Jacquemus Men FW19
When we speak of utility wear, we tend to trade in the same old tropes: khaki, camouflage, maybe a car seat buckle or D-ring slider belt. Jacquemus is keeping us in check, minding us to update our references, fit for the modern day. The FW19 collection finds a foundation in French workwear – squared silhouettes set in dense color-blocked cloth, topstitched and eerily smooth in unflinching shades of moss, muted navy and sand beige. Shirt jackets crop straight across the hip, topped with a Sou’wester toggle hood, generous chest pockets and discreet popper buttons. Cargo pants trace a loose leg, billowy but trunk-like, before they puddle around the ankles. Rigid ecru feels reclaimed and a little homely, embroidered with rustic rows of wheatsheaf, while opulent velvets assume sack shades, stamped with Js in a bricolage of fonts and thwarted primary hues in the spirit of postmodernism. For all the diced and spliced functional wear, chunky turtlenecks and carpenter toolbelt leathers, there’s still a place for tailoring in this industrious utopia; double breasted suits sit lax with ample proportions, wrapping torsos with a single button, finished with linear lapels. Muted shades en masse achieve the inverse effect of calling attention, cloaking head-to-toe in biscuitty cream or, for those who dare, magnolia. Time to start playing the field.