Designer Spotlight #1 - Spy on Henry Lau

The world of fashion as we see it revolves around four urban centres: New York City, London, Paris and Milano. What most of us fail to consider is that fashion does not exist only in the Western World and that many designers bring innovation into fashion on the other side of the world, in the urban centres of Asia.

Henry Lau of SPY HENRY LAU is one of Hong Kong's most prolific and talented up and coming young designer. His style is a mixture of both western  and autochtonous, eastern, elements which compared to the entrenched  cuts, styles and materials of western fashion is a much welcomed breath of fresh air. Modifying what have become the dull standards of fashion design, Henry Lau reinvents classic garments by adding superfluous shawl necks to t-shirts, playing with asymmetry in button placement or relocating collar tabs in shirts. My only big peeve when it comes most any Asian designers and their clothing is that they seem to have the impression that all humans are of one size and that their clothes should therefore be sold in only one 'free-fitting" size. While Henry Lau's website mentions that he would like to expand his customer base to Europe and the United States, I would like to offer him the friendly advice that he should look into building garments in different sizes if he wishes to succeed on these markets.

Here are my favourite Henry Lay items which you can purchase here.

1. Loose Sarouel Pants - $102 ; 2. Shawl Collared Checked Shirt - $102 ; 3. Stylish Plain Shirt - $90; 4.  V-neck Tee with Tie Scarf - $102; 5. Stripe Shirt - $90; 6. Cropped Length Check Shirt - $77; 7. V-neck Knit - $103; 8. Shorts with patchwork details - $90   

Fashion Forward #1 - Drop and Give Me Harem

Even though I've featured the Harem pant before, I love the following pair in particular. The bunching up at the calves combined with the front row of buttons brings a little edginess and unconventionality to the whole outfit. My only problem with them and with most of the amazing clothes I have found on YESSTYLE is that they are constructed mostly for an Asian body frame, which sadly no amount of dieting will ever bring me close to.

ISNOM - Button-Front Elasticized Waist Harem Pants ($55)

M(c) H(ammer), a palindrome for H&M?!

For anybody who has lived through the 90s, MC Hammer's videoclip "U Can't Touch This" is probably deeply ingrained in their cerebrum and if not for the music itself, for the pants worn by the rapper and his dancers.

Lately, mainly 2007 and onwards, a resurgence of the same style of pants has been slowly brewing, gaining more fans by the season and going from the extreme of nouveau fashion to the runways of Paris and NYC and now is about to enter mainstream consumer markets through H&M's 2010 Spring/Summer collection.

Before going into peering at the future I'd like to peek at the past and examine the origins of this style of pants, which is more of a category of pants rather than one and  single type of pant. Through the ages it has bore many names, some being as intriguing and mysterious-sounding as Sarouel, Jodhpur, Zouave, Lungi and Dhoti and as mundane as super-wide leg, sailor, pajama pants and as one of my favourite Fasionistos, TheFashionGent, dubbed them, "sagging crotches".

1. The Sarouel


The origin of the name of this specific sub-type of pants comes from the French noun Sarouel, which refers to a large type of pant fabric that is worn around the Sahara region:

sarouel (n.m.)

1.large pantalon de toile porté dans le Sahara.

While this is what I would imagine the Prince of Persia(and by this I mean of course Jake Gyllenhaal) wearing, I can say that a bit of googling has made this type of pant appealing and I am very likely going to buy one or more pairs in the near future. Here's a few of my favourite choices:

• Wool Sarouel Pants by DeepStyle ( $82 )

Another great item found on Yesstyle , this pair of Sarouels, hailing from South Korea, comes in two non-colours, gray and black and tapers off at the ankle as it is meant to be tucked into one's boot (remember the origin of the Sarouels and that sand against skin is bad)

• Sarouel Jeans by Yellow Jacket ( $55 - blue - black )

This great style has even penetrated the Jeans Market and as one website sartorially observes, even though some are indeed seeing this new pant as a fad that will pass, I believe it is here to stay. Think of what a lot of fashion critics had said about men's skinny jeans, that they would not stick with today's man, while lo and behold skinny jeans are bigger than ever. Viva la revolucion stilistica!

• Vintage Sarouel Pants by EPISODE

There's nothing better than seeing an actual person wear an item and observing how this item integrates with who the person is. Wilfried, photographed on EasyFashion is the perfect example of a stylish guy who is not afraid of being a road-opener and in this picture is wearing a pair of vintage Sarouel Pants.

2. The Jodhpur

The Jodhpur is the most conservative of all drop-crotch pants and has been mainly designed to facilitate horse-back riding and hunting. Originally Jodhpurs were worn in the Indian city of Jodhpur and were tight-fitting only from the knee to the ankle, flaring above the knee. Modern fabrics have allowed Jodhpurs, which have traditionally been only white or cream to be available in most colours while stretch-fabrics have added more support and flexibility. The Jodhpur on the right is made out of leather and comes from designer Marie Streichenberger, designed for Holland&Holland.

3. The Dhoti
The Dhoti is the traditional male garment in the Indian subcontinent and what comes to transpire as dhoti pants in the western world are pants in a drop-crotch style that incorporate influences from traditional dhoti pants.

4. The Zouave


The Zouave gets its name from a certain group from within the French army, the Zouaves, a corps first rasised in Algeria in 1831 consisting entirely of two battalions of Berbers.

Cloak, Spring/Summer '07

5. The Harem 
Last but not least, the Harem pants originate obviously from the Harems of the olden Muslim Empires and are basically baggy/drop-crotch pants, tapered at the ankle and that have side-flaps on the hip that button at the waist area.

Here are some Harem pants in action on the runways of the world; John Galliano on the left, combining two of the 2010 Spring/Summer trends, the Harem pant and the Gladiator Sandals and Bottega Veneta on the right also combining two of the trends, the colour red and the Harem.

Enjoy some Hammer time....uh, I meant Harem time  !