COLLABORATION ANTICIPATION: GAP x GQ's Best New Menswear Designers Collections Are Now In Stores

Image: GAP.com

For the fifth year running and celebrating the program's 10th season GAP and GQ have collaborated on capsule collections from the magazine's picks for the Best New Menswear Designers in America. This time, as was announced earlier this year, it's an all-star team featuring returning MVPs Steven Alan, Saturday's NYC, John Elliott and, a three time winner, Michael Bastian (all pictured above). The collections appeared in store today and on Gap.com and, as in past seasons, offer some classic, signature looks from each designer including double layered tees, stretchy ripped jeans and a well-priced moto jacket from Elliott, tailored shirts, khakis and slim tweed coat from Alan, graphic sportswear from Saturdays and typically eclectic separates from Bastian. You'll find them in Manhattan's more prominent Gap locations including Fifth Avenue in both Midtown and the Flatiron District, The Upper West Side, Greenwich Village, Herald and Times Squares to name a few. As always, eager shoppers should act fast. Elliott's collection sold out almost to the piece within a day in 2014, and though Gap's merchandisers have ordered accordingly, popular pieces are already running low, like his double layered tees. Another caveat is that while prices have generally been somewhat higher than regular Gap fare, this season, they are a bit higher than they have been, but still substantially less expensive than any of these designers' regular lines. Online shopping is also a great option but note that the lines are not included in Gap.com's myriad price promotions, at least not initially, so sometimes it pays to wait, but if you have been waiting months for these collections to hit, you should act now.

 

COLLABORATION ANTICIPATION: GQ Announces An All-Star Edition Of The Best New Menswear Designers In America

Image: GQ.com

Every year around this time we look to see who GQ Magazine has anointed as its Best New Menswear Designers In America. For its 10th Anniversary Edition, the publication has given the current crop of burgeoning men's designers a little more time to ripen before the spotlight shines on them, and picked a group of alumni to celebrate the program's success. This year's returning honorees include Michael Bastian, who was among the first year's picks and returned again in 2011. He is back for an unprecedented third time in the program. Also among this year's all-star group are designer/retailer Steven Alan first picked in 2008, John Elliott who was last seen in the group in 2014 and Morgan Collett, Colin Tunstall and Josh Rosen of Saturdays NYC from the class of 2012.
The designers have all evolved in ways since the last time GQ first picked them out of the crowd. Bastian has built his own brand and established popular multi-season collaborations with Gant and Uniqlo. His latest project is launching his own less expensive secondary collection. Steven Alan has expanded his retail empire since 2008 as well as branched out into eyewear and home collections. The Saturdays NYC team have also expanded their retail footprint, and John Elliott has exploded his offerings from a cult tee and sweatshirt label to a fully fledged collection.
The designers will be featured in the upcoming issue of GQ and will debut their capsule collections for The Gap this September for as long as they last in stores which, historically, hasn't been for more than a hot minute or two.

Here Are GQ's 2016 Best Menswear Designers in America (GQ.com)

COLLABORATION ANTICIPATION: Adam Lippes x Target, Uniqlo And Lemaire & Gap x GQ's Best New Menswear Designers In America All Hit Stores This Week

In a particularly bountiful season for designer collaborations, this is a big week for a good portion of this fall's most anticipated collections. Adam Lippes for Target, Gap x GQ's Best New Menswear Designers in America 2015 (pictured above) and Uniqlo and Lemaire all arrive on store racks this week. Let's review them below so you can prepare yourselves for a potential stampede to the mall.

First up is Adam Lippes's plaid infused line for Target which dropped yesterday morning in stores and online. Oddly, it has not caused the kind of excitement that some of the popular chain's other collabs have. Perhaps it is because it is only a component of Target's larger tartan-promotion for the fall season, or maybe it is just because the chain hasn't really invested in the same level of advertising for it as they have for other past collaborations —seen any TV ads?. Regardless, it looks great in photos and a few pieces appear to have already sold out online. The collection includes both men's and women's apparel including plus sizes as well as accessories and items for the home and even pets. It has a luxe, casual feeling, and it looks like a sleeper, so don't put off an in-store visit.

Over the past four years, Gap x GQ's Best New Menswear Designers in America has become one of the most highly anticipated collaborations of the year thanks to some stylish, fast-shopping men who cleared the racks of last year's crop in record time. It officially drops tomorrow, but if you text "GQ" to 36888 to sign up, then you can shop online starting right now. You will want the head start. This year's group of official up-and-comers- includes NSF, The Hill-Side, David Hart and STAMPD, each one filling its own separate niche in the range of men's fashion. Some potential fast sellers (pictured above) include NSF's washed leather hoodie with sherpa lining for $450, STAMPD's black leather backpack with a white stripe for $195, master tailor David Hast's tweed sport coat and trousers for $150 and $98 respectively, and the Hill-Side's quilted camo-print bomber for $130. There are tons of great items to be had from each designer, and online shopping is recommended for the best selection. We don't have an official list of NYC stores, but typically, the Gap locations with the best selections are the Fifth Avenue flagship, which usually devotes the little side-store to the collaboration, the Flatiron location on lower Fifth Avenue, The Herald Square and Times Square stores and the Upper West Side location near Lincoln Square. As always, shop early for this one.

Finally, Uniqlo and Lemaire (above) will be released online and in stores this Friday October 2nd. This luxurious looking collaboration for men and women has been generating an enormous amount of online anticipation, particularly for those who have been waiting for a sophisticated follow up to the chain's much loved +J collection. The knitwear pieces for men and women look especially enticing, but the stylish basics throughout the line all look like winners. While a fraction of the collection will be available in every Uniqlo store, only a very select group of stores worldwide will have the complete line in stock including the Fifth Avenue Flagship and West 34th Street locations exclusively in the entire United States. Chicago shoppers will also have the complete line at their upcoming store on Michigan Avenue, but not until it opens later this month. As far as we know, those stores will have regular hours on Friday, but look for the lines outside the doors that we used to see on the +J launch days of years past when the SoHo Uniqlo was the only one in America.

Of course, there are still big collaborations coming from Carine Roitfeld and Uniqlo and, probably the 800 pound gorilla of the season, H&M x Balmain coming in late October and mid-November, so shoppers may want to pace themselves, but the season is getting off to a strong start right now. Plan carefully.

COLLABORATION ANTICIPATION: GQ Announces 2015's Best New Menswear Designers

It's that time of year again, when we can start anticipating the capsule collections from GQ's Best New Menswear Designers that will appear sometime this fall at selected Gap locations. 2015's chosen four are David Hart (pictured above), Stampd by Chris Stamp, NSF by Nick Freidberg and Jamie Haller and The Hill-Side by Sandy and Emil Corsillo. GQ has hit all the bases with the cali-casual NSF and Stampd that will coordinate nicely with last year's breakout John Elliott & Co. The Hill-Side's Corsillo Brothers also run Hickoree's, that seminal heritage-artisanal-handcrafted shopping destination in Williamsburg that helped to spearhead the heritage menswear wave that will either delight or bore you, and Hart is a classicist in the mold of BNMDA alumni designers like Michael Bastian, Todd Snyder and Brooklyn Tailors who emerged as one to watch during last month's shows with not only his own line but his smartly styled relaunch of Hickey Freeman as it prepares for yet another relaunch and repositioning.
Hopefully, the group will turn out another set of winning capsule collections for the Gap. Last year's selections from Elliott and En Noir sold out nearly immediately, so when these collaborations hit, they hit pretty big. Stay tuned for updates and previews as they drop in advance of the collections release this fall.

GQ's Best New Menswear Designers in America (Official Page at GQ.com)

COLLABORATION REDUX: GQ's Best New Menswear Designers Drop A Holiday Encore At The Gap

This year's crop of up-and-coming menswear designers as chosen by GQ did very nicely with their annual collaborations at the Gap this Fall. Some of the lines nearly sold out on the first day, so to give fans just a little bit more, they are dropping a six-piece capsule collection on December 15th, just in time for the Holidays. Brooklyn Tailors will offer a smart, coordinated shirt and tie combination. M.Nii has a cozy fleece-lined zip hoodie. John Elliott + Co. has made a gray, wool shirtjacket, and En Noir has made a sleek leather backpack and toiletry bag. See a slideshow preview of the items HERE, and look for them at select Gap stores and online on the 15th.

Exclusive: The GQ for Gap BNMDA 2014 Holiday Collection (The GQ Eye)

THIS YEAR'S CROP: GQ Announces This Year's Best New Menswear Designers With Gap Capsule Collections In The Works

If it's late March, then it's time for the editors of GQ to survey the menswear landscape and find the front runners among the new labels aspiring to take up space in the wardrobes of stylish, American men. The four winners this year run the gamut from streetwear to surfwear to suiting, and include a couple of labels that are barely two years old. Each will each receive a $10,000 price and the opportunity to raise their profiles with capsule collections for the Gap to be launched in the Fall. Here are this year's winners, pictured above from left to right:

John Elliott & Co., which GQ calls "the Tom Ford of sweatpants" was launched in 2012 featuring deceptively modern takes on everyday staples like t-shirts, sweats, denim and biker jackets. The line is available through the namesake designer's website, at Atruim in NoHo and Brooklyn, as well as at a smattering of other influential retailers like Fred Segal and American Rag Cie in Los Angeles.

M.Nii, a Hawaiian custom trunk maker from the mid 20th Century was revived by designer John Moore in 2011 to produce modern surfwear with a dash of sophistication. "I’m not so into wearing a giant logo across my chest anymore.", the designer tells GQ.

Brooklyn Tailors comes direct from Williamsburg where Daniel Lewis makes sleek, modern suits with the kind of quality and meticulous custom detailing generally not commonly found in off-the-rack fashion. Find it at Barneys here as well as in several boutiques in Japan.

En Noir is another label started only in 2012, but designer Rob Garcia already counts Pusha T and A$AP Rocky among his fans. He has gotten swift acclaim for luxe streetwear in mostly black leathers and knits. Find it at Barneys and Patron Of The New in New York as well as boutiques like Union in L.A. and The Webster in Miami Beach.

In its eighth year, GQ's prize has proved to be an effective launching pad for designers like Alexander Wang, Michael Bastian, Mark McNairy and Todd Snyder to name just a few success stories. Start saving up now for the capsule collections that should show up at the Gap in mid-September.

TODAY'S H&M NEWS: Opening Ceremony To Sell H&M's Design Awards Winner + COS Coming To SoHo + All Of Isabel Marant's Men's Looks

There's a truckload of news coming out of H&M today.
First on deck is the unusual occasion of H&M selling its wares in another store, and the impressive surprise of that store being New York's epicenter of directional design, Opening Ceremony. The Swedish chain's 2013 Design Award winner, Minju Kim will debut her collection (pictured at right) at select H&M stores on October 17th as well as at Opening Ceremony's New York, Los Angeles and London stores. It's the first time that H&M has partnered with another retailer, and Opening Ceremony's participation suggests that this new designer will be someone to watch. Born in Korea and schooled at The Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium, Minju's manga-inspired collection was selected by a jury of fashion experts, and in about three weeks, you'll get a chance to see it for yourself.

The next bit of news concerns H&M's more sophisticated and expensive brand COS —which stands for Collection Of Style. Heretofore unavailable in the United States the brand will make its stateside debut sometime next year at an as yet undisclosed location somewhere 129 Spring Street between Greene and Wooster Streets in SoHo. No word yet on how big or extensive the store will be, but it's website —which does not ship to the U.S.— shows collections for Women, Men and Children. Hopefully, more details will emerge soon.

And lastly, this week has seen excitement for the upcoming Isabel Marant pour H&M collaboration collection increase exponentially as images of the offerings mede their way onto the internet via a variety of blogs and websites. Today, GQ was the first to present a detailed imagery from the men's section of the capsule collection including prices. They are Marant's first men's designs, and probably the only ones you will see from her in a while. The good news is, they translate the designer's eclectic boho vibe quite well for men including great outerwear pieces, jeans that are embellished just enough, and some easy tees and sweatshirts. The bad news is they won't be cheap. The jeans are $99, the terrific brass buttoned peacoat is $299, and the suede ankle boots are $199. The prices are in line with last year's ill-fated Maison Martin Margiela project. While we hope Marant's collection does better with shoppers than that one did (and it looks like it probably will) H&M wasted no time in marking down excess Margiela merch within a few weeks of the launch. In the event that guys are not quite ready for Marant's chunky sweaters and skinny, decorated jeans, more adventurous shoppers with paitence may find some bargains.
Have a look at more of Minju Kim's collection and some of Isabel Marant's key men's items in the gallery below. 

Bombshell: H&M's COS Is Coming to NYC! Specifically, Soho! (Racked)
Every Isabel Marant x H&M Menswear Piece (With Prices) (The GQ Eye)

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COLLABORATION ANTICIPATION: What To Buy From GQ's Best New Menswear Designers In America X Gap

This morning, four new capsule collections arrived in selected Gap stores and at Gap.com from the most important up-and-coming menswear designers as chosen by the wise folks at GQ. This year's roster is a little bit smaller than last year's, but also a bit more varied featuring updated Savile Row inspiration from Liam and Sammy Fayed of Bespoken, a purist's take on denim from Matt Baldwin of Baldwin, West Coast surf & skate style from Paige Mycoskie of Aviator Nation and accessory artisanry from New York's Ernest Alexander Sabine of Ernest Alexander. There has been very little in the way of previews, but the collections are now fully available —mostly only in New York City and Los Angeles. Only 30 stores in the entire chain are selling the project, and we are lucky to have the widest availability with 10 of them here in New York —plus Garden State Plaza in Paramus (see below for the full listing). The Los Angeles area has only five, and most other major cities have only a single location that will offer the collections. Everything will be available online for as long as they last.

This morning, we got our first look at the items online. There are lots of great pieces, but here are our must-haves from each designer:

Aviator Nation's Reversible Vest - $88
This collection is super beachy and skateboard-y with a heavy 1970s vibe which is a fun but very specific look. This vest reverses to the opposite color combination (blue body & brown corduroy yoke), and is the one piece that won't make you look like you got lost looking for a half-pipe.

Baldwin's Twill Cargo Pant - $78
We promised ourselves we wouldn't buy one more thing in camouflage print, but then we broke that promise so all bets are off. Camo is here to stay and theses are the pants to have, especially with those handy but streamlined cargo pockets, and a muted, alternative color combination. These won't last too long in stores. If you really have dosed on camo, they also come in blue slate —or just get them both. Pants from Baldwin's regular line retail for around $200.

Bespoken Suede Baseball Jacket - $348
It's the most expensive piece in the whole collection (and probably at the Gap in general), but gray suede is the thing right now and baseball jackets are coming back strong, so this thing is genetically engineered to be the best jacket ever. It's also the only piece of apparel in the Bespoken capsule that isn't described as having a "slim fit", but knowing this label, it is still probably cut very narrowly, so be warned. We are estimating that a similar type of jacket in Bespoken's main collection would retail for around $800 to $1000 at minimum.

Ernest Alexander Waxed Cotton Duffel and Tote - $118 and $88
Okay, we couldn't choose between these two pieces, so just get them both. We can't imagine them not being endlessly useful. Both are in a sturdy waxed cotton with a touch of nylon for extra durability with real leather trim and a signature orange lining. Similar styles in the main Ernest Alexander collection are $395 and $225

GAP x GQ's Best New Men's Designers in America available at Gap.com and Gap stores at:
Astor Place & Broadway, NoHo
23rd Street & Eighth Avenue, Chelsea
34th Street & Broadway, Herald Square
42nd Street & Broadway, Times Square
48th Street & Sixth Avenue, Midtown
54th Street & Fifth Avenue, Midtown
59th Street & Lexington Avenue, Upper East Side
67th Street & Broadway, Upper West Side
Queens Center, Elmhurst
Roosevelt Field Center, Garden City Long Island
Garden State Plaza, Paramus New Jersey