12:49 PM PDT 7/12/2018
by
Vincent Boucher
And The Rock sported the collection as an encore.
As the Todd Snyder fashion show on Wednesday evening closed out New York Fashion Week: Mens, the first model hit the stage looking like he didn’t have a care in the world.
Kicking off the designer’s happy ode to “The American Tourist,” a model paraded in gingham-checked pleated trousers, a bucket hat and a yellow souvenir T-shirt with a photo taken on the road by 1970s folk rock legend Gerry Beckley, founder of the band America. It was the first of 49 similarly easygoing “bro” looks that got raucous applause and shouts of approval at the finish.
And the upbeat mood in the room seemed more than appropriate after this round of shows for Spring-Summer ’19 ended on an unexpectedly optimistic note.
Though naysayers had looked at the abbreviated men’s schedule and lack of star-power (No John Varvatos! No Tom Ford! No Raf Simons!) and thus predicted the demise of the men’s shows, the organizers at the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) had earlier in the day announced the welcome news that Reebok has stepped in to sponsor the next four seasons of shows for 2019 and 2020 as well as funding the Future Graduate Showcase, which spotlights emerging design talent from fashion colleges across the U.S.
CFDA’s Steven Kolb sipped a brewsky in an orange foam beer cozy emblazoned with “Snyder’s” before the show and explained the move to foster homegrown design talent.
“It’s all about taking that support from starting when they are students and taking them to being actual designers,” he said, “and there’s going to be a lot more that we are going to announce that goes into more detail.”
Snyder, who frequently dresses male celebs like Matthew McConaughey, Ryan Reynolds, Ben Platt, NBA player Carmelo Anthony, Chadwick Boseman and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (who was pictured strutting around Manhattan on Thursday in his Hawaiian print shirt), has been a regular on the men’s schedule since he debuted his namesake collection in 2011, after a long stint as the head of menswear design at J.Crew.
On the runway last night, his ‘80s-lite vibe continued throughout the show, with plaid suits worn with the sleeves pushed up and bright rubber “Snyder’s” shower slides. Authentic Reyn Spooner Hawaian prints were fashioned as a suit and also a matching camp shirt and shorts (yes, pleated.) He also made a big nod to tie-dye in everything from blue denim to a black-tinged T that looked fresh under a dark suit. And there was a refresh of his Champion sportswear pieces in subtle Malibu tones, like the hoodie with contrasting sleeves in sandy brown and pale pink.
On-point extras from the designer’s posse of collaborators included more of those bucket hats from Kangol, Levi’s cut-offs from L.A.’s RE/DONE and cool square-shaped aviators with tinted lenses from Moscot.
It all looked ready for a “vaycay,” as did Pose star Dyllón Burnside in the designer’s gray-striped T, white jeans and sandals, one of several celebrities taking in the show.
“You know I really need one,” the actor said with a smile, explaining that he’s still working, right up until his “Up Close and Personal” celebratory concert on July 23 at The Cutting Room in New York benefiting GLSEN, the leading national education organization for LGBTQ students.
Joshua Jackson, a longtime buddy of Snyder’s, probably wasn’t going to find anything to wear on the runway since he’s about to embark on a skiing vacation in Chile. “It’s a very James Bond answer, isn’t it,” said the actor, which brought a chuckle from Alex Shibutani sitting next to him. The Olympic ice dancing star said he hadn’t taken a break in six years of training, “but we’re thinking about something tropical after basically spending all that time in a refrigerator.”
And the designer himself? Though he spends most of his summer weekends in the Hamptons, the onetime Midwesterner has already marked his calendar for another kind of American ritual.
“I head out to Iowa for the State Fair on August 14,” Snyder said backstage afterwards as the growing crowd swirled around him.
Let’s block ads! (Why?)
