Soundtrack of The Street

I occasionally clomp around the city with my headphones in my ears and try to soundtrack my life. It's not just about what's playing on my i-pod but also where I'm going or what I'm doing that day that makes me complete my day in the city. You sort of look for a balance between how you feel that particular day to choose what music will inspire you to get your drive going in order to have an equilibrium to make progress for the day. Its sort of like how one plays house or tempo friendly music while exercising. The music is inspiration to get the mind right. Similarly, while music is sometimes, a mood board is definitely inspiration for a designer to get their mind right. A mood board is like the visual soundtrack of a collection. The designer goes out, finds inspirations through whatever means, organizes them on a mood board through objects, fabric swatches or pictures and achieves equilibrium for progress when that initial mood board goes on to inspire their collection, the buyers and the consumers.

I think Andrew Buckler was inspired by the pulse of the city. There's a certain vision of existing in the 'jungle NYC' that creates a need for comfort and ease but also a toughness and resiliency to survive the cold days from the elements and people alike. His Buckler line has always been one that combines a British knack for quality and tailoring with a dark Euro aesthetic all under the umbrella of American sportswear. For Fall 2011 it seems to me that from his silhouettes to his runway show on a downtown, gray and frigid Grand Street, he added more punch to his cosmopolitan American vibe by showing a collection the was dabbled in the nattiness of Carnaby St. but hit hard in feel for the downtown urban monolith of NYC.

Models sauntered down the street undeterred by the cold in tough clothing of a mostly dark color palette. Buckler showed a great collection of some of his updated staples, like bomber jackets, peak lapel blazers and some of the best textured knitwear in town. As an owner of some of his drop crotch shorts, it was delightful to see him work them in for this Fall, but with slimmer ankle lengths, modest crotch drops and paired with tailored blazers. His drapey tees and slim trousers under heavy car coats and a very covetable shearling looked right enough for trendiness but also relevant enough for wardrobe building. What was also nice to see was his inclusion of graphic printed tees, 'construction warning' or 'traffic light' bright yellow nuances and his tough elements like an oversized messenger bag worn fanny-pack style and tough as nails boots.

Dark collections can be tough to sell sometimes but in the hands of Buckler, it became more plausible. It wasn't just dark for the sake of being dark. Each piece had that patented tone of Andrew Buckler's strong, cultivated and cheeky design that keeps his customers coming back and makes that dark pulse of the city that much less foreboding.