Eidos Spring 2017

 For spring 2017 Eidos creative director Antonio Ciongoli looked to India, and more specifically Bar Palladio, a cultural hub where varied influences meet, and Bagru, a city outside of New Delhi where inhabitants use ancient textile techniques to create incredible fabrics by hand.  This ‘Bar Palladdio to Bagru’ inspiration has produced a spring 2017 collection that combines a fusion of traditional Indian textile techniques and modern influences. The ‘Bar Palladio to Bagru’ collection is an interesting departure for the Ciongoli/ISAIA team that usually finds inspiration from the rich textile traditions of Italy.

That said; this clash of seeming dissimilar influences of the ‘Bar Palladio to Bagru’ collection surprisingly works and has a lot of potential retail value. And the genius of this collection is in the different separates that can be mixed and matched with garments that are more standard menswear fare. The black herringbone jacket would work well with denim jeans; the linen knit Nehru jacket and be matched with a wide range of slacks, and even the yogi pants can work with a lightweight spring jacket.

And Ciongoli neutral palette of indigo blue, stonewashed ecru, and dusty tans make this collection have a wide appeal to international male consumers. Also marrying traditional male silhouettes with Nehru jackets, Monte and yogi pants demonstrate that modern male consumers can easily embrace this modern fusion of the old and new. Though we have seen the East meets West aesthetic before, Eidos presents this fashion cultural exchange in an innovative way.

Images courtesy of ISAIA

Standout looks in this collection include Eidos’ navy/cream barre stripe fleece double breasted shawl jacket, natural/indigo slub terry barre stripe crewneck, hand dyed natural indigo khadi dhoti by EIDOS x Stoffa, cream silk and linen double breasted evening suit, white tonal slub barre stripe band collar popover, natural madder and harkat dyed herringbone head wrap by EIDOS x Stoffa, and the dark iron linen suit, white slub jersey knit kurta.

—William S. Gooch