As luxury houses commit anew to tailoring and champion a certain masculine elegance, contemporary brands that tend to traffic in more casual fare face a quandary: to follow suit or not. Theory, a brand with its roots in officewear, back when offices required suiting, would seem to be better positioned than many other labels to succeed in 2019. Indeed, the company’s menswear designer Martin Andersson noted a behind-the-scenes focus on improving fabric quality. It was noticeable in a pair of suits, one black, the other a deep shade of burgundy. He showed layered knits, crewneck on top of mock-neck. The label isn’t giving up on that casual fare entirely.

Design and art world names both relatively unfamiliar and famous were among Andersson’s references for Fall. Faye Toogood’s Roly Poly fiberglass chairs, with their scooped seats and thick legs, seemed to inform his tailoring. A bonded twill duffle coat was cut with rounded kimono sleeves, and an unlined wool jersey blazer was constructed with raw edges. The results in both cases were clean and structured yet yielding—easy to wear. The painters Soulages and Rothko, meanwhile, informed the palette, with its understated emphasis on black layers and varying shades of red. All around, this Theory collection felt in step with the season’s dominant themes and talking points.

Source: VogueRunway

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