“I Mean…What?!?” – Abe Gurko

In today’s Women’s Wear Daily, the discussion is whether New York deserves a Men’s Fashion Week, similar to those in Milan and Paris. Listening to the argument, one has to side with the reality that New York needs one in order for these designers to compete with the international business cycle. Naturally I MEAN WHAT?!? has a different agenda, and are voting in favor of New York Manzie Week. Imagine how much fun we will have, especially with the next series of shows being Spring 11, when light frothy outfits come tra-la-la-ing down the runway on gossamer wings. (Note: Whoever… Read More »

Pat O’Brien came back from obscurity to Coachella dressed as a Manzie (click the Manzie image on the right column). – DLISTED Reality stars getting bouquoo bucks for showing up to nightclubs. So glad my clubbing era stopped when clubs mattered (Studio 54, The Saint). – GAWKER Marc Jacobs to open Book Marc, a bookstore on Bleeker Street in NYC, where a bookstore used to be. Branding baby.  – RACKED The war of the roses, well, the socials, rages on between Devorah Rose and Tinsley Mortimer. Who will win? – PAGE SIX Grace Jones thinks Lady Gaga is a fotz.… Read More »

Each season, Karl Lagerfeld does an amazing collection for Chanel that editors wait for with baited breath as the grand finale of Paris Fashion Week. Once again, he delivered the goods and the spectacle. For the last few seasons, he’s been throwing some men’s looks into the show as eye candy. Speaking of eye candy, seems like Karl is obsessed with model, Baptiste Giabiconi. Yes, he is a tasty morsel of sugary goodness, but this Fall ’10 collection has him dressed in all sorts of furry nonsense, and I am not loving his tragically fashionista hairdo. I remember the Eskimo… Read More »

Hello my fearless flock of fashion following friends. What I love about World Fashion Week is that we get to see so many beautiful collections from all over the world such as New York, Milan, and Paris. Sure we also see lots of nonsense from other ports of call such as Madrid Fashion Week, Australia, Brazil, Lakme Fashion Week (India) and assorted Middle Eastern countries. But today, let’s discuss Paris. With the economy still in turmoil, many of the collections have been fiercely edited, and buyer optimism is reflected on increased orders. And frankly, the blogosphere is having a positive… Read More »

Stephen Burrows’ collection was great. She showed this beautiful signature column gown that brought me back to 1977, when I first arrived on the scene. Stephen was my first introduction into the scene. My roommate Sal De Falco and he were dating, and I was immediately whooped up into the firestorm that was Stephen Burrows’ World. We were called Burrow-ettes. Stephen would stitch together colorful, little garments for us to wear to Studio 54 or Tea Dance in the Pines…before the muscle heads and crystal queens took it over. It was a fairy tale time in the fashion industry. New… Read More »

“It’s good to be the king.” So said Mel Brooks in History of the World, Part 1. The reason I bring this up is because the men’s collections for Fall ’10, between Milan and Paris and now in New York City, are really great…and very butch. So, my quote for this season is, “It’s not good to be the queen”. In what I am calling an immediate response to my Manzie Reports from last season, every designer on Earth quickly revisited their sketches for this season and chose to man up. Thank you all for taking note, but now what… Read More »

The biggest news after looking at the Fall ’10 Men’s Shows is Grey is the New Black. Period. Sure, black was all over the runway, too, and should always be a staple in everyone’s wardrobe. I don’t care (and nor should anyone) when the editors scream for “Color, Color, Color” like they did last season. Let all those editors walk around in horrendous shades of blue and orange (Gina Lollobrigida orange, to be exact) and leave the humans to wear what makes them look good, namely, black and/or grey. Now we have a whole new meaning to grey. Your job… Read More »

Overall, the men’s collections in Milan are pretty great. Sifting through all the images to mine for Manzies was not quite as easy as last spring. Somehow I would like to go out on a limb and take some credit, that my Manzie Reports impacted some of the designers. Seems like many of them worked overtime to avoid making Manzie Faux Pas, for fear of being included in the Manzie Reports. What I can say about Fall 10 is that there’s much ado about nothing special, since quite a few collections played it really safe. Perhaps it is a no… Read More »

It has been a while since the last round of men’s shows where we first met The Manzie, which we sometimes refer to as “The Manz” or “La Manz”. You newcomers need to be brought up to speed. What is a Manzie? (pronounced man – zee), hence, What is a Manzie Report? At last season’s men’s fashion shows in Europe, the overarching trend was something that I hadn’t seen in quite some time, actually ever. I came up with the term Manzie to capture the moment. A Manzie is not a Dandy, nor is he a Pansy, hence the revised… Read More »

Everyone is doing their Year in Review…why can’t I? Every news station, cable or otherwise, newspaper, magazine, website, you name it…it’s recap central. We are being accosted by The Year’s Best, The Year’s Worst, The Top Ten Movies, The Top Ten CNN Heroes, The Top Thirteen Tiger Woods Hookers, you name it, there’s a list going on. Well, I am not special, I want to do one also. So, join me as we sing Auld Lang Syne here at I Mean…What?!? and close out our (barely) first year since birthin’ the baby (not be confused with the Birther Movement). Herewith… Read More »