Perry Ellis creative director Michael Maccari reinterpreted menswear essentials for fall-winter 2016. Looking to landscape images for inspiration this season, Maccari honed in on the concept of textures and colors that appear abstract close-up, but simple from afar. Explaining the idea, Maccari shared, “We’ve been playing with the idea of images appearing differently in the distance than they do up close―like landscapes.” He continued, “When you step back, you start to get the bigger picture of shape and proportion, but when you get closer, that image is actually made up of many complicated textures and colors.”
Making the idea a reality, Maccari examined the work of American painter Richard Diebenkorn, borrowing from his use of layered, colorblocked shapes and reinterpreting them as micro prints with a seasonless color palette. Referencing the 1960s and 70s, relaxed shapes formed the collection’s framework. Here, slouchy trackpants, chunky sweaters, distressed denim jeans, oversized coats, short denim jackets and patterned knitwear come together for an impressive outing that perfectly captured the relaxed spirit of American menswear.
