Fashion Week and the Atrocity of Michael Bastian

Fashion week is sort of a non-event this year, and I’m not even sure why. The clothes are okay? People went kind of nuts for Marc Jacobs but I found it pretty and cold and overly sensible (with one notable exception, pictured). And as far as stuff for men to wear? Hoo boy.

Well, we’ve stridently noted that Michael Bastian, the former “fashion director” for Bergdorf Men’s who then calculatedly became a designer in 2006, is insanely expensive, particularly for clothes that look like they’ve been left balled-up on a floor in Williamsburg. The attraction of his clothes is that they are really well-made versions of groovy old things you might find fraying in some thrift store, like this actually kind of great little ski jacket. (Because, you know, I’m always so busy hanging out around my faux ski lodge, before hopping on my Vespa.) But honestly one cute jacket and one cute pair of pants, and it all costs one million dollars?

Finally we agree with something Eric Wilson wrote in the Times! “The clothes are technically all-American preppy classics with a modern trim fit, but so are those of J. Crew and Gant. And Mr. Bastian just designed a great-looking line for Gant that will cost a lot less than his $600 shorts.” Yes.

I mean, I kind of want to pay $40 for all of this at H&M.; The Wall Street Journal undermined him this way: “But Mr. Bastian seemed to be pushing himself beyond what some critics believe his clothes to be: ridiculously-priced interpretations of J. Crew.” Oh yes, “some critics” again. Those some critics are always so busy.