From the preppy to the preposterous, spring 2010 designs hit runways at New York Fashion Week

It’s in the autumn air: men’s spring fashions

NEW YORK — As the baseball season grinds toward the World Series and another football season rears its helmeted head, a man’s thoughts turn to fashion.

Of course, that man is undoubtedly a designer, photographer, model or anyone else affiliated with the menswear shows at New York Fashion Week.

Designers exhibiting their 2010 spring collections might be oblivious to the wide world of sports, but they are cognizant of the world outside the runway. Many wove concerns about the jittery economy into their clothing. Some reduced price tags; most stressed the “upbeat” and “optimistic” elements of their designs.

On the runways, unsmiling young men moved about in double-breasted jackets or pleated bucket shorts or even something that appeared to be part skirt, part trouser. And those who watched cheered.

THOM BROWNE

There are those who expect Thom Browne to deliver jaw-dropping designs every fashion season. And they are never disappointed.

For spring 2010, Browne presented an edgy array of menswear, ranging from a topcoat with large polka-dot holes cut in its gray fabric to long pants sporting a crotch dropped so low as to make them look like dresses.

A few ensembles shimmered with mega-sequins, others appeared classically tailored.

The presentation opened to the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” — as if Browne’s designs needed whimsical accompaniment.

A few models paraded by with faces covered in what looked like white or black fish nets. Some wore helmet-like hats with eyeholes of sunglass lenses that seemed like futuristic scuba gear, and a few items were emblazoned with swordfish and seashells.

All the models wore vertical lipstick strips of gray, white or red that nearly rendered their mouths fishlike.

“It wasn’t really lipstick. It was war paint,” Browne insisted.

As if on cue, a model wearing a yellow rain slicker outlined in black appeared as “We all live in a yellow submarine” boomed from the loudspeakers. And in the end, the models streamed off the runway, out the front door and into a big yellow school bus.

DUCKIE BROWN

Sheer genius seemed to be on everyone’s mind at Duckie Brown. Sheer printed shirts and sheer knits punctuated a decidedly resort feel that designers Daniel Silver and Steven Cox gave to the collection.

“We wanted to celebrate the male form,” Silver said.

The designer duo selected various shades of gray and cream to proclaim that “Duckie Days are here again.” Asymmetrical short pants in sandstorm tweed complemented a dark gray, camel check safari jacket. A gray Jersey polo topped a dark gray, twill pleated short.

Asked to pinpoint something entirely different about the collection, Cox replied: “bows.” The bows in question were rather large and tied at the waist.

The designers ignited a few of their ensembles with eye-popping blue and bright banana yellow suede shoes — continuing their collaboration with Florisheim.

A sea of perplexed expressions greeted models wearing “high waist” swimsuits. Apparently, some wondered whether the item was intended as underwear, a male girdle, or worse, a snug-fitting adult diaper.

Cox was not at all put off by the reception.

“The collection is only about two people. Daniel and me,” he said. “I guess we’re very selfish that way.”

PHILLIP LIM

Phillip Lim appropriately presented his “neo-beatnik” spring collection in a sparse, fourth-floor loft with unfinished wood floors. Models lounged in plywood cubicles constructed like a carousel frozen in the center of the room.

If the beatniks of the late 1950s and 1960s represented a displaced, dissatisfied youth, Lim’s neo-version seemed to adopt similar attitudes.

“To me, design is not revolution. It’s evolution,” he said.

Pause here to snap your fingers in beatnik-like approval.

The neo-beatnik is no slouch. Consider a navy double-breasted traveler’s overcoat with a peaked lapel and hand pick-stitch finishing or a black lambskin harrington jacket with knit trim. Windowpane is apparently a neo-beatnik’s preferred pattern. Lim suggests a steel-blue windowpane double-breasted jacket with matching tapered pant with adjustable waist belt. Add an antique white, irregular windowpane shirt.

The presentation of a men’s collection was a first for Lim, though he has been designing men’s fashion for four seasons.

“I felt I should seize the moment to address the other half of the population,” he said.

ROBERT GELLER

For his spring 2010 designs, Robert Geller looked for inspiration in late-1950s Germany.

“I felt that period of German history was a time of hope and renewal,” said the designer, a native of Germany who has lived for 12 years in the United States. “And obviously with the economy as it is today, I wanted to design a hopeful collection.”

His runway models emerged from a leafy, arboreal backdrop — though the color scheme was more autumn than spring.

Geller incorporated “comforting materials” into his collection — cashmere, silks and fine spun cotton. His signature layered look was evident and he resurrected his prison-like vertical-stripe pants. The collection featured colors not typically associated with spring: cobalt and midnight blues, dark plum, ocean gray.

The designer’s favorite: a denim suit (Geller wore a light-blue denim shirt for the show and he designs for Levi’s).

“There really is a power to springtime and I’ve tried to represent that in a way.”

RICHARD CHAI

What seemed to be erotic groans and heavy breathing crescendoed as the lights dimmed at the opening of Richard Chai’s spring collection show. Then nothing happened and the hushed crowd began to murmur and chuckle.

The tease was followed by a booming dance music beat that’s become old hat at fashion settings.

First to appear on the horseshoe runway was a model wearing an ivory/back windowpane balmacaan (loose-fitted coat), an ivory/black cashmere tank top and ivory/black windowpane pleated bucket shorts. And that set the tone for a collection that featured much that was ivory, gray and black.

“I like the ease of it — the collaboration between the sporty cycling element and the tailoring,” Chai said of the collection.

Chai’s ivory cashmere zip-up cycling shirt, silk ribbed cycling shorts and the cycling caps were more tour de force than Tour de France.

Chai added a bit of color to the collection with a blue tweed, double-breasted blazer with matching Bermuda shorts and a berry-red cashmere T-shirt over an ivory windowpane pleated shorts.

CLAIBORNE BY JOHN BARTLETT

Think Ivy League yacht club on a stevedore’s budget.

John Bartlett calls it “Maritime/Prep” and presented it as his spring 2010 line for Liz Claiborne.

Leave it to the Harvard-educated designer to come up with a preppy mix of polo shirts, layered T-shirts, sweater vests, plaids and bow ties. The designer introduced a touch of the nautical with navy and white stripes and sailor pants.

The line marks a dramatic departure from last spring’s collection, which Bartlett acknowledges was “dressed up and suity.”

“You see I’ve added more color and patterns. The wine-berry, foliage green, aqua blue and mandarin orange. And they mix well with khakis and jeans.”

Color Bartlett’s collection cost-conscious. All the items in the presentation cost less than $100 with the exception of a petunia purple blazer ($149).