After “…questioning the whole idea of what is men’s fashion now,” Raf Simons has taken the idea of “color blocking” and applied it, quite literally, to his Fall 2013 menswear collection. Different bright hues of the four primary colors (blue, green, red, and yellow) showed up on either exposed sleeves or pant legs, collars, shirt cuffs, as well as a rectangular striped accent which served as an exaggerated bow tie, extending horizontally across the chest of some of the blazers.
These looks, however, were not the same silhouettes we’ve seen from him the past few seasons. Simons’ explained that “the defined silhouette over the last six or seven years has been very Balenciaga-inspired for everyone, myself included. It’s become a garderobe [a wardrobe] and it doesn’t feel like high fashion that says something to me personally. “So what exactly is this new silhouette that we speak of? A loose, less fitted suit with floor sweeping trousers and 70s styled shirts with oversized collars and cuffs. There was, however, still a tiny bit of the fitted look left in Raf Simons collection. Fitted vests with cartoon graphics were worn over baggy pants and shirts. Simons also looked to the past for simple fabrics as he describes in his own words, “No bonding, no neoprene, no futurist, just wool and cotton.”
