With Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Spring 2014 just wrapped in New York (hopefully you were following the in-the-know Tweeters we suggested, if not you should still check them out), London Fashion Week finishing as well, and World MasterCard Fashion Week set to descend upon Toronto in just over a month, sartorially-inclined folk everywhere are stirring with the kind of excitement most people reserve for the birth of their first child or the newest flavour of Doritos. Given all this buzz, the fact that summer has come to a close, and that we are higher than a kite on fashion realness after all the fabulousness that was TIFF 2013, it seems an appropriate time to put out our Fall/Winter fashion preview for the gentlemen. We had an opportunity to check out Harry Rosen and Ted Baker’s Fall/Winter line-ups, and here are the three key essentials that we think will be trending and exciting for this coming season…
Murses
As an urban, professional male, if you do not have a murse you must really be suffering. Given that current fashion for men’s trousers is on the more tailored, fitted side, it’s no longer really an option to shove keys, mobiles phones, and whatever else you may be carrying all into your side pockets. Couple that with the fact that most of us can’t seem to manage more than 15 minutes without flipping open a laptop or swiping an index finger across an iPad, it’s fair to say that bags are no longer just for ladies, metrosexuals, and the overly fabulous.
Our favourites from Harry Rosen were two black leather options. The first is a more square, duffle-style bag with gorgeous orange and yellow handle detailing from Ralph Lauren (the store also just started carrying their Ralph Lauren Polo line this fall, FYI). Between the black leather and the warm-coloured details, it is sure to be a smash for fall that go with pretty much anything. The second is a gorgeous all-black leather bowler bag from Tom Ford with rounded handles and a gold zipper. Simplicity and sophistication just radiate from it. Ted Baker also had a gorgeous crop of man-bags, including a perfect-for-fall olive green (Style Alert: total trend colour this season) and reddish-brown single-buckle leather satchel called the Harlemm. The satchel is one of those hugely popular looks that also happens to be highly practical.
Black Leather
While never far from the mainstream of fashion, black leather has moved from accessories onto pretty much everything. For winter, Harry Rosen is carrying a super-hot black leather puffer jacket from Versace Collection that would literally make us want spring to never come. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration but it is really beautiful. The Versace has golden zip detailing, with the zip going sideways across the chest in a style clearly inspired by biker jackets. There’s also high, turtleneck collar that will be perfect for keeping out those cold gusts from off the lake. Did we mention the beautiful bags?
The Shoes!
If you are dreading the winter as much as pretty much everybody else who lives above the 49th parallel, fear no more. Harry Rosen will be carrying Sorel’s ultra-premium Bison Boot, which will pretty much allow you to conquer whatever our sub-arctic climate has to throw at you. The boots are made from American Bison full grain leather, have a removable shearling liner, a sheep shearling cuff, and have a completely waterproof seam construction. Tech specs aside, they are soft and gorgeous and we totally want a pair.
For the months leading up to winter, Harry Rosen is also carrying a number of new shoe brands including Boots New York, Church’s, and New Balance. The latter über-trendy brand of runners are an exciting addition to the Harry Rosen stock though not very surprising as footwear is their fastest growing area and this will allow them to have more reach with the younger urban demographic. Among the New Balance styles being carried are a pair of burgundy and bright orange trainers which, Style Alert, are two of the hottest colours for autumn this year.
On the Ted Baker side, they have gorgeous three-hole high-shine leather loafers called Rissh which come in black and an awesome two-tone burgundy and bottle green that would transition beautifully from daytime to nighttime.
Images courtesy Harry Rosen and Ted Baker.
