September 9, 2007

Spring 2008 might go down as the season of American menswear, but until tonight, that was merely by default. In a gallery space on 26th Street full of menswear cogniscenti (including the designer Victor Glemaud), Tim Hamilton presented a crisp, complex version of sportswear. The Iowa-born designer set 15 well-groomed models atop an elevated platform in his uniform for the American man torn by a utilitarian sense of purpose and a daredevil urge. Reversible bombers and motorcycle jackets came with a parachute pocket, and tightly seamed shorts extended clean lines. Hamilton transitioned between bold, metallic cobalts and duller work fabrics, particularly chambray, and punctuated by shocks of technicolor red.