the PIPELINE: Style on Tap

• July 2, 2008 11:00 AM
• News

Legends of the Fall: John Varvatos & Converse Deliver Another Cool Collection

By Gabriel Bell

Maybe it's because we're knee-deep in the men's spring collections from Milan and Paris, or maybe it's because our A/C is on the fritz, but the cool breezes of fall have been on the brain. Lucky us, a reminder of colder days to come landed in our inbox yesterday—the new Converse by John Varvatos casualwear collection for fall.

Just like the previous season, a favorite in these parts, the new fall line from Converse by John Varvatos is a solid balance of clean-cut American standards and rock-chic. Now, we realize the line rests on the shoulders of a shoe collection that began when Varvatos ripped the laces right out of the classic Chucks, creating a new variant on the timeless icon. But thumbing through this lookbook, it was the clothes that got us hot (or was that the A/C cutting out again?).

Varvatos has added more edge this time, using military troupes for both men and women (most successfully in a women's corded leather jacket with brass buttons). There's also a clever mix of sport elements (sweatsuit jackets for the boys) and glam flourishes (sequined pants for the girls). There's a cheetah pattern jacket that's cut conservatively, but still has a bit of trash rocker in it, and a handful of men's blazers that could easily work at either dinner with the 'rents or the Bowery Ballroom. Now, just 83 days till fall.

For more information, go to www.converse.com.

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