Alexandre Plokhov (Q2595)
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Alexandre Plokhov is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Alexandre Plokhov |
Alexandre Plokhov is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
2005
designed a line of accessories
Few and far between are the menswear designers willing and able to transition into the women’s market. In fact it’s a genuinely rare scenario that often builds in reverse, so when ex-Cloak designerAlexandre Plokhovtried his hand at a ladies’ line forFall 2015, trusting devotees welcomed his evolution with open arms. Now that moody, almost all-black debut is hitting stores, the Eve to Plokhov’s Adam has hit her stride for Spring—foregoing the darkly draped tendency of his first outing in favor of a crisp sensuality, where D-ring cinched belts, snap-buttoned patch pockets, and zipped lapels helped shape his utilitarian vision.Having tweaked a cropped tailoring silhouette and developed a wrapped, linear form to his apron dresses and boxy tunics, Plokhov accented this collection with a slew of subtly worked-on fabrics—turning to washed leather, patchwork jersey, polka dots, and a shredded stripe jacquard that felt rich in hand against his flat cotton poplins. The latter material was frayed and box-pleated across shirtsleeves and buttoned A-line skirts, both of which appeared in a sunny shade of citrus yellow in his Paris showroom. Though edited out of these images, that optimistic shade joined the black, navy, and sand color lineup to further shake up the masculine tendencies of Plokhov’s oeuvre, rendering his outsider label all the more relevant in a season rife with gender ambiguity.
6 October 2015
Tonight's Alexandre Plokhov show marked the designer's return to the runway after a hiatus of several seasons. Attendees who have been following Plokhov's work since he was heading up Cloak, the brooding menswear label where he made his name, would not have been surprised by the cyber-gothic tone of Plokhov's latest collection, or by the fastidious cut of his clothes, or by the regular references to military regalia. What undoubtedly raised a lot of eyebrows, however, was Plokhov's use of color. Color! Bright, primary colors, like red and yellow! Granted, most of the collection erred on the side of Plokhov's signature neutrals, with lots of looks in white, olive drab, navy, and most of all, black. But the expansion of his palette gave a different charge to the dystopian Plokhov atmosphere.Credit the novelThe Mongoliadfor Plokhov's sudden interest in color: In the book, he explained, clans are marked out by the colors they wear, an idea he translated into monochromatic looks. The fact that the looks were monochromatic made Plokhov's textures come to the fore—his patchwork mesh, for instance, with its disintegrating,wabi-sabiappeal, or the surreal puckered effect of the rib on his woven yellow sweats. Plokhov's aesthetic can come off a touch overbearing, so these grace notes of tactility worked a charm. Ditto the unexpectedly feminine elements here, like the long, nearly-sheer jersey tees that cinched at the sides, or the poncho-shaped tops that opened and closed the show, which were so lightweight and airborne they came to seem ethereal as they floated back and forth along the length of the runway. It was nice to see Plokhov pursuing a dreamy tone, for once, as opposed to putting a lick of polish on a nightmare.
15 July 2015
Alexandre Plokhov dropped off the menswear calendar after Fall '13. He didn't stop designing his namesake label, but the time off the runway and the money it saved him allowed him to try something else he'd been wanting to do for a while: launch a full-fledged womenswear line.Plokhov has dubbed his new offering for Fall Lingua Franca. "It was about finding a common language between men's and women's," he said at his studio earlier this week. Androgyny has become a buzzword for the industry lately—see Alessandro Michele's Gucci men's debut, see Jonathan Anderson's entire menswear oeuvre. Plokhov's clothes aren't unisex, he clarified. There's a lot of overlap in terms of fabrics, and the dark, moody vibe that he's specialized in since the days of his early aughts label Cloak crosses gender lines, but in most cases the silhouettes are distinctly boy or girl.And for a longtime menswear designer, Plokhov has a satisfyingly keen eye for what looks sexy on a woman. Take the shaggy-sleeve, rib-knit dress with the well-placed darts below the bust adding shape to the torso. Or take the low-slung cargo denims with the slouchy rear profile. Those jeans had off-duty model written all over them, but Plokhov has sharp-looking clothes you could wear to work, as well. Blazers came with too-tricky origami detailing at the hem, but a jacket cropped and shrunken like a jean jacket looked edgy and polished in the right proportion, accompanied by a pencil skirt with a soft drape at the waist. His strapless evening dress in humble black wool will likewise resonate with the kind of woman who likes to feel dressed down even when she's dressed up. On the women's side, at least, there's not a lot out there at the moment that looks like what Plokhov does; we expect it will connect with buyers.
13 February 2015
Alexandre Plokhov isn't a designer destined to surprise. Season after season, he hones. His dark, broody take on suiting will always be the focal point. This season, he said at a preview at his studio, "I was working with the idea of opposites." That worked itself out in terms of proportions: larger tops, like a bat-winged jacket whose arms flowed arclike into the body, with tight pants in his usual asymmetrical, drop-crotch silhouette; or smaller jackets, their darts stitched on the outside, paired with Japanese tobi pants—essentially balloonlike jodhpurs that end in snugly buttoned cuffs. They'll make a challenging silhouette, even for his most ardent acolytes.The part thatdidoffer a mini shock of the new was the presentation format: Plokhov opted to show the collection on the Digital Fashion Shows Web site. In part, he said, he couldn't resist the allure of being the first menswear designer to break that particular seal. But doing the show in this way also allowed him the opportunity to reteam with the filmmaker Douglas Keeve and to create the kind of ominous atmosphere that the clothes demand. Speaking of honing, here it's possible to do so even in the course of a single collection. There's one chance for each look on the runway, then it's gone. But on video, the sky's the limit. "I like multiple takes," Plokhov said. "We do it until it looks good."
6 February 2013
Whatever else Alexandre Plokhov may be, he is certainly one of menswear's grand obsessives, wearing his arcane influences on his sleeve at the occasional expense of accessibility, uplift, and plain old appeal. When he invoked a book of daguerreotypes of Russian Orthodox monks as inspiration for his latest collection, there was a moment of apprehension as it seemed like he might be about to plunge us once more into Gothic gloom, but perhaps it's the temper of these turbulent times that allowed Plokhov's self-described "journey from darkness to light" play out like a spring awakening. Sure, it was as solemn as a mass on a mountaintop, but there was elegance, even beauty, in the elongated lines and rigorous cut.The palette was black, gray, and white—coal, ash, and alabaster, he called them—to represent the two divisions of Orthodox clergy: the Monastic (celibates who wear only black) and the Parochial (who wear white and are allowed to marry). The only direct quote from monkish garb was the leather belts, but there is a clerical severity in Plokhov's aesthetic that reads priestly at the best of times, like the most extreme piece here, a kind of maxi-skort—half pant, half kilt—or the long coats that wouldn't look out of place on acuré de champagne. Lining up against that mood was the mutated sportswear: the long, layered tanks or a belted gilet with a racerback.In keeping with the spiritual theme, Plokhov said he'd placed an emphasis on pure fabrics. They were what really made the collection, from the corded cotton of coats and jackets to washed, vegetable-dyed leathers of a surpassing softness to open-weave Irish linen and a finale of homespun white cotton that had a godly gleam. Some tanks in a micro-modal synthetic as soft as cashmere injected a little lightness. Otherwise, the cloths were substantial enough to suggest all-year wear. "There is too much disposability," Plokhov declared. "I want things to last."
9 September 2012
"It feels nice to do a show where I'm the boss," said Alexandre Plokhov, in an oblique reference to the seasons he spent working on Versace's menswear. Something else that referred back to his time with the iconic Italian label: the absolute rejection of color in his own collection. A gothic darkness ruled. Plokhov called his collection "a stylistic fan letter" to musicians Glenn Danzig and Andrew Eldritch, famously front men of iconic goth bands, but he wouldn't brook connotations of goth for his funereal designs. "I prefer to think of them as heroic," he insisted. He'd picked a very particular tribe of boys to underscore that fact: different ethnicities yet all sharing the same bruised, broken-nosed survivalist look.Plokhov's reservations about goth aside, it's one youth cult that can boast it has kept its doomy integrity intact in the face of time and reason. Likewise, Plokhov's clothes. Unimpeachably true to the intention of their creator but simultaneously in danger of being superfluous to needs. Consider his tip of the cap to Eldritch—"a maniacal, visceral, and complex idea of masculinity"—and decide whether that is something that ticks your boxes, especially when it translated as an elongated apron/tuxedo vest over a floor-length skirt, or an overcoat in a mohair dipped in acid so that it had a matted, oily feel ("like dirty hair," said Plokhov appreciatively).During his Versace period, the designer acquired an appreciation of Italian craftsmanship. His clothes are produced in the Veneto, and there was an agreeable sharpness to the tailoring of several formal jackets. But the collection as a whole was weighed down by its glowering obsessiveness. "Eldritch" was one of horrormeister H. P. Lovecraft's favorite adjectives to describe creeping dread. Lovecraft may not be the best go-to reference for a fashion designer in these troubled times.
9 February 2012
In the years since the shuttering of Cloak, his dark, slightly sinister menswear line, Alexandre Plokhov's devotees have been at something of a loss. He put in a few seasons under Donatella Versace at her label's menswear, but Plokhov's own brand of strictured suiting was more or less an eBay find. Good luck seeking out similar elsewhere.The designer launched his namesake line quietly last season with a more mature collection of faintly military suits, outerwear, and accessories. For Spring, he expanded his offerings further. The line now includes abbreviated, short-sleeved blazers and skintight, tapered cargo pants; long, oddly masculine men's skirts; and little matching cadets' hats. "A recruit says good-bye to his girlfriend," Plokhov said of his concept at his presentation today, and you could see the dystopian war the guy was going to wage—circa 2112 or beyond.Plokhov's aesthetic sometimes tends toward the severe, but there's still very little around in the vein of what he offers. The intervening years between Cloak (which shuttered in 2006) and now have burnished both his tailoring skills and his European connections. He's also increased his ambitions. At the request of Barneys, which also hosted his presentation, the designer created his first women's collection, which will, for the season at least, be exclusive to the store. "He's an incredible tailor, and there's a real void in women's tailoring," Daniella Vitale, the store's chief merchant, said, as CEO Mark Lee nodded along. Plokhov gave his womenswear at least as much seamster-ly attention as his menswear, and often more—even he was slightly boggled by the intricacy of a corseted, flaring jacket. But there was softness, too, in simple silk georgette shirtdresses and asymmetrical handkerchief frocks.Plokhov's aesthetic is largely his own, and the collection he showed felt well out of the whirl of trends and fads. There were occasional stumbles, as in a too-complicated plisséd-then-laser-cut dress, but it's hard to imagine that the designer, who is starting strong regardless, won't continue to improve under his new patron's care. In any case, Barneys is voting yes, and voting loud. Today, Plokhov's Fall menswear occupied a full window on 59th Street; come Spring, his women's will hang on five, the floor Rick Owens, Ann Demeulemeester, and Haider Ackermann call home.
11 September 2011
In the years since the shuttering of Cloak, his dark, slightly sinister menswear line, Alexandre Plokhov's devotees have been at something of a loss. He put in a few seasons under Donatella Versace at her label's menswear, but Plokhov's own brand of strictured suiting was more or less an eBay find. Good luck seeking out similar elsewhere.The designer launched his namesake line quietly last season with a more mature collection of faintly military suits, outerwear, and accessories. For Spring, he expanded his offerings further. The line now includes abbreviated, short-sleeved blazers and skintight, tapered cargo pants; long, oddly masculine men's skirts; and little matching cadets' hats. "A recruit says good-bye to his girlfriend," Plokhov said of his concept at his presentation today, and you could see the dystopian war the guy was going to wage—circa 2112 or beyond.Plokhov's aesthetic sometimes tends toward the severe, but there's still very little around in the vein of what he offers. The intervening years between Cloak (which shuttered in 2006) and now have burnished both his tailoring skills and his European connections. He's also increased his ambitions. At the request of Barneys, which also hosted his presentation, the designer created his first women's collection, which will, for the season at least, be exclusive to the store. "He's an incredible tailor, and there's a real void in women's tailoring," Daniella Vitale, the store's chief merchant, said, as CEO Mark Lee nodded along. Plokhov gave his womenswear at least as much seamster-ly attention as his menswear, and often more—even he was slightly boggled by the intricacy of a corseted, flaring jacket. But there was softness, too, in simple silk georgette shirtdresses and asymmetrical handkerchief frocks.Plokhov's aesthetic is largely his own, and the collection he showed felt well out of the whirl of trends and fads. There were occasional stumbles, as in a too-complicated plisséd-then-laser-cut dress, but it's hard to imagine that the designer, who is starting strong regardless, won't continue to improve under his new patron's care. In any case, Barneys is voting yes, and voting loud. Today, Plokhov's Fall menswear occupied a full window on 59th Street; come Spring, his women's will hang on five, the floor Rick Owens, Ann Demeulemeester, and Haider Ackermann call home.
11 September 2011