Perry Ellis Men's Fall '09

Monday, April 13, 2009

When you stroll down the corridor enroute to the main showroom at Perry Ellis, you are treated to a Warholian look at the life of Mr. Ellis through a very edited display of mementos, including handwritten letters from Karl Lagerfeld, invites to numerous Presidential Inaugurations & even a note & sketch from Mr. Warhol himself. One is reminded of just how influential a fashion force the late Mr. Ellis was. What Perry Ellis did so successfully was give the American man a fashion perspective that ever so slightly crossed the line of traditional, but not so much so as to alienate his fans from being considered part of the societal whole fashion wise. He had an intrinsic knowledge of knowing when his customer would respond to his offerings as “too much” & he stopped just short of diving into this dangerous territory (also known as retail abyss).

Though the brand has gone through various incarnations over the years since Mr. Ellis’ unfortunate parting, some more successful than others, the collection shown for Fall ’09, under the Creative Direction of John Crocco, is by all indications, an effort of which Mr. Ellis himself would no doubt approve. The collection was full of pieces that are sure to make the fashion consumer take interest as “everyday pieces” & the traditional customer look the same as his “fashion pieces” to be worn on occasion.

The collection, shown on mannequins, was divided into 4 vignettes by color stories. The first was Plum & Brown, followed by Navy, Charcoal & Brown, then Brown, Red & Charcoal & finally a Black & Gray story popped by a single Navy fine gauge turtleneck sweater as a layering piece. If forced to pick one piece, it would hands down be the chunky cable knit sweater that was on the first look in Plum, which was “Perry-ed” if you will by the front being on a bias. It was quintessential Perry Ellis, a totally novel piece & if it’s not on every retailer’s order, I’d for one be shocked. Other pieces of note were the single pleat slim trousers, the richly colored yarn-dye shirts & the slim, but not overly so, jackets in novelty wool patterns that were pumped up with just the right amount of color to rescue them from main floor department store purgatory. This collection’s strongest items, however, were the knit pieces. In addition to the bias cable knit sweater mentioned earlier, there was a Charcoal Heather vest that was printed over the entire garment, rib & all, in an oversized glen plaid pattern, & a cotton blend slubby stripe sweater that had parts that were so sheer as to be fully see through. The effect of both were Trompe-l'œil in the most saleable form.

There was only a single occurrence of the department store mainstay Perry Ellis Polka Dot tie & even it was updated as a silk textural tonal gray/silver/black jacquard. It was sort of a welcome sight, as a Perry Ellis collection without a polka dot tie would have been far from complete.

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-Scott French