Fur Gloves, Leather Daddies, & Tons Of Musk At Michael Bastian

Season after season, we always make a super-special save-the-date for Michael Bastian's show. For prep with a dangerous streak, there's no one we trust more than MB. And, for fall '13, he delivered the clean, streamlined looks as expected. However, this season, he also exposed us to the dark, brooding, and even menacing side of the Boston Brahmin set.

The 2011 CFDA menswear designer of the year got editors buzzing with the actual runway space (a random, gigantic hangar of a spot in the Penn Station 'hood), which was literally pumped with perfume courtesy of luxe fragrance house AEDES. (There was even an epic disclaimer outside stating, "Please note that the space is scented.") But, who doesn't love musk, especially combined with never-ending ceilings, concrete, and a giant redwing blackbird installation. Did it feel like Sunday mass? A little, but awesomely so.

In keeping with the gothic atmosphere, Michael drew inspiration from Maine-based painter Andrew Wyeth, whose pictures Bastian says "always invite you to go deeper — what might look in passing like a simple landscape or portrait always holds darker secrets and invites you to step deeper into his complicated world." Cooly complicated is exactly how we'd describe the pieces — fabricated in an melancholic and ominous color palette of blacks, olives, storm cloud blues, and bark. Sharp suits, capes, boldly patterned sweaters, and, yes, giant fur gloves — worn by models who ran the gamut in looks from dandy to porn star (check out the guy in the denim on denim) to female model Casey Legler's NYFW debut — made for a slick style roller coaster. And, just when we think we've hit rock bottom, Bastian teases us with pops of hunter orange and raincoat yellow. Clearly, we like it when he's moody.