Malan Breton has had a fashion epiphany. And it is about time!! After creating interesting collections for over a decade that sometimes bordered on outré unmarketable garments, Malan Breton finally hit the jackpot with his men’s spring 2017 collection. And he accomplished this feat without sacrificing the signature DNA of his brand. Remarkable indeed!
For spring 2017 Malan Breton was inspired by a nocturnal walk through the forest of Taiwan’s Orchid Island where flora and fauna flora frolic under the glistening starlight, particularly the exotic butterflies that are indigenous to Orchid Island. This rather contrived inspiration was paired with the secondary reference to the Academy Award–winning film “Alice’s Restaurant.”
Aptly titled “Severance,” which was defined in the collection’s liner notes as a division is two parts, is the rightful moniker for these two dissimilar ideas. That said; how the this two disparate motifs came together in Breton’s spring 2017 collection is beyond comprehension; however, the two polar opposites aside, Breton produced a spring 2017 collection that cohesively and retail viability-wise was leagues beyond other collections he has produced in past outings.
This spring 2017 menswear collection was current, innovative while still holding on to Malan Breton’s penchant for ornate brocade-like fabrics and stylings. And unlike other Malan Breton’s other collections where his fabric choices and overly styled presentation overshadowed the garments, this collection had just the right amount of glam, panache and modern sensibility. Well, most of the time!!
And Malan Breton’s choice of a mixture of silk jersey, silk gazar, neoprene, and denim, though seemingly not compatible bedfellows, was worked exquisitely innovative way in this outing. Bretion also ingeniously mixed in elements of sportswear with bold, gilded floral prints and Savile Row tailoring rendering the collection a modern take of luxury sportswear that could be an indication of where men’s luxury sportswear is going.
Images courtesy of Ken Jones/fashionreverie.com
And in true Malan Breton fashion there were a few garments with his initials emblazoned. Still, this overzealousness can be excused because the collection was so good!! Though the venue was as temperate as Dante’s hell, for those who could stand the heatwave, the collection was worth the perspiration!!
Standout looks in the collection were the deep forest print silk gazar Brady shirt with lemon chrome silk jersey Victory polo, deep forest print silk gazar River coat with neoprene and rubber bodysuit, Taiwanese reconstituted denim Brando jacket, and rose gold crest feather embroidered Marlene suit with cotton Francine shirt.
—William S. Gooch
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