Photos: Teng Phour for models.com
Text: Jonathan Shia
Patrik Ervell’s Fall 2011 show was a culmination of sorts, a chance for the designer, who has quickly turned into one of the leading menswear talents in New York, to revisit a few old favorites. Working again with set designer Matthew Mazzuca—who produced the memorable runway composed entirely of salmon-colored Financial Times last season—Ervell sent his models out past a long wall of billowing cargo parachutes repurposed from the military. The translucent, lightweight fabric was one of the touchstones of Ervell’s earlier collections, when the designer’s interest in progressive and historical materials resulted in such innovations as a luminous jacket made of gold emergency blankets. For Fall, Ervell went outside his comfort zone, playing with volume and proportion with some oversized pieces and presenting several flight suits festooned with zippers interspersed with a few items made of pleather. The overall palette was sombre, mostly grays and blacks with a few jackets in a blurry hand-painted silk twill. The clothes were cool and collected, sharp and focused, but with the edge that is one of Ervell’s trademarks. Belts and baseball caps were finished with braided horsehair straps, and the pant cuffs were rolled up slightly in the personal style of the designer, small effects that demonstrated a clear and unified vision. Ervell can always be counted on for clothes that are uncompromising, sharp and exacting with a hint of insolence. It’s easy to understand why all the models wear his clothes off-duty.
Designer: Patrik Ervell
Casting Director: John Tan
Set Designer: Matthew Mazzucca
Hair: Holli Smith
Makeup: Nellie Kim
Models:
1-(Opening image) Roy Pratt
2-Matthew Hitt
3-Alex Dunstan
4-Finale
5-Kirsten Dunst in a look from Ervell’s upcoming womenswear line (launching soon).
