Not so bleak school-boy chic.

My love for the – often – outrageous experimentation of European menswear designers is, I would like to think, evident. However, I frequently find myself returning to lust after the sartorial simplicity of many NY-based designers e.g. Scott Sternberg for Band of Outsiders, Patrik Ervell, Tim Hamilton et al. and am currently pleased to make another addition to this list of fashioners of understated and inimitable style: Victor Glemaud.

Despite having worked in the industry in multiple roles since his teens, Glemaud (am I right in saying this?) has remained somewhat off-the-radar regarding the international scene. I’ve seen him and his work featured in US-based publications like Interview, Refinery29 and VMan but his presence in mags over the water doesn’t seem to be as felt. So it was all the more pleasurable when I happened upon his collection of school-boy/Alain Delon-inspired casualwear.

Geometric shapes and a healthy dose of each of the primaries made for sweaters reminiscent of crayon-on-sugar paper masterpieces, only with a distinctly sophisticated twist. The vintage Gucci loafers (the Delon reference…) and cuffed Levis re-emphasized the ‘leisurely luxury’ slant of the whole thing. Most noteworthy though were the cardigans with trompe l’oeil enhancements: what appeared to be two cardigans layered was in fact another panel of fabric stitched on front. Innovation need not always be a creative ruckus of overt proportion-play and shimmering fabrics.

Images from Men’s Style