Up Close & Personal, Thom Browne Brings His Man-Child Tailoring Into Sharper Focus

One of our favorite parts of Fashion Week is discovering what kind of outrageous, fantastical ideas Thom Browne has up his sleeve. While he usually favors more dramatic, high-impact displays (a circus, a fleet of ice-skaters), this season, he turned down the volume, showing his latest menswear collection in a more intimate way right in his Tribeca shop. With just a few feet separating us from the blue-lipped, mesh-masked models, we were really able to see all the twists and turns that typically set him apart. Flashes of sequins, long reversed aprons, and jackets with giant cut-outs didn't distract from the pristine tailoring but instead amplified it. He did his usual mixing of plaids and pinstripes--but intertwined with seersucker and all his signature shrunken staples, it seemed as fresh as menswear can get.