Cosmic Ideas, Kismet Tailor: Marlon Gobel Spring/Summer 2013 Collection

I grew up with a tailor for a dad.  Having that 'made to measure' influence around the house did interesting things to my wardrobe psyche.  First, I understood tailored clothing different from that of the sweats and tees of my schoolyard rearing.  I saw first hand the labor that went into constructing, say, a pair of pants from a card of measurements and a sharp square of tailor's chalk.  Secondly, it made me respect but also in an odd way be able to approach tailored clothing in a carefree way, having it always in my life.  It was similar to the same way someone who grew up around wealth understands and respects it but also doesn't take it that seriously.  However, my cavalier attitude was more out of being able to have the vision of being comfortable with tailored clothing than just looking at it as clothing to wear on a Sunday morning or to a funeral.

Let me continue on now by prefacing that it would take a good amount of confidence wear much of Marlon Gobel's Spring 2013 collection to a funeral unless paparazzi were skulking outside the funeral parlor.  From the time I saw his very first collection at the Park Avenue Armory some years ago, I sensed that Mr. Gobel was not only an artist but he also understood tailoring enough to be able to comprehensively reinterpret the rules.  Now, this is not to say that Mr. Gobel's suits couldn't be worn for any occasion, but tantamount to a woman wearing a red satin bias cut gown to a black & white ball, his suits command attention.

In the past from Mr. Gobel, I've seen hand-painted nipped blazers and dashing jet-setting playboy references, and for Spring 2013 he offers up a strong outer-worldly tailoring story.  Artistically it was outer-worldly with 3M inspired vividly colored suits but design-wise it was knife-sharp tailoring in sharkskin fabrics that at once screamed natty dandy.  The suits were lean and well executed, some with textured surfaces that danced harmoniously with the light and happily weren't severely thin in cut.  Some of the colors like glassy olives and dewy berries or a sun kissed rosé in lesser skilled hands could've caused raised eyebrows of skepticism but in the adroit hands of Mr. Gobel, one was left more satisfied than skeptical.

Since Mr. Gobel is an artist, there's always an infusion of fantasy in his shows; a kind of transporting, if you will, to the recesses in his mind.  Afterall, it is a fashion show.  However, at the end of the day, the clothing is the story and is what should shine; which they did both literally and figuratively.


MARLON GOBEL • Spring : Summer 2013 "THE STARS" from MARLON GOBEL on Vimeo.