NYFW: Where men's fashion is heading

New York - The event that has been the talk of the summer has finally begun. NYFW: Men's kicked off today, and the event quietly made history. The four day event began with New York Men's day with presentations at the 775 Washington Street building with collections from Cadet, Boyswear, CWST, Garciavelez, David Hart, and Plac. While the runway shows don't really kickoff until tomorrow, as they were still setting up the stages at the Skylight Clarkson Square, the presentations gave an excellent taste of where men's fashion is going in America.

Because this is the first standalone men's fashion week and many designers opted for presentations instead of full scale runway shows, NYFW: Men's is a bit less of a spectacle than it's counterparts in London, Paris, and Milan, but still impressive nevertheless. So far, most designers seem to be going for the practical and the utilitarian. Cadet's presentation was an homage to the Paratroopers in the Demolition Section of the United States Army dropped into France preceding the invasion of Normandy.

Cadet, Garciavelez, Plac, David Hart, and CWST gave us a taste of what's to come in men's wear

The collection included several military style jackets and a lot of army green and grey. True to American fashion, it showed the values of practicality in ready-to-wear. Boyswear showed us that sometimes American men's wear can get a little more exciting. For their collection, the brand took a twist on "The Mansion Family Singers" and combined elements of Tyrolean costume and, the hippie era of the 60s, and the costumes from "The Sound of Music."

It was proof that sometimes American men's wear can be more bold than people want to give it credit for. CWST, which is all about being classically California, was a bit too understated and bland with a lot of neutral colored offerings and no real standout pieces. Plac was also in the camp of understated neutrals, but their collection had a bit of flare with cuffed pants and a statement coat.

It's proof that sometimes you just need that one standout piece and a few details to create a noteworthy collection. It's always in the details, as they say. Both collections were a stark contract to Garciavelez who was all about the neon colors and exploring the effects of light and their distortions.

The collection was an homage to two major art installations. Dan Falvin's fluorescent installations and Donald Judd's 100 untitled works in mill aluminum. Perhaps thanks to Garciavelez, American men's wear could begin to find more room for color in their collections. However, if there was anyone who was all about the color and proved that American men's wear can compete with their colorful Parisian and Italian counterparts, it is David Hart.

Hart's presentation was inspired by Bauhaus and its artists during inter-war period Germany. The textiles created by Annie Albers and Gunta Stolzl were big inspirations for this collection, which resulted in color palettes rooted in primary colors and hints of pastels, along with a lot of geometric patterns. The bright colors and geometric almost gave us a small taste of Italy, but, the silhouettes were true to American men's wear style, and the patterns were more conservative than the traditional Italian luxury men's wear brands would have them.

Many of the presentations today were so different, so, it was difficult to get a full gauge for what the men's wear market could be looking like for spring/summer 2016 yet, but, there sure seems to be some great collections on the way. NYFW: Men's might have had a humble opening, but, today the runway shows at the Skylight Clarkson Square kickoff, and that is sure to amp up the entire event. Men's day was a success at introducing the wonder that is sure to be the rest of NYFW: Men's.

photo 1: Cadet