Jean Paul Gaultier, the world-renowned French fashion designer, heads one of the most successful fashion houses known to man.  Born in Val-de-Marne in 1952, Gaultier grew up inspired by fashion and with a love for drawing.  While he never received any formal design training, Gaultier enjoyed producing sketches which he sent to the famous haute couture stylists of that time.  His hard work paid off and it was not long before his talent impressed Pierre Cardin, who hired him as his assistant as soon as he turned 18.

One year later, Gaultier went on to work with Jacques Esterel and Jean Patou but returned to manage Cardin’s Manila boutique in 1974.  After a year at the boutique, Gaultier went on to design his own collection, which was released in 1976.  Gaultier seduced many a fashion editor with his unique creativity and mastery of tailoring.  In 1985, he presented the man-skirt and produced Madonna’s infamous sculptured cone bra for her 1990 Blond Ambition Tour.  He later went on to design the wardrobe for her Confessions Tour of 2006.  Gaultier also designed outfits for Marilyn Manson, Mylene Farmer and Kylie Minogue. 

Gaultier’s 1997 haute couture line brought him immense success.  Through this collection, Gaultier drew inspiration from dramatically divergent cultures, from imperial India though to Hasidic Judaism.  At the height of his success, Gaultier assumed the role of creative director at Hermes from 2003 to 2010.

Many of Gaultier’s past collections have been influenced by popular culture.  Other collections, particularly his Haute Couture collections, have exhibited an air of formality while remaining unusual and playful.  Gaultier is known for his shock tactics such as using older men and fuller-figured women in his catwalk shows.  Pierced and tattooed models have also featured in the past. 

Gaultier’s active labels include Jean Paul Gaultier and Gaultier PARIS.  In addition to being a fashion designer, Gaultier is known for his line of fragrances.  His debut women’s fragrance, Classique, was introduced in 1993 while his debut men’s fragrance, Le Mâle, followed two years later.  Further fragrances have followed. 

Fashion and fragrances aside, Gaultier launched a dance single entitled “How To Do That” in 1988 and presented the television series, Eurotrash.

Jean Paul Gaultier – Unconventional Haute Couture

One of the most important and popular garments featured in most designers’ autumn/winter collections for men is the jacket.  One of the most popular men’s jackets at the moment has to be the tweed jacket.  Tweed is wool that is manufactured in the Highlands and is known for being very warm and moisture absorbent.  Together this makes the material perfect for the wetter months. Jack and Jones clothing offers a great selection of rugged outerwear for a relaxed casual look.

Types of Outerwear

There are many different types of jacket out there such as; trench coats, leather jackets, overcoats and blazers.  It is important that you consider your current wardrobe and style when thinking about what to wear.  Colour co-ordination is a must when thinking about jackets and outerwear.  One of the most important things to remember is to always have a varying contrast of colour.  One of the looks that is particularly in vogue with men’s fashion is the monochrome look.  This is purely a mixture of white and black.  As they are neutral colours there is a lot of leeway when it comes to accessories, and this can be a key part of making the image work.

Jack and Jones Outerwear

Matthew Williamson

From a young age, Brit fashion designer Matthew Williamson set his sights on a career in fashion.  Born in Manchester, Williamson studied in the city until the age of 17 before moving to London to attend Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design.  Upon his graduation in 1994, Williamson landed his first freelance design job with Marni.

In 1997, just three years after his graduation, Williamson set up his own fashion house.  In September of that same year, his “Electric Angels” collection debuted in London.  Consisting of bias cut dresses and separates, the collection was modelled by none other than Kate Moss, Jade Jagger and Helena Christensen.  Featuring bright shades of exotic tangerine, magenta and fuchsia, Williamson’s collection could certainly not be missed. 

Following his first catwalk show, Williamson’s collections expanded and in 2002, Williamson debuted at New York Fashion Week, enabling his designers to attract a wider audience.  Two years later, Williamson opened his flagship store in London – a store which would later go on to win him awards.  In 2006, failing to remain content with designing only garments, Williamson introduced his own range of perfumes.  In this same year, Williamson took over the role of creative director at the Italian fashion house, Emilio Pucci. 

In 2009, Williamson opened his first overseas flagship store in New York, followed by a standalone retail store in Dubai.  Williamson later launched online stores across Europe and the USA.  That same year, Williamson made his first venture into the commercial menswear market in collaboration with Swedish clothing company H&M. 

Williamson announced a new diffusion line in 2010, entitled Muse by Matthew Williamson.  Such is the allure of Williamson’s designers, Sienna Miller, Jade Jagger, Bjork and Kelis can be counted amongst his celebrity followers.

Matthew Williamson

This autumn/winter why not take some military inspiration and work it into your wardrobe? Utility trend is sticking around menswear for a bit longer, last year it was fairly prominent and this year you can find elements in collections. Firetrap work it the best, their autumn/winter collection has a darker utility feel to it perfect to add some of this style.

It’s quite a casual look so don’t bother with officers jackets and military style coats, layer t-shirts and shirts and wrap up with some chunky knitwear also opt for darker khaki colours and deep moss greens, navy and greys. Keep your outerwear light, duffle coats and tailored casual jackets.

Utility trousers are the epitome of this trend go for bold with brighter colours to stand out from the crowd, berry reds, mustard yellows and deep greens, they will work well off a more toned down back grown but you can still keep some style without looking OTT. If you feel you like a darker edgier look the why not opt for a worn pair of Police jeans, dusty greys or worn blue denim colours. They will look great teamed with a sturdy pair of utility boots to finish off the look.

Utility

Many women have begun to choose sandals that offer toning. These are ideal for women who find it difficult to make the extra time for exercise. They effectively work by toning women’s legs whilst walking. As a company, FitFlops is becoming better known in the British fashion world and the range of sandals they offer is available in several styles and colours.

Casual Options

Nearly all FitFlop shoes are designed for casual usage. The Classic design is in a casual flip-flop style, and comes in several sporty colours. For a look similar to that of gardening clogs, try the Slider sandals, which also offer a good colour variety. The Walkstar sandal features leather styling, and another popular style is the Mediterranean, which uses colourful fabric.

Sandals for Dress Occasions

The product line from FitFlops has recently started to include more sandals that are good to team with formal dress.  They provide the comfort and toning that many women prefer, whilst offering a more formal look. The company now offers styles with Swarovski crystals, which are sold by some of Britain’s most exclusive department stores. The Electra style is especially popular for use with formal outfits. Some Walkstar-style sandals are available in black patent leather.

FitFlop

Jumpsuits have been a favourite form of fashion for women for many years. In many cases, they have been worn as casual clothing. However, recent styles have lead to jumpsuits being worn for formal occasions, as well as being used for casual daytime wear. Jumpsuits are very versatile, and women who own them get a lot of usage out of them.

Popular Materials

Many of the more popular jumpsuits that are in style are ideally suited for eveningwear. They feature luxury fabrics, such as satin or silk. This can make them ideal for a variety of events, from company parties that take place in the evening to night weddings. Some are designed using casual materials, including leather. The leather jumpsuits are especially popular with female bikers, and are often worn in nightclubs.

Favourite Styles

The jumpsuits that are available offer several types of styles, and allow women to choose the look that they want. Long-sleeved jumpsuits often feature vibrant, colourful prints or come with impressive belts. Many are sleeveless, and are commonly selected for evening occasions. Some of the styles of tops used on jumpsuits include bra-style and halter-style tops.

This season, we are once again returning to the good old tomboy styles. Fashion has always played with androgyny especially with designer clothes, but lately it has been taken to a whole new level. But what started such intriguing and different fashion styles?

Andrej Pejic is a Bosnian-born, Australian male model, whose has become extremely famous due to his long blonde hair and delicate features. However, when Pejic was first scouted, he was mistaken for a girl. Nonetheless, he signed a contract and made his runway debut at the Paris menswear shows in June 2010. Although he initially had many people wondering why a woman was walking men’s shows, he was soon booked for major editorial spreads in influential fashion magazines. Could this have been the inspiration behind the Androgyny we see within todays fashion industry?

Sharp suits and flat shoes are the way forward this season. The style is quickly developing, and who can blame it when big fashion names such as: Margaret Howell and Paul Smith both showed collections featuring strong, androgynous tailoring.

The look is relatively easy to create, just chose items which are either really baggy, or really sharp and edgy- tailored women’s trousers also have a nice edge to them. The trick when it comes to this has to be the idea to not be afraid to go for it. It’s one of those things that if you don’t you could end up looking silly.

If you don’t fancy going for the style funny, you could also create a basic look, just with the use of accessories. A tie or hat is the perfect way that you can do this.

Androgyny

Aamaya by Priyanka is a jewellery range that has gained much attention because of the line’s three-stone rings. These are becoming popular because of the statement that they make. They can be bold, without looking loud or gaudy. These rings can also be worn with several different colour combinations. Whether you prefer a bold style or a more conservative one, these rings will nicely compliment your clothing. Consider adding these types of rings to your jewellery collection.

The Inspiration

The rings are designed by Priyanka Lugani. The designer has had her own clothing range for quite some time, and was quite open to a new challenge. She recalled a shopping trip in Istanbul where she had trouble trying to choose a particular precious stone. This was her inspiration for a ring that included three different stones. After devising these ideas, Lugani began creating rings that utilised different combinations of stones to provide new and interesting looks. The rings began to be sold by popular department store chains throughout the UK. New lines have included designs that are intended for cancer awareness.

The Style

The rings are available in several styles that incorporate various precious stones. The band that is used is made of textured gold. It is also adjustable, which makes it more comfortable to wear. Due to the use of three different stones, these rings can be worn with a broad variety of outfits. You can choose an outfit that uses all the colours in the ring. If a little more contrast is preferred then an outfit that features one of the colours can be chosen. These rings are extremely versatile because of the various outfits that can be worn with them.

So a typical guy’s wardrobe is always the same a couple of pieces of clothes. A couple of shirts, a few Gio Goi jeans and that’s about it really. The colours in a guy’s wardrobe are usually really boring too. The majority of items will be of three colours: grey, navy or black. This is because they are neutral colours and go with almost anything. Neutral colours are all well and good, but if that’s all that your wardrobe consists of, can be a little boring. It is always good to have some variation. This doesn’t mean going out and buying extreme colours- bright reds and yellows are extremely difficult to style! However brown, is always a good colour to have.

Brown is often over looked when it comes to men’s fashion. Brown goes well when paired with camel and beige because they are all ‘earth tones’ and there is not much difference between them. Brown also goes really well with other achromatic colours such as dark greens and olive. Brown is particularly good because it is not over used, and there is a variety of colours and shades available.

If you a bit shy about wearing brown, or you just don’t like the idea of change, then why not just start with subtle brown items like shoes, or a belt. Or maybe even both together? Start with dark brown if you are unsure, you can always venture into different colours as of when you become more confident.

The next step once you have mastered the shoes and belt would be to start layering the different colours of browns. A good example of this would be different shades of brown used to create the ‘layered effect’ for a shirt, tie and a Franklin and Marshall cardigan.

Again, if you think you’re ready, there’s always another step you can go. Why not invest in a brown suit? There are a variety of different colours and shades available, just ensure (like you would with any suit) that it is the correct size and fit. There are lots of different options to try, why not try a dark suit with a beige/ light brown shirt. A patterned brown and beige tie would go really well with this look too. Or, if you fancied something a bit different, you could always incorporate a coloured tie- a light blue tie would look excellent with a light brown suit.

Brown clothing

With the slim suits and body conscious clothing of the past few seasons, Calvin Klein’s Autumn/Winter 2011 favours a more relaxed look.  With heavy weight fabrics, looser fitting jackets with padding and roomier pants, Calvin Klein is giving men some room to breathe in the coming cooler months.  The looser, easier to wear suits and casual wear are straying from the buttoned-up restrictive looks of seasons past to give a more accessible every-man feel.
 
The fine fabrics and tight pants of last year have given way to more durable fabrics with enough room for a man to move freely.  This easy going look may be a result of the current global economy and the stress that comes with a volatile world market.   As the men of the world tighten their belts, the clothes become less restrictive allowing a man to tend to the business at hand with fabrics that give him plenty of range of motion and room to move about the world in the way that he needs to.

Calvin Klein’s colour palette for Autumn/Winter 2011 has also come to reflect the “down to earth” theme.  With more paired down tones such as grey, brown, beige and black, the look is more subdued than eccentric.  The result of a serious colour palette and more realistic, functional fit is a masculine line that is stylish without being frivolous.