Everything was light and easy at the Obakki Spring 09 Fashion Show. The show was part of the contemporary community's attempt at reviving men's fashion week in New York. No matter who sponsors this, if it all works out, we hope that men's fashion week will be known just as 'Pier 92'--it just sounds so cool.

Anywho, the Canadian brand Obakki, headed by designer Treana Peake, is all about super refined pieces that are clean and easy. Everything from Spring 09 looked light as air and mix and matchable. The palate was diverse but most of the shades were toned down to their most muted versions (punctuated by the occasional jolt of color). Our favorite looks were, for women, a pair of smart grey trousers and lab-like overcoat, and for men, a classic blue shirt, buttoned up all the way, paired with dusty blue trousers, rolled up at the bottom. It's the kind of smart, type-A clothing that makes you want to gut your wardrobe and give your desk a Muji makeover. A welcomed aesthetic, if you ask us.

A very interesting article landed on our desk this morning (teehee). Portfolio's Lisa Marsh wrote an article on the discord between the menswear shows and buying season. She used this week's 'abbreviated schedule' of men's shows that took place in accordance with the trade shows happening in New York right now, Capsule, Collective, and Project, as a talking point for whether a men's fashion week would ever pick up in New York. Basically, about a decade ago, there was such a thing and it came after Milan and Paris in July. American designers, felt their collections weren't given enough attention because of this (no one wants to be the third in line and right before women's kicks off) so they started moving their showings to Milan instead. And the rest is recent history. New York's men's fashion week kind of faded away and now, we're left with the remnants. Yesterday we were meant to attend the Obakki show but had a really intense (but fun) shoot that ran late. Normally a show and a shoot wouldn't have even been scheduled on the same day to avoid that exact problem but we figured we would already have covered Capsule and wouldn't need to see some random runway presentation--if worse came to worse. What we found out today, in the article, was that the Obakki show was part of a handful of shows happening this week that are trying to revive a menswear week in New York. It was, to our surprise, kind of an organized 'let's revive men's fashion week' thing. Well, brand reps, you could have fooled us! We certainly appreciate the invitation but wish we'd know that the show had a context. In the end it's really not anyone's fault. The point is that menswear is experiencing some tricky booking conflicts and will (we hope) sort itself out in the coming years. Everyone says menswear is back in New York (meaning that men are dressing better than ever and the collections from contemporary to high price points are more interesting) and we just hope that means a proper fashion week is in the works.