The collection includes long and short sleeved tops made of fine quality cotton with minimal designs or richly embroidered with thick cotton lace, metallic zippers and decorative buttons in silver, oxide or black metal. Prints inspired by traditional Nomadic scarves are incorporated into the collection as embroideries or panelling applied to the garments in order to accentuate the male silhouette.

Trousers come in crisp natural cottons, cargo shapes that can be separated from knee, or as strong statements in the form of sculpted leather that can also be seen in three different styles of leather jackets as part of the range ‘Artesanal by Conquistador’. In addition, the varsity jacket is reworked in all natural leather material with detachable sleeves so that it can be styled as a vest.

Conquistador’s choice of colours for the label’s third collection includes dove grey, white, black, and caramel-camel brown hues to resemble nude and sensual tones.

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In addition to shades of olive, moss, and army green, darker tones of green (closer to bottle green or with hints of dark blue or grey) will most certainly enliven men’s wardrobes a year from now in fabrics as diverse as cotton, wool, velvet, cashmere, or leather.

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The first project on which the British Council and the British Fashion Council (BFC) have collaborated, this new showcase is part of the Fashion 2012 Cultural Programme and has been developed to celebrate the year of the Olympics and Paralympics and honour its values of international respect, excellence, equality and friendship. Countries participating in this showcase include Australia, Belgium, Botswana, Caribbean, China, Croatia, Estonia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Sierra Leone, United States and Uzbekistan.

Each country has been asked to present a selection of emerging designers whom they feel most represents the future of fashion in their region. Sarah Mower, BFC Ambassador for Emerging Talent and Contributing Editor to US Vogue, will chair an advisory panel that will judge each piece of work, with an award given to the country that presents the best emerging fashion talent showcase. This will be announced on Sunday 19 February, during London Fashion Week.

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In the shape of layered fabrics or patchwork effects of contrasting textures or of textiles of the same colour in the same garment, fabric panelling or blocking is a very welcome creative device for menswear. At The Style Examiner, we very much look forward to examining the diverse manifestations of what we expect to be one of the most popular trends on the high street for Autumn/Winter 2012.

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Born in Treviso near Venice, Italy, in 1981, Christian Pellizzari took his first steps in fashion by designing and sewing clothes when he was still a young child. At the age of 20 he moved to Florence where he studied at Polimoda Fashion School, Institute of Design and Marketing. After this academic period, he honed his menswear skills for four years at garment making company Tonello before moving to Paris, where he worked in fashion design and production at maison Vionnet and Jay Ahr.

Christian Pellizari’s Spring/Summer 2012 menswear range resorts to a muted and elegant palette that includes cloudy greys, deep blues, and touches of ochre. These colours are used across diverse garments, from unlined sports coats to modern suits, including canvas parkas, leather and suede jackets, avant-garde shirts, tailored pants, and day and evening suits. In addition, the collection is complemented by a range of accessories such as leather sandals, belts, and city/beach back packs, as well as beach towels and scarves printed with the design from Saint Marco’s square floor in Venice.

This is most definitely a collection by a young designer that The Style Examiner intends to follow and keep examining in order to see how his accomplished creations grow in quality over the next few years.

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Born to Turkish parents in 1980 in Stuttgart, Germany, Umit Benan moved to Istanbul when he was two years old. He lived there until the age of 15, dividing his time between school and work at his family’s textile company. After graduating from secondary school in Lugano, Switzerland, he moved to Boston at the age of 18 to study Marketing and Public Relations. During this time he decided to become a fashion designer and spent his summers in Milan taking drawing lessons. Upon earning his degree, Benan moved to Milan to enrol in a Master’s programme in Fashion Design at the Marangoni Institute. Over the subsequent two years he alternated between styling courses at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London and long periods at his father’s side in Istanbul learning all about textile techniques.

At 24, he returned to the US and enrolled in the pattern making course at Parsons The New School for Design. In 2009, after gaining some work experience with a few fashion designers, he launched his eponymous label Umit Benan, and his second collection won the first men’s edition of the Who’s On Next competition organized by Alta Roma in cooperation with Pitti Immagine and L’Uomo Vogue.

In a photo show conceived as the first step for the collection, Benan describes Nino Cerruti’s lifestyle, portraying moments of relaxation or work between Cerruti and his children and closest friends, within the context of the Lanificio (wool mill). This atmosphere then gave way to imaginary future scenes where teens of the third generation (the protagonists of modern time) gather on a hot Summer afternoon in garments borrowed or inspired by ‘old school’ style in an assertive, yet naively timeless natural approach.

The palette is characterized by bright colours such as yellow, burgundy and strawberry red, alongside more traditional Summer shades such as navy blue, denim and cream, with graphics of micro dots, macro checks and vintage stripes.

The fabrics, from the Lanificio Cerruti, are as natural and pure as possible: silk, linen, cotton, fine wool, viscose, and leather. As for the adopted silhouette, the concept of oversize and casual stretching is predominant in an hour-glass shape that emphasizes the upper part of the body while remaining close-fitting on the hips and once again looser in the lower part. To stress this shape and suggest a concept of relaxed and comfortable masculine style, the square lines of the broad and well-defined shoulders are interrupted by airy and fluid trousers. Other features of the collection include high-waisted trousers, deconstructed shirts, Bermuda shorts with a minimal shape, safari jackets, and casual jackets inspired by pyjama tops.

The Third Generation Italians’ dressing style is intended to reflect a timeless, yet modern contrast between a still undefined personality and a serious attitude, between physical immaturity and a measured adult dressing style. The old-fashioned style is revealed in a modern interpretation of fashion where luxury is exalted and underlined by a simplicity veering on casual.

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In 2007 Matt and Naomi Noffs started The Street University, a free educational, artistic and recreational centre for young people in South-West Sydney, in Australia, under the umbrella of the Ted Noffs Foundation. Two years later Matt and his brother Rupert (both employees at the foundation) came up with the idea of a shoe company whose profits would sustain it, and Gideon Shoes was born.

Their first step was to head to Asia in early 2010 to find a manufacturer but, after visiting factories filled with adults and children working in unacceptable conditions, it soon became obvious to the brothers that Gideon Shoes had to be manufactured in a sustainable and local format. As such, production of Gideon Shoes started taking place in Australia, the Noffs’s home country, under ethical, safe and monitored conditions, and from Australian materials, including cane toad hide and kangaroo leather.

In addition to raising funds for charitable purposes and being guided by a conscientious attitude towards footwear production, Matt and Rupert Noffs have also allowed for Gideon Shoes to develop stylish designs that have made their shoes very popular. Their models include trainers made of shiny materials and thick white soles, and ‘The Giving Shoe’, made of fair-trade organic cotton and natural rubber, whose profits go to the Ted Noffs Foundation‘s Street University initiative.

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Under the creative direction of Dirk Schoenberger, the label’s current collection includes a series of minimalist garments where divergent shapes and themes abound to create flattering silhouettes. This is achieved in the contrast between clothes such as wide-legged pleated trousers and tight shirts and jumpers, or by resorting to asymmetrical hem lines contrasting with precise vertical and horizontal stitching. In addition, traditional tailoring is deconstructed by removing sleeves from suit jacket, by exploring the design possibilities of the staple white shirt, or by introducing fastening strips or zips in unexpected parts of a garment.

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A less structured fit is introduced for the warmer weather, in lightweight fabrics such as linen, cotton, and cotton/linen mix, creating a softly tailored look. The double-breasted jacket remains a key style for spring/summer and is updated in royal blue mohair. The palette includes khaki, stone, sand, and indigo, complemented with an updated classic collection of greys and blues. Shirts are all in slim fit and, whereas collarless shirts in washed fabrics accompany the unstructured fit of the lighter weight suits, the classic shirts gain subtle texture to create the look.

Philip and Brix Smith Start started their eponymous brand ‘Start’ in London’s Shoreditch in 2002. Initially, the couple’s original store comprised both men’s and women’s wear with an emphasis on jeans. In 2004, the womenswear range gained its own premises across the street and in 2008 Philip set up his own men’s formalwear label, Mr Start. Specialising in tailored suits, Mr Start now occupies its own store neighbouring the womenswear Start store and has a representation of shirts and ties in London’s department store Selfridges. Mr Start’s clothes can also be purchased online.

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The Design Museum has unveiled plans to create the world’s leading museum of design and architecture at the former Commonwealth Institute building in Kensington, London.

Designs for the site (that was completed in the 1960s but that has been unused for over a decade) have been produced by John Pawson (responsible for redesigning the interior of the Grade 2* listed building) and OMA (who planned the surrounding residential development).

The new building will open to the public in 2014, giving the Design Museum three times more space than its current venue at Shad Thames on the Southbank to showcase its collection. The museum aims to double its visitor numbers to 500,000 a year and expand its education and public events programme considerably.

Despite the ambitious plans to improve public access to design, when seeing John Pawson’s interiors (provided by Alex Morris Visualisation), The Style Examiner could not help but feeling that the nostalgic elegance of the building as it currently stands (as in the photos by Luke Hayes) can, in fact, be much more appealing than the proposed plans.

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