Joseph Abboud (Q4858)
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Joseph Abboud is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Joseph Abboud |
Joseph Abboud is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
Joseph Abboud’s Fall collection was about “looking back and honoring what makes this country this country,” said the designer. “Immigration. My grandparents came here, through Ellis Island.”Abboud held his runway show at New York’s Pier 16, which is part of the city’s South Street Seaport neighborhood. Through his tent’s clear plastic walls, ship masts tilted and Gotham’s lights started to flicker to life as the sun slid away—we weren’t quite at Ellis Island, but we weren’t far from it. Why this place? “The show always has to be tied into the collection, the whole message,” said the designer. (It was effective—the setting helped the lineup.)The clothes, too, had a sense of historical homage apparent. Layered tailoring, well-worn-in tweeds, mismatched button embellishments, capes, raw edges, and rough washes were all notable, though a more condensed edit would have made for a stronger impression. Kilim-rug patches stood out, as did nostalgic prints of flowers—there was plenty of artisanal, nonindustrial charm.Yet while Abboud clearly has a customer—this was not an inexpensive show, judging by the front row—one couldn’t help but hope for slightly more modernity in the above messaging. Past versus present; every house has a calibration point, and it would have been refreshing to see something not quite so overt here. De-styled and then restyled with sleeker or less busy pieces, there will be loads from which to pick.
5 February 2019
Joseph Abboud staged his dressy Fall show at the Hotel Wolcott on New York’s 31st Street this evening. The designer, in the greenroom where he was conducting interviews, mentioned that it was the setting of Mayor Fiorello La Guardia’s inauguration ball in 1934.Andthat it was the place where survivors of theTitanicstayed when they reached the city. Quite a history for not quite as known a place.Like the location’s eras-past pedigree, Abboud’s clothes harkened a return to formality. “It’s time to reconstruct menswear,” said the designer. “I hate the athleisure thing.” But it’s not like the athleisure thing is or ever really was Abboud’s territory; the man has always been about a suit. Now, though, that decorum has been ramped up. Look after look, in 50,000 shades of gray before other hues surfaced, strutted through the Wolcott’s hidden ballroom. The cast—and it was a strong cast—was decked to the nines in textures from quilting to tweed to carpet-like fabrics, layered with waistcoats and topcoats and sport coats and neckties and bow ties. Generally: the works. To Abboud’s point about reconstruction, some jackets had paneling sewn on the back, a design flourish that emphasized a sort of reparative impetus.The best look was a twist on the tuxedo: Double-breasted in elegant black satin, the jacket boasted finely threaded butterflies over the body. It was styled beneath an officer’s coat with a furry shawl collar. The impression wasn’t necessarily throwback in style, but it did cinch that point about circling back to a certain sartorial etiquette and grace that Abboud wanted. “There’s a . . . star quality to a guy getting dressed up,” he said. Then, with conviction: “It’s pretty sexy to get dressed up again.”
6 February 2018
“It’s about the gothic novel,” said Joseph Abboud before his 30th anniversary fashion show this evening, held at a grand, no-longer-in-use church in New York’s Murray Hill. “And its darkness.”He was referring to his Fall mood—one that tucked itself into a more liturgical palette (black, gray, “stained glass blue”) by drawing inspiration from the “vanity” of Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Gray and the “dark side” of Edgar Allan Poe. “We all have a dark side,” Abboud added, perhaps alluding to the vibe of the times.Yet what manifested wasn’t hard-edged; the designer went for the romance of the shadows, so to speak. Best in show? A black velvet wrap coat, almost priestly in its generous drape and weight, and a surprisingly sporty heather gray topcoat with baroque wire button closures. Suiting is Abboud’s strength; some options were better than others here, though he did rightly make the point that “the suit will never die.” Less convincing, once outside the theater of a runway show and worn IRL, would be the more costumey ideas, like angular blazers with buttoning down the lapel and floral reliefs on merlot-hued velvet. When Abboud offset his historical base points with contemporary constructs, he shone most brightly in the pall.
31 January 2017
Last season, designerJoseph Abboudmarked his return to the runway (he hadn’t shown in 15 years) with a big, splashy–as–New York Men’s–gets type of show. For Spring he softened his thinking—both in terms of staging (guests were invited to a light breakfast at New York’s The Park restaurant) and in regard to his clothes, which nodded to American intrepidness and, embodying that, Ernest Hemingway.Chatting backstage before the presentation, Abboud made an ear-catching remark: “The shape is looser in the pants and in the jackets. With a jacket, though, you don’t want to get rid of the shoulder into the waistline, because then the guy loses his sexiness.” What ensued were raw-edged linen and silk blazers and coats in cream, flax, sand, and floral prints that maintained an airy drift but also held form—one could still see the hard bodies apparent in A-list models like Sean O’Pry, Brad Kroenig, and Garrett Neff. The tailoring decision makes sense—Abboud can’t venture too far into the unexpected or the off-piste, given his brand’s mass appeal and mainstream distribution. So while the entire package was certainly more “fashionable” than what he normally does, he made a smart choice to merchandise it as such that it’ll still sell to guys seeking more classic fits.The trousers might be a little more of a challenge in enticing the Abboud client: They came slightly flared, often roll-cuffed, and some with buttons at the ankle. While they appeared smart for editorial purposes, it would have been helpful to see a few more tapered or slim-fit options. In essence, the entire silhouette seemed old-fashioned, which is fine, Hemingway was indeed Abboud’s wellspring, but a more contemporary consideration might draw a wider audience. An example of a nifty modernization elsewhere: calligraphic prints in faded black, like ink to parchment, on good-looking cross-body bags. Then again, Abboud did admit that the runway is where he gets to play—“if you want a blue suit, we already have you covered.”
13 July 2016
After a 15-year hiatus from staging runway shows,Joseph Abboudreturned to the catwalk today with a rich, confident vengeance. His show was long, strongly cast (Sean O’Pry, Jordan Barrett), well attended (Andy Cohen, Russell Tovey), and stacked deep with what he described as “American Savile Row” looks. Don’t call it a comeback; Abboud didn’t. Rather, he said it was an “ode to great men’s tailoring and the art of styling.”What that resulted in was a distinct Britishism distilled with national bravado; there was something kind of poignant and cool about seeing an American flag–motif scarf walk out whileDavid Bowie’s “Cat People (Putting Out Fire)” blared from the speakers overhead. “Rugged dandyism,” said the designer of the lineup’s mix. The sentiment was most evident in sport coats made of washed velvets, distressed wools, and tweeds (the best of the bunch had a surprise at the turn: vintage buttons, lined up the sleeve to the elbow). An air of ’60s-ness, in fits and flares, permeated the collection. If they were at times overstyled, these clothes will work well when separated and paired with more of-the-moment or low-key pieces. (A distressed chocolate leather jacket would look excellent worn with Loewe’s passport cuff jeans.)Another noteworthy takeaway was Abboud’s inclusion of exclusively red, white, and blue collaborators: The footwear, all wingtips and brogues, came from Allen Edmonds, the Wisconsin-based shoemaker founded in 1922. Feathered hats were the result of a partnership with Albertus Swanepoel, the Manhattan milliner and arguably America’s most well-known hatmaker. And outstanding briefcases in matte leather with thick handles arrived via St. Louis, Missouri’s Rawlings, which was launched way back in 1887. Despite the English glance, Abboud concluded: “We’re proud that all the pieces remained American.”
2 February 2016
After a four-year hiatus, Joseph Abboud made his return to Bryant Park to showcase his Fall 2005 collection. He offered wool cardigans and tweed overcoats in charcoal tones, an assortment of cashmere and paisley looks, pumpkin-colored corduroy pants, and a series of shrunken deerskin blazers and reversed bombers. The latter were indicative of this collection's street-heavy feel, which was further underscored by wrinkled, low-hanging trousers tucked into worn-in boots and complemented by wallet chains. Raw cottons, rugged texture combinations, and layered looks also pushed across a grittier feel for fall.
3 February 2005