Todd Snyder offered a “melting pot of fashion” in his spring collection, drawing references from around the world — Morocco, France and his own Iowa backyard.
“It’s a mish-mash of different looks,” he said backstage before his show for New York Fashion Week: Men’s on Monday night. “Active, military, sartorial.” Even his father’s propensity to wear black socks with shorts — “which always annoyed me, but now I’m doing it, too” — made an appearance.
In a show that featured a musical performance from Lewis Del Mar, those eclectic references were visible in a suit fashioned after an old French burlap coffee-bean bag, Marrakech-inspired multistripes in linen bomber jackets and a Mexican Baja white and olive hoodie.
But the big news came from a radical change in the silhouette. From oversize pleated pants, shorts and Japanese selvage jeans to softly constructed boxy-cut double-breasted suits, “the pants are much baggier,” he said. “And there are pleats everywhere. The proportion has changed a lot.”
The designer also showcased his long-standing collaboration with Champion by “resurrecting a few classics,” such as a sweater with a diagonal color-blocked design and logo T-shirts worn under blazers and top coats.
In past seasons, Snyder has been playing it safe, but with the new silhouette and a subtle bohemian and rebellious undertone, the American designer is proving that taking a risk can indeed pay off.
