FALL '13 MENSWEAR PREVIEW: Look for Joseph Abboud's Return To Luxe This Fall

Those of us who remember the 1980s will remember that one of that decade's hottest menswear designers was Joseph Abboud whose classic-American-meets-Italian-luxe collections were mainstays at exclusive stores like Bergdorf Goodman and Louis in Boston. Over the years, the brand has maintained prominence and popularity, but repositioning, changing production issues and a bitter fight that exiled the designer himself from the label that bears his name slowly pushed it just a few rungs down the luxury ladder from where it started, but that should soon be changing. Wednesday night, The Shophound stopped by the Joseph Abboud showroom for our first look at the brand's new Red Label collection, designed to return the Joseph Abboud name back to the luxury status it originally enjoyed.

It's always encouraging to see any brand reclaim its roots, but the Creative Director Bernardo Rojo is not offering a predictable retread of vintage style. He is focused firmly on the future featuring sportswear made from innovative bonded fabrics and leathers. The inspiration for Fall is the space age, and the collection is refreshingly sleek and non-retro, though the rich color palette clevery recalls the label's early glory days. The entire Red Label line will be manufactured in Italy including shoes and luxury accessories in cavallino and ostrich skin. Only tailored clothing will be built in the company's domestic factories. Red Label is launching this Spring exclusively in London at Harrod's, and we don't yet know where it will land stateside this Fall, but if all goes well, you will once again see the label in some of the stores that once let it slip away as it slowly lot its focus on the high end.