“I Mean…What?!?” – Abe Gurko

Italian men have the reputation for being sexy, brooding, manly and the overall Spring ’12 season from Milan held steady to that notion. I just barely squeezed enough juice out of the fruit (as it goes) to quench your thirst for a Manzie Report. One can only hope that Paris will have far more tasty fruits in the offing. With that, I give you the final looks from Italy.   Follow us on Twitter.com/imeanwhat or Sally Field Us on Facebook.… Read More »

Milan continues to show great collections, many are strong and colorful and leaning toward manly-man. One can only be happy for companies that design to be sold. Naturally, a few nelly ditties slip through to the cracks of better judgment to create some magic or drama or giggles. Here they are some Manzies by proxy. Follow us on Twitter.com/imeanwhat or Sally Field Us on Facebook.… Read More »

Two years ago I coined the phrase Manzie in response to the men’s runway shows in Paris, Milan and New York. That phrase caught on like wildfire within the industry and in a short time after that, the looks being thrown down the runway became increasingly butch. Designers like Billy Reid set a new tone and standard for what men should look like and all was well in Glocca Morra. That was then and this is now. There is something in the air and it is living up to Lord Alfred Tennyson‘s poem, Locksley Hall when it says, “In the… Read More »

For those of you who have been reading I Mean…What?!? for a while, you might recall in my many Manzie Reports from last year and my observation that Gina Lollobrigida Orange was the new black. Naturally, I was being facetious because the way they were showing orange on the men’s runways in Milan and Paris, you would have to be insane to be caught dead walking the streets in half of these get ups, rather, you would get the shit kicked out of you by a pack of homophobes. Fortunately, orange in regards to menswear, never really took off, but… Read More »

Fresh from Paris and Milan, we have the Manzie Report featuring the latest trends, mistakes and mishaps for Fall 2011. The over-arching story for men is luxe, sophisticated, elegance. There were boxier shapes and shorter skorts. No, I am not kidding. Since Marc Jacobs wears nothing but kilts, Parisian menswear designers took that look to the next level and hiked up the length of skorts for men. Let’s face it, the kilt length is not all that flattering, and men’s legs are just as lovely to look at as women’s…especially when they are long, lean and muscular. Collections from Hermes,… Read More »

No one is more excited about this week than moi. The Men’s Fall Collections are launching in Milan and New York City. For the next few days, I will feature my seasonal Manzie Report, only this year, in an effort to tone back the rhetoric and vitriol I will report on the Best of as well as the Worst of, just to show you how politically correct I can be…ish. Over the past few seasons, men have gone from being enormously effeminate to overly butch and this season, I am predicting that the the two worlds will collide. At ENKNYC,… Read More »

Well, you didn’t think a season would go by without me making at least one little reference to that much loved and admired creature…the Manzie. What good would I serve if I did not stick in my two cents and and point out the one look from each of the men’s spring ’11 collections that could have easily been edited out? Huh? If you don’t know what the Manzie Report is by now, then you just have to look at these images from this week’s men’s shows/presentations to recognize that certain kind of man that would wear these ensemblays. Actually,… Read More »

The Milan shows bring out the masculine guns of the fashion industry. Armani, Zegna and Gucci lead the charge in sophisticated, sexy, masculine clothes. One can consider it boring (some of my readers, you know who you are), but it is at the core of the business and must be respected as such. There is less frills on the runways in Milan, than let’s say, it’s sister fashion city, Paris. The shows got off to a hootenanny of a start here in the City of Lights. Once again, we were presented with the quirky man-hat, a look that I was… Read More »

The Spring 11 shows came to a close in Milan, and overall there were great, sexy, safe collections sprinkled in with those few designers that love…and are committed to…Manzies. There were noticeably less mandals than last year, more blue than black and less quirky man-hats, which makes me very happy. Yes, there were Mad Men, but more along the likes of Coo-Coo, rather than Jon Hamm lookalikes. The Milan Maznie Report ends by featuring these few designers who we can live happily ever after…without.… Read More »

Dame Vivienne Westwood is a force of nature. She presents her avant garde collections in virtually every market on Earth. Mens’ in Milan, women’s in Paris, combo platter in London, Hong Kong Fashion Week and, if I’m not mistaken, she has featured the Anglomania collection in the United States. Last season her theme was “The Homeless” and judging by some of the looks from Spring 11, that message carries through. Homeless or perhaps even a bit crazy? You tell me. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BBbVdiqK20… Read More »