Bottega Veneta Spring 2010 Men´s.

Tomas Maier's exploration of male American archetypes has generated some mighty fine pieces of clothing in the eight years since he took the helm at Bottega Veneta, but he might have outdone himself for Spring 2010.

Simon Tham

The first hint was in the hairdos created for the show by star tonsorialist Guido Palau.


It was a sticky-uppy, urgent look—hair for a young man in a hurry.


And where might he be going? Well, a baseball jacket opened the show, then there was an army-ish group followed by tailored pieces in Chinese red and the pinks and oranges of a tropical sunset (also, exotic floral motifs and a blouson in red silk).


Next came an extraordinary tie-dye moment, and, finally, denims paired with a midnight-blue tux jacket—quintessential all-American casual dressiness.


The arc was unmistakably cinematic: young sporting star enlists, gets caught up in some Southeast Asian military adventure—with attendant psychedelic freak-out—and returns home as decorated hero.


Okay, maybe I'm under the influence of the florid shade Maier labeled "fever red," and maybe what we saw really was a statement about mixing up formal and sporty with nary a care for rules (that would be the tailored jacket-and-sweatpants ensemble), but kudos to the designer for projecting such extraordinarily vivid images in his audience's mind, however delusional they/I might be.


There is a seductive off-kilter quality to BV, perhaps due to Maier's own outsider status in the U.S.


A purple pop sock peeks out from under a chunky oxford, a jacket shoulder is peaked just that side of extreme, and that show-opening baseball jacket is light as a feather.


Ambiguous allure allied with consummate technique? It's a TKO.


I should add, however, that the bags are never anything less than unambiguously sell-the-kids covetable.

Rene Rodriguez

Simon Tham