New York Fashion Week: Phillip Lim's Got the Beats

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Our friends over at Racked NY are currently in the thick of New York Fashion Week, and we'll be posting some highlights of their coverage. This time around: 3.1 Phillip Lim presents its first standalone menswear show

After wrestling the weather on the commute to the 3.1 Phillip Lim Men's Presentation at 531 West 25th, the last thing we wanted to do was see a bunch of perfectly coiffed male models. But with a first look at the collection, an interesting array of construction with a thoughtful attention to detail, things were looking brighter.

"The collection is inspired by the Beatnik movement—a post World-War phenomenon where the great thinkers fought conformity to bring back inspiration to the world," explained Lim to the crowd of reporters in front of him. To do this, the clothes were all about tailoring. Trousers and shorts came in all sorts of silhouettes, but seemed to move away from the slim fit that has become so popular. Lim's designs also included a couple of more interesting pieces—such as a raglan oxford, a rather whimsically printed jacket and pant, and a v-neck t-shirt with big buttons down the middle—to tie in the Beatnik idea of breaking away from tradition.

Accessories were the collection's place to show color on an otherwise neutral backdrop, in reds (with fantastic new sunglasses by the designer) and coppers. The shoes were also a treat, with detachable ankle straps, to transform a look and give it longevity. Yet still, Phillip Lim's most interesting choice in the collection was his utilization of lambskin in everything from t-shirts to pants. Lim was later quoted as saying, "I want to bring a feeling to menswear," which only begs the question—did he mean that literally?—Phillip Picardi