Casual but elegant - that was the unquestionable theme in spring fashions for men, as unveiled on the Las Vegas runways last month under the auspices of the Fashion Association. The designers and clothing executives who gathered to show off their latest collections were adamant in their rejection of the slovenly dress some Americans call casual.
Several angrily focused on the Feb. 20, 1995, Newsweek cover story, "Have We Become a Nation of Slobs?" The story underlined the tendency of IBM and other major companies, including law firms, major banks, the Central Intelligence Agency and at least one governor - Oregon's John Kitzhaber - to embrace the concept of "dress-down Fridays."Unfortunately, suggested the article, many people go too far. "Slovenliness jeopardizes our precious national inconography. Presidents used to dress like presidents, not like a guy from the block, lumbering by every morning in shorts and a baseball cap."
Fashion gurus are convinced that relaxed Fridays do not signal the end of elegant dressing, for either men or women. One of the leading designers to dedicate himself to the concept that even casual must be sharp is Brian McKinney, a young but canny designer who was trained at the Boston School for Design. McKinney has savored a genuine love for clothing since he was a child.
As a designer, he is unusual, because he got his feet wet in the fashion industry by showing other designers how to use computers. "Our industry needs to come on line and have a parity with other countries. Not a lot of designers have this kind of background."
Accordingly, McKinney, who is highly innovative in his technology, doesn't sketch fashion lines any more - he does it all on a computer.
McKinney is convinced that the "baggy or grunge look is being eliminated - it's had its heyday." He has designed utilitarian clothing that is so versatile that it can easily translate from daywear to eveningwear.
"My customers all have telecommunications devices, radios and computers that are necessary for their daily work, so we design specially sized pockets, elongated for telephones. It's the marriage of high fashion and high tech."
McKinney also uses shirts with tuxedo fronts "to give a little pizazz to a traditional shirt," and combines it with a vest and jacket. A man can be dressed well in the McKinney mode and yet go to a cocktail party from the office.
He uses lightweight tropical fabrics that go easily from season to season. "The nine-button jacket is for a man who wants to be hot, but still cares for traditional dress." He thinks of it as a novelty item that can be freely adjusted down to five-button or three-button.
His philosophy can be summed up as form and function. "I want to design clothing that has a utilitarian, interchangeable nature. If a customer buys a houndstooth suit, next season he buys a black suit - but he can interchange it."
McKinney's always doodling.
"It's crazy, but the inspiration for designs really does come to me in the middle of the night. I wake up and I think `Oh!' That's much better than what I worked hours to get. I think - Wow! But it is the result of hard work. I believe the subsconscious mind works in conjunction with the conscious effort. So people who sit on the mountain and meditate may not get the same results as you or I, but if we work real hard, by grace something comes to us."
Bill D'Arienzo, the charismatic vice president of marketing of the 500 Fashion Group, travels on McKinney's wave length. His designers have created the Lineage Collection, targeting the "new working class." He says 75 percent of the top companies in the Fortune 500 have some form of alternative dress code during the work week.
Lineage is intended to meet the needs of those who want an affordable, comfortable dress-down apparel - tailored sportswear with exquisite lines that are complimentary, made of cotton-linen, natural fabrics - and can even include baseball caps carefully coordinated with the shoes.
Sport coats, vests, trousers, shorts, knit tops and woven shirts are the components that Lineage thinks will shape a man's wardrobe for spring, whether on or off the job. In fresh color palettes and lightweight fabrics such as cotton, linen and raw silk blends, the collection has an ease that seems approachable.
All components in the Lineage Collection are designed for simple coordination. They convey a softly tailored gentility that is required at work and sought after for leisure.
D'Arienzo says the line features a three-button, "but that will never be mainstream. It is high fashion, but it won't be operative for most Americans. Our Lineage collection is coat driven but coordinated with shirts, ties, vests and trousers. The shirts can double as a sport shirt or a dress shirt. You see, the guy who works in a professional setting needs an appropriate look. You take a piece off, and you've got more mileage out of the same outfit. This is the kind of thing women know instinctively. They just know how to do that."
D'Arienzo is determined to teach men how to do it, too. So he puts all the components in a store on a fixture so the man can see the look immediately. "It's a no-brainer - what we call Garanimals for grownups. It's component dressing. That's our answer to the change in the lifestyle trends."
D'Arienzo, interestingly enough, is a former political science professor at Hunter College in New York. He used to do psychological studies of voting behavior. Now he makes statistical projections of what consumers want to wear. "It was very easy to go from studying voters to studying consumers. The same research techniques apply. A political campaign is the same as a marketing campaign."
No wonder Botany 500 came up with "The Newt Suit" for its Command Performance line. Named after the new speaker of the House, it is designed to help a man catch a bus, hail a taxi, plan or manage a corporate division - even preside over a political caucus - and still make the theater on time. It makes "a politically correct fashion statement, whether single or double-breasted, without breaking your `balanced budget.' "
D'Arienzo wrote a master's thesis in college on political machines, so the "Newt Suit" is loosely based on his own political background. "We figured there was something about performance in the Republicans' `Contract with America,' so this is part of our Command Performance line."
It illustrates the statement, "Fabric is the soul of the suit." It is available in Bengalene solids, subtle glen plaids, polished pinstripes and other patterns. The "Newt Suit" embodies affordability, classic tailoring and contemporary fiber technology. The result is a naturally woven, wrinkle-resistant garment, right for any occasion or party.
Above all, it is comfortable.
The wider inside jacket pocket with security tab closure, is perfect for stashing travel tickets and other documents - the kind of thing any politician can relate to. The trousers have a hidden waistband pocket for passports and credentials.
According to D'Arienzo, the "Newt suit" crosses party lines. "This is a Botany 500 contract with America."
When asked if choosing a Republican theme for a clothing line might backfire if some people, such as Democrats, interpret it as "politically incorrect," Mitchel Nichnowitz, President of Botany 500, said, "I don't think so many people are against the `Contract with America' as they are with some of the political people who are a part of it. I think everybody likes the idea there is a contract with the political machine and the people. I think you can live with that whether you're a Republican or a Democrat. Newt would look a lot better in this suit - I'll tell you that."
Nichnowitz also said they are pushing a portly style, too, "for a guy whose chest and waist is almost the same. It's a large, growing part of our business today. We used to sell mostly suits designed to fit men who are wide in the shoulders and narrow at the waist. Now, eight years later, America is going another way - narrow at the top and wide at the top. It is the re-girth of America."
Based on consumer surveys, Botany 500 is currently the No. 1 American brand of suits. D'Arienzo suggested "one of the rites of passage in our country is that the father passes onto the son certain traditions. The shaving cream or blade the father used will be taken up by the son. Your dad teaches you to shave. Your dad teaches you about cars, and you might look at the car he likes. It's even more so with the suit. It is the suit that will enable you to make the right presentation at the right moment. So this is one of the rites of passage."
Whether it is the traditional suit from Command Performance or the more casual interchangeable Lineage line, Botany 500 executives are convinced the suit is here to stay and that men from 18-80 will like the product.
Wallace Murora, a well-known designer for Bagir International, echoes the idea with his own emphasis - retro in mood, beautifully relaxed, going with the flow, laid back and luxurious, softly constructed.
Murora combines his tailored sport coats - bronze, pale brown, burnished gold and pebble - with high button vests.
Haggar is also emphasizing tailored separates with a European edge in its new City Casuals collection. Softer tailored, two and three button jackets, pleated and cuffed pants, vests and shirts with banded collars, coordinate with a more modern, effortless approach to dressing.
Like the Lineage Collection, City Casuals offers men all the necessary components to complete an entire look that makes the transition from work to leisure effortless. The color scheme is neutral. Wheat, natural, pewter and black color separates, from shirts to pants, enhance the simplicity of the styles. Pieces are offered in tonal solids or in combinations of complementary shades for a thoroughly modern accent.
The bottom line is that casual dressing is not intended to turn into grunge. It should take advantage of the latest in styling, colors and interchangeable garments. A man can present an elegant look by interchanging several different pieces - with or without a tie.
Keep that in mind on dress-down Friday.