January 17, 2006

Johan Lindeberg may have taken his own lanky frame as the starting point for his latest collection, but the items that really registered in his show were a handful of trousers that offered a silhouette so full, they amounted, in one case at least, to a "paper-bag" waist. They seemed to be a comfortable alternative to the pipe-cleaner silhouette that Hedi Slimane and his imitators have made the catwalk norm for men. Worn with a wheat rollneck sweater, these particular pants suggested succor, not strain.

Lindeberg, however, is rock 'n' roll at heart, and the looks that mean the most to him and his wife (and muse) Marcella are those that suggest life lived on the razor's edge, where his current poster boy, Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan, has teetered time and again. So there was an abundance of cropped skinny jackets, tight little waistcoats, and jeans as fitted as a leotard. Bridging the gap between rock and a soft place were droopy low-closing cardigans and billowing nylon coats.

For those forearmed with the knowledge that belts account for an astonishing 8 percent of Lindeberg's $50-million-plus turnover, it was impossible not to scrutinize the models' waistlines during the show. The take-away? A soup-to-nuts array of cinched-in style.

— Tim Blanks