John Bartlett (Q4838)
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John Bartlett is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | John Bartlett |
John Bartlett is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
2005
John Bartlett dedicated his new collection to "the plant-based man." His Spring range was entirely made from sustainable linen. This kind of conscientiousness is rare in fashion, but for Bartlett, it's nothing new. For Fall, his line was wholly vegan: Ultrasuede for leather, nylon in place of wool. Twenty years into his career, he's emerging as menswear's most committed naturalist. That's a commitment worth celebrating. The downside is that, like many plant-based diets, this one didn't offer enough to sink your teeth into. Wearable as it all was, from suiting to cross-cultural specialties like the djellaba and adaptations of the guayabera and the shalwar kameez, it was missing some heft on the runway. A presentation might've suited Bartlett and his laudable ideals better.
11 September 2012
"I'm still dancing," said John Bartlett at his presentation tonight. That was his own wry acknowledgment of the endless ebb and flow of his career, but this time around, it wasn't so much the cycle of fashion as there-cycle that defined his collection. Helped by a grant from Lexus, Bartlett was relaunching a full range with a 100 percent commitment to ethics—and synthetics. The "leathers," produced for Bartlett by Schott, were Ultrasuede. The Black Watch tartans were nylon, not wool. Where the fibers were real—as in the Hudson's Bay blanket coats and poncho—they were recycled vintage.The silhouette was recycled, too. It was kinda disco dude—tight body shirts and high-waisted slacks, matched with a fitted blouson. But the models were incongruously muddied. "It'sLord of the Flies," Bartlett explained. "I wanted them outdoorsy." In which case, it wasn't just the models who were muddied. The message was, too.But kudos to Bartlett for hanging on in there. He himself was clearly feeling revitalized. "It was a challenge keeping it vegan," he said. "But there's now more meaning in the clothes."
8 February 2012
Style.com did not review the Fall 2010 menswear collections. Please enjoy the photos, and stay tuned for our complete coverage of the Spring 2011 collections, including reviews of each show by Tim Blanks.
9 February 2010
"It's classic JB," said John Bartlett after his show. "My two obsessions—Ivy League and military." Though the presentation itself was slightly inert (and this is a designer who, in the past, has mounted some of New York's most memorable menswear spectacles), Bartlett clearly benefited from the discipline of playing favorites. The shearling-collared flight jacket was the kind of unambiguously male item the designer does best; likewise, a leather jacket that belted at the side. And trompe l'oeil military details—like the tone-on-tone embroidery on the sleeve of a loden coat, or the knit epaulettes woven into the shoulder of a blouson—added striking textures.Bartlett also opted for sandy tones that brought asaveurof General Montgomery's desert rats to the catwalk. At the same time, he ticked off the mythical totems of the Harvard man (cable-knitted V-necked sweaters, chinos, gab slacks, gingham shirts, corduroy patchworking). The fact that College Boy was sharing runway space with Army Man (desert frats, anyone?) underscored the idiosyncrasy of Bartlett's fashion ethos. Somewhere, Sigmund Freud is smiling.
1 February 2007
John Bartlett's ongoing celebration of all things male took a turn for the patrician this season with a collection that was as scrupulously neat as a new uniform. He described it as a concerted effort to marry tailoring and sportswear, and most outfits had elements of restraint and release. A suit in a shadow glen plaid was paired with woven-rope flip-flops, and dapper shorts with a precise little cuff were worn with a clingy cotton-knit top. In fact, the knitwear generally harked back to the overt sexiness that has always been a Bartlett signature. It clung to the models' six-packs so efficiently that front-row Phil Donahue, an old Bartlett family friend from Dayton, Ohio, days, felt pumping iron would be a prerequisite before he could even go near the clothes. On the subject of harking back, Bartlett name-checked as inspirations the movieSummer of '42and Evan Bachner's photographs of sailors at ease during World War II—more for mood than anything literal, though there was a nostalgic hint of shore leave in the smart but relaxed feel of a pea jacket paired with shorts (cuffed again) and a jacket-shirt-and-pants combo in khaki. (Bartlett also mentioned the French Foreign Legion flickBeau Travailin passing.) The minimal palette—navy, gray, white, khaki—reflected the mood of restraint, until the collection climaxed with a couple of sheer shirts in deep orange and banana-yellow, reminders that boys just want to have fun.
9 September 2006
In his first collection since he was named creative director of the American accessories label Ghurka, John Bartlett went back to his roots, or what he calls "my big bear heart." His show played out like a gathering of Iron Johns, celebrating their manhood in the woods. Bearded, balding, uncompromisingly butch, they strolled a wood-chip boardwalk in duck boots, with sturdy styling to match. A cord jean jacket, for example, was sported shirtless by its rug-chested wearer.Unsurprisingly, it was the outerwear that impressed in this collection, particularly in a duffel coat or the chunky four-pocketed style that's known as a mackinaw, or indeed anything else that evoked L.L.Bean. The knit trim on the pockets of a brown leather blouson or blazer was a nice touch. But the tailored pieces looked a little lumpen, and the sparkly silver hunting jacket was just plain weird (loden green and bark brown make more sense for the Bartlett Man).But then the designer himself has always been partial to a streak of perverse whimsy. Hence the Gay Men's Chorus harmonizing their way through "It's Now or Never" to open the show. Is that how Bartlett himself feels about his place in the fashion firmament?
5 February 2006
The problem with John Bartlett's show—and the collection it presented—stems from the three very disparate influences he cited: Matsuda, Armani, Nikos. Between the fussy dressiness of the Japanese Matsuda and the hard-core muscularity of the Nikos brand, there is a chasm of difference that can't be bridged by Italian-influenced tailoring.Bartlett did offer up a truly perverse selection. First came a trio of office-ready two-button suits, one with the sheen of sharkskin. Shortly afterward, a tasty choc-toned jacket in waxed linen paraded down the runway, in partnership with a crystal-studded cummerbund and washed-satin trousers voluminous enough for Ali Baba. Soon after that, leather jeans appeared on a model so muscled he transported those of sound memory back to the Fire Island fantasia Bartlett mounted for one of his shows in the late nineties.The Matsuda component was evident in pajama-like touches: a poplin shirt with piped edges paired with double-pleated pants; cropped sharkskin drainpipes with a contrast hem; or even the black Henley shown with judo pants, which was Bartlett's pass at a new kind of elegance for evening. But hot on its heels was another overly sculpted muscle man in a wrestler's all-in-one of black velveteen with a crystal racing stripe. Nowthatis a new take on dressing for the night!
8 September 2005
Now in his forties, John Bartlett is on a serious comeback trail, describing the clothes at his Bryant Park presentation as "more formal, with a focus on tailoring." Another big influence for the designer this season was the in-store boutique he'll be opening in Bergdorf Goodman this fall, which might account for the safety net of what he called "grown-up preppy."His latest show was characterized by coats and jackets, with a definite leaning toward gray flannel. But one jacket in printed corduroy looked almost like devore, and another in salt-and-pepper had a country-squire feel. Bartlett has never played fashion purely by the numbers, so the same fearless impulse that led him to dedicate the collection to Irving Penn's "corner" portraits (the ones for which he pushed his famous subjects into existential little cul-de-sacs) was also responsible for a tantalizing waywardness amid all that tailoring. The white velvet pants with the stripes of Swarovski crystals; the flare of cardinal red in a striped sweater; the ultra-long, knitted rock-star scarves (also sighted at Burberry and Dior this season); and the pale-gray pinstriped jacket with the sprinkle of crystals, just like angel's dandruff, at a pocket and the corner of a hem—these were the touches that made one relish Bartlett's renaissance.
3 February 2005
John Bartlett, whose dark, slightly twisted take on preppy menswear won him critical praise and an ill-fated stint at Byblos in the mid-nineties, has been missing from the design scene for the past two years. Now, after a long, soul-searching trip through Asia, he's back with a renewed focus. He's doing things on a smaller scale this time around; acting as his own PR, working out of his Chelsea apartment, concentrating on design. And his spring show, Bartlett said, was another way to check in with his roots.The designer installed his models in the Reading Room at the Harvard Club, this Ivy League grad's first address in New York. In that august atmosphere, all leather-bound volumes and coffered ceilings, his work looked fresh, exciting, and reinvigorated. Hip as he is, Bartlett's devotion is to the canon of tailoring: beautiful lapels, elegant fabrics, crisp fit. "I wanted to explore the parameters of the jacket, shirt, and tie combination," he explained. But in his own way, with a fine-tuned color sense that put acid tones of orange, pink, green, and violet against navy, black, and khaki. And in a season full of slouch, Bartlett stuck to a trim, clean silhouette. "It's an American sensibility, not tight, not complicated," he said. In fact, it all looked just right.
7 September 2004
A wall of nearly naked, whitewashed men served as the backdrop for John Bartlett's runway show, which updated last season's leitmotif of ladylike dressing with a freer, less rigid approach. Kimono shapes have always been important to Bartlett, and in this case they showed up on silk jersey and cotton crepe sleeveless tops, sexy chiffon dresses and even on a "reverse" iron-gray suede dress that Alek Wek wore. There were also several well-cut trousers and a couple of perfect white shirts, as well as a striking wool smoking and a sleeveless, asymmetric talcum-colored leather shift.The liner notes for Bartlett's show explained that rope was his inspiration this season—"erotic, sacred, tightening the knot that frees our duality." Indeed, many looks were accessorized with cords, ranging from a military-inspired sash on Shalom, to a golden knot peeking out from under Angela Lindvall's black jacket. But, ultimately, it was unclear what exactly Bartlett sought to convey—the clothes were cleverly styled, but lacked a powerful message.
20 September 2000
Inspired by such iconic references as the film _Grey Gardens,_The Jockey in Paris and model Lisa Fonssagrives, John Bartlett presented a vamped-up, tongue-in-cheek collection that alluded to a bygone era of whimsical glamour. Bartlett relied on classic prints such as checks, chevron stripes and houndstooth, and reworked them in all shapes and sizes—some blown up so large that they were barely recognizable. Adding to the "erotic heiresses" theme were sexy fuchsia and chocolate leather pieces, capes with high-ruched necks and transparent tops. A couple of figure-hugging, double-knit wool jumpsuits, perfect for après-ski in Aspen, closed the sexy presentation.
9 February 2000
"Charo Meets Che" was the title of John Bartlett's coed show, inspired by photographer and Mexican revolutionary Tina Modotti. Bartlett's "Guerrilla Ballerinas" stormed the runway wearing rust and brown leather slim pants with side laces, bomber jackets, and silk chiffon wrap tops. More formal looks followed, including a black twill luggage coat, georgette pants with gold beading, and gathered nude silk sleeveless tunics.
13 September 1999