Christian Westphal & the Italian Renaissance in Autumn/Winter 2016 [men's fashion]

Born in Copenhagen, Danish designer Christian Westphal launched his eponymous label in 2006, after having graduated from the Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne in Paris.

Season after season, this talented young designer has not ceased to amaze his audience. Once again, I too was amazed when I recently received the 2016 autumn/winter lookbook with the following press release, which eloquently describes the collection:

The winter 2016 collection from Christian Westphal has a refined aesthetic with slashes of Renaissance heroes from the paintings of Titian and El Greco.

The cuts, colors, silhouettes, and attitude of the Italian Renaissance paintings are the inspiration for the autumn/winter 2016 collection.

The look is a glamorous, dirty but quiet, modern Euro-boho, with an ongoing nod to armored self-confident kings and noblemen dressed in shiny black metal waistcoats, oversized shirts, small and neat collars, accessorized with heavy trims and huge scarves. A style that contributes to dress with layer on layer, like the urban nomads we have become.

The AW10 collection is less ceremonial and more muted and monochromatic—though no less surreal—than the brightly colored summer 2009 collection but keeps the urban graphic look, in particular the architectural take on casual suiting. However the color palette is essentially black and white with dashes of bottle green optimism, turquoise crispiness, and navy blue classicism.

A tweak here and there can elevate even the simplest outfits. Notice the crispy cotton poplin shirt with a neatly folded starched-looking collar on collar, the check patterned shirt with the collar that develops into an oversized scarf, or the casual blazer in knitted merino wool. Small moves like these separate you from the pack.

The jeans sharpen up for winter 2016. Not that I am saying you should wear this hand-painted torn-and-frayed blue denim to the office, but it’s hard to go wrong wearing it when you’re off the clock. The denim collection also consists of raw black and washed blue jeans–all three are woven and stitched on the famed looms of Okayama, Japan.

It’s called attitude. Nothing finishes off an outfit better than a sharp dose of confidence. How else do grown men get away with wearing a plucked and beat-up mink jacket over a hooded jersey top? But we’re not talking hip-hop-bling-shake-the booty fur—we’re talking slim-cut, rock-guy getup biker jacket to be worn with dirty and oily boots with attitude.

The strategy is to modernize menswear, calibrating the millimeter of difference that separates a boring uniform from an innovative piece. Christian Westphal sees avant-garde as deconstruction, working to and from the human body and making pieces with a strong, modern look.

For additional information on Christian Westphal, please read the following articles:

The Shockheaded Peter Project by Christian Westphal
Jazzing it up with Transcendent Black by Christian Westphal