This best thing to ever happen to Swedish clothing giant Gant, Michael Bastian delivered a terrific inaugural collection of men’s sportswear, under the label “Gant by Michael Bastian,” with the undercurrent of lacrosse in mind. Having never picked up a stick or even attended a game, Bastian was inspired by an article on the sport he read in The New Yorker–one that provided for him a new insight into the game. Staged inside a gymnasium in SoHo, Bastian designed a collection that offered something for every stylish male–and the aspiring. Working with a locker-room tableaux vivant, there were the ubiquitous plaid shirts, but beyond that, there were windowpane blazers, preppy topcoats, lace-up rugby shirts and slim trousers (including khakis in the brand’s heritage) in a variety of fabrications. Athletic mesh detail on the lapels was indicative of Bastian’s eye for detail–all of which is priced at one-third of his namesake designer line. The buzz at the presentation was that what Ralph Lauren did for Rugby, Bastian is doing for lacrosse (note: Barneys has already bought the entire collection for all its Co-op stores nationwide). FOGO anyone? (That’d be “Face Off, Get Off.”)
