Holt Renfrew Fall 2009 – 2010 Menswear Media Preview

You have read about my adventures at the Holt Renfrew Fall 2009 – 2010 Womenswear Media Preview. I took a lot of pictures of things that appealed to me. Well the Men get the same treatment because I attended the Fall 2009 – 2010 Menswear Media Preview. That was a treat. I love menswear and wish I could include more of it in my coverage. It’s just impossible to be able to incorporate anything but the stray menswear post like this.

The preview was a smaller affair when compared to the Womens. You realize the lack of true menswear media in Toronto. There was some overlap in the attendees but there were a lot of people I wasn’t familiar with.

Barbara Atkin, Vice President, Fashion Direction for Holt Renfrew spoke briefly before Lanita Layton, Vice President, GMM Menswear took the podium. She spoke about menswear trends and how the economy has changed men’s style. The banker look is out and men are trying to distance themselves from all the negative connotations that are associated considering the world economic situation. Men also have many choices to make personal statements beyond the days of wearing your personality on your tie.

It’s true Men have more options these days. I would have liked to see more colour for men but as a retailer I can how it would be a tough sell to the brown/black/grey/navy wearing masses out there. A bright note was the Band of Outsiders button up in Holt’s Magenta. It’s exclusive to Holt Renfrew and I want one for myself.

The most fashion forward item of the night went to Moncler Gamme Blue x Thom Browne outfit. Fans of the Thom Browne look will love his partnership with Moncler to produce this puffy suit. I’m kinda partial to the puffy jacket myself. It was good to see a lot of exclusive partnerships with Holts and some of the fashion brands. Canada Goose in Japanese fabrications not available in North America will be available through Holts. (Edit 06/16/09: I talked to Uncle Otis and they will be carrying the Canada Goose jackets in Japanese fabrications also. So Holts isn’t exclusive here)

Trends for men according to Holt Renfrew are:

• The Top Coat
• The Check Suit
• The Club Jacket
• The Leather Jacket
• The Plaid Shirt
• The Patterned Pant
• The Knit Toque
• The Bowtie
• The Wintip
• The City Hiker

As I was pursuing the racks I came across a few things that I liked for myself, Dr Denim plaid shirts and ts, Paul Smith boots and John Varvatos Converse. I have to point out the glaring omission of Philip Sparks in the media kit. He wasn’t listed in the Design List in both the Womenswear and Menswear media kit. His pieces were part of the preview also.