“Island life” was the term Michael Kors used at his Spring ’16 menswear presentation this morning. Not just Capri and Catalina, but also Manhattan. “People in the city are dressing down, and they’re more polished on vacation,” said the designer. We don’t know for sure about Capri, but he definitely got the New York City part of the equation right. His audience was filled with shorts-sporting, sandal-wearing editors; one dude in particular stood out in a pair of highlighter pink and orange Vans-style kicks. You felt badly for the retailers sweating in their starchy suits.
That was the general gist of the collection: Kors took the starch out. A white suit was 100 percent intentionally rumpled, so, he explained, “you can pull it out of your duffel bag and not go crazy.” Striped seersucker suits, meanwhile, came with drawstring-waist pants that had the ease of pajamas. Even a double-breasted, pinstriped two-piecer was dressed down with Teva-style athletic sandals. A wide range of knits kept the casual vibes going; the heather gray ribbed-knit Henley looked particularly appealing with khaki suede cargo pants. Kors also wants to get guys into a hybrid-style garment that is one part hooded sweater, another part deconstructed jacket. Just don’t call it a “swacket.” He prefers the term “swoodie.”
