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I imagine that international designers staging their
first Bryant Park show must feel as disoriented
as Dorothy upon arriving in Oz. Hoping to take their
place among fashion's elite, Mainland China debuted
their premier designer to a tiny room of New York's
most savvy style critics on Saturday. The Salon
exemplified the phrase "filled to capacity",
but elegant decorations and ornate press kits could
not distract from a collection that reflected the
notorious shortcomings of provincial Chinese sportswear.
Cabbeen's Autumn/Winter menswear collection was
predictably strong on top, with embellished woven
shirts, jackets and outerwear pieces that looked
like a mash-up of G-Star and Lacoste. The designer
relied heavily on decoration to give his sportswear
a contemporary feel- successful looks included screen-printed
crosstitch embroidery, hand-painted folk art and
asian embroidery.
Pants, however, suffered from boxy silhouettes that
looked great on the designer, but wrong on the models
themselves. Denim came up short both in fit and
innovation, with stiff washes and forced details
that were out of place in a high-end runway presentation.
Black paint over white jeans was a stand-out detail,
and Cabbeen's screens of original artwork show promise
commercially, but overall the collection came up
as underwhelming in concept and execution.
Some designs could be highly marketable, however,
especially exaggerated bleachout denim and screen-print
embellished looks. As with many casual menswear
shows, valuable construction details are lost on
the catwalk and could be appreciated better in a
showroom or store. It is exciting to see the expanding
diversity of NYC Fashion Week designers, and if
Cabbeen takes the time to re-examine his fit before
September, he could be an asset to next season's
menswear lineup.
Cabbeen
For more information on Cabbeen, go to www.cabbeen.com.
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