of the sales and credit.
you don't agree?
then why do you post it?
the impression projected from this blog is that your background is some kinda skate/punk hybrid man teen with a wardrobe.....at times posting things like fugazi-minor threat and artsy stuff.....what would ian mckay say about Jcrew?.....why does such a whale of a company deserve dime time on secret forts...a creative lil corner on the bloggernet?..tell me there is some ocean caught salmon with meyer lemon sauce on company dime-even just once in a while.... I understand marketing blogs posting these type of companies, but here it does not make too much sense, or maybe it does
So I guess J Crew is out, and apparently leaving incredibly negative comments is in. Thank god I read blogs so I am in the know.
I like the tweedy looking suits, remind me of Jimmy Dormedy from Boardwalk empire. Alot of the time when I see cats wearing suits (the ivy ones mostly) it looks so weedy and affected but I like the 1920's chunky-ness from these ones.
Oh and a followup to all these "Made In China" comments. It's great to support Made in The USA and all that but to be a snobby brat about it is so ridiculus. I presume these people own a car or a phone or no doubt a computer and these things are in part or fully made in China, hell even the take ivy reprint was done in China. Think twice before you pontificate about these things.
''Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain..'' Seriously James the post was awesome. Everyone is entitled to voice there option but in the larger scheme of things, the one thing J Crew has going for it is they are in tune with where menswear is going these days. Is the quality outstanding on every piece? No. IS there some great stuff every season? I would say yes. Thanks for the sneak peek.
Mmm...such delicious haterade. Nice try, Rep from Band of Outsiders.
www.postmoderngentleman.com
What is it about Jcrew that interests you ? They are ultimately just imitating what some desingners have been doing for about 4-5 years now. It feels "late for the party" trying to introduce this look to the weekend Dad or the Average guy.
It just feels like a manufactured presence and I'm more interested in the small brands doing this with passion and not because they need to boost earnings in the first quarter. It's your blog...but JCrew is just spending their money in another country NOT supporting the local economy. Take a walk in the garment district these days..In any city
Define Vitriol
is this post real? is there some inside joke i am missing? has it come to this?
j crew?
is a gap post next?
where does it end?
krispy kreme for dunkin donuts
Shocking. Shocking that the troll refuses to sign his name to his antagonistic opinion. If you were a man of values, you wouldn't be "Anonymous", ya douche.
Made in the USA is great and all but if any of this stuff was made in the US no one would be able to afford it. If you don't know what the formula is behind "Made in China" you need to think again. Engineered Garments is made in a small sample room in NYC. Yes, it's made in the USA, by Chinese workers in fact (I've seen it with my own eyes), but the cost of an EG piece far surpasses a J.Crew piece. If J.Crew made it all here, it wouldn't appeal to the masses. Yes, J.Crew doesn't have the fit most of you want and doesn't have the quality, but it does have the look that is "in" right now. I doubt they are ripping everyone else off too. So many details they use are actually reference from vintage clothing. And all those other designers who "work so hard" get their inspiration from vintage too. It's not new. It's all actually really old. And there's so much vintage out there you could never exhaust your resources for design inspiration - Orange Crush, anyone? Strongarm Supply? Manions? Give me a break. Don't try and break it down so much. It's just clothes... Nothing more, nothing less.
Love the post - carry on
I like the grey sweater with black cuffs and waistband. Very neat you get to attend these events. Awesome pics by the way.
Post a Comment