Ruffian designers Brian Wolk and Claude Morais will launch a Williamsburg-inspired collection under the Thread & Heirs label in March in 200 Macy’s stores across the country. But isn’t the hipster look a little tired? “You know, they always say St. Tropez — everyone goes to St. Tropez to see what the next trend is going to be in fashion. In a weird way I think Williamsburg is kind of the St. Tropez of New York fashion,” Wolk told us at a preview of the line yesterday. And if Middle America hasn’t embraced skintight pants yet, never fear! Because Ruffian’s Macy’s collection includes no bottoms, only tops. But if they had made men’s bottoms, they wouldn’t have been tight.
Photo: Sally Holmes
“I think it’s the hipster ahead of the hipster in Manhattan,” said Morais. “I feel like we’ve seen that jeans are getting a little less styled, and getting almost boyfriend-y looking on boys, which is kind of fresh — rolled up, lots of lumberjack clothes.” Wolk agreed: “I think we got really close to the body and now it’s starting to move away from the body. I mean, I don’t think it’s big yet, but I think it’s starting to. But I mean, you look at Rock Hudson, you look at James Dean, you look at all those archetypes of American fashion and I think that’s what people are really desiring now.”
Macy’s men’s fashion director Durand Guion said the Ruffian duo were a perfect choice for the capsule collection even though they hadn’t done menswear in five years. “Once we met them, you know, they weren’t talking about, ‘We’re going to do it in lace!’” he said.
Earlier: At Last, Macy’s Introduces a Designer Diffusion Line Exclusively for Men
