Michael Bastian Talks GANT by MB F/W 12

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From GQ (UK):

For purely selfish reasons we were particularly looking forward to the Gant by Michael Bastian autumn/winter 2012 presentation at New York Fashion Week – Bastian is one of GQ’s favourite designers right now. (We are currently wearing the Prince of Wales check sports jacket from the autumn/winter 2011 collection as we type.) Sure enough “Basty” didn’t disappoint, delivering all the wardrobe staples you’d expect from the Sweden-based, American-founded heritage sportswear brand but shot through with the New York-born designer’s own modern sensibility and sense of fun. Here the CFDA winner talks us through his highly personal preppy-meets-mod inspiration, his Fashion Week survival tip and why finding models who can walk properly is actually much harder than you might think…

GQ: Talk us through the inspiration for the collection.
MB: This season is probably my most personal one so far. It’s more or less entirely based on my memories from being a young college student in Boston in the mid Eighties. Two of my closest friends at that time were this really cool girl who had moved in from LA and her boyfriend who was a swimmer, but since it’s an autumn/winter collection we made him a boxer – that’s how the boxing elements found their way into the collection. Her name was Dena and she was really into the mod revival that was going on back then. She was quite an influential girl so me and her boyfriend ended up experimenting with mod style, going to mod clubs and listened to music by the Specials, the Cure and the Beat. That’s more or less what the autumn/winter collection is about – the edgy mod elements mixed with the traditional preppy university style.

What’s your favourite piece and why?
I love the multi-plaid Shetland-wool blazer with square elbow patches and we also did some great skinny cargo pants this season: one pair in moss-green moleskin and one in charcoal herringbone. Oh, and of course the mod-must-have: the green army parka.

What’s your Fashion Week survival tip?
Try to get as much sleep as possible and take your vitamins. I did that and somehow still got sick afterwards. I just think it’s a real marathon getting through two big shows in three days – kind of like taking your finals in school. And when it’s over, you just crash. Plus I think I must have kissed about 400 cheeks that week and shaken 800 hands.

What’s the hardest element to get right?
The hardest thing in staging a big runway show is really finding the right models who fit the clothes, represent the mood of the season and can actually walk down the runway. It sounds fundamental but you’d be surprised by how many guys we see who are really handsome and look great in the clothes yet have a terrible walk. The ones who have the most trouble with over-think it – particularly with guys, it’s important that they just look manly and natural on the runway. As for our Gant by Michael Bastian presentation, there’s no walking in that one – it’s a static presentation – so that’s a bit easier to cast. But they still have to have the right spirit. I was just thinking about this last night: we cast almost 70 models for those two shows and probably had to see 400 guys and girls to find the right ones. It’s a huge job for everyone involved and seeing all of these models is not nearly as hot or glamorous as it may sound. All of our interns are always dying to help out with this process, until they do it once and realise it’s brutal. You’ll have to trust me on this one.

How did you celebrate after the show?
As I do two shows, both my own line and my line for Gant, Fashion Week is kind of a hectic time for me. After the Gant presentation, me, my team and the team from Gant usually go out to dinner together. We rarely have time to do that when we’re in Stockholm working, so it’s a nice opportunity to catch up with everyone. Of course, we all sit with our iPhones and BlackBerrys, scouring the internet for the first review. After my MB show this season, we all met back in my office and cracked open many bottles of wine while we sorted through the first round of runway pics to send out the next morning.

Your last collection for Gant was Hawaii-themed. Where are you going on holiday this summer?
Since my travel schedule for work is always kinda crazy, I never really know when I can find a spare week to just get away. But that said, I recently discovered this great little hotel on Gran Canaria where I can just disappear and hang out by a pool, so maybe I’ll find a way to slip that in again this summer. We also might be visiting South Korea in the summer so I may try to tack some days on there as well.

We were in Stockholm recently for Fashion Week. Where’s a good place to go next time we’re there?
I really love Matbaren, a restaurant located right next to Grand Hotel opposite the Royal Castle. The food is great and the restaurant itself has a great ambience with a cool Scandianvian interior design. I actually drew some inspiration from it for my autumn/winter 2011 collection “Tales From A Northern Country”.

What’s your best style tip for spring/summer?
I always feel summer is about how little clothes you can wear, in a way. No one wants to think about clothes so much when the weather is great and they’re enjoying themselves. So use these cold, dark months to get yourself in good shape – your clothes will look better, you’ll feel better, and you’ll be happy you did when your friends start posting pics on Facebook.

What was the last stylish thing you bought?
This beautiful silver belt buckle engraved with my initials and a lizard belt strap from Tiffany & Co. I really love that store and the whole experience of shopping there. That to me is real American luxury.

What book are you reading right now?
The Journals Of John Cheever.

What’s your taste in social media?
I don’t really follow Tumblr too much, I must say, although I’m addicted to Twitter and Facebook. I recently hit my max number of friends on Facebook and had to open a second account. I really like getting to talk to customers and other people interested in our work.

Where do you keep your CFDA?
It’s sitting right on the corner of my desk in my New York office, right behind the phone. Winning the CFDA was such an honor – it’s like winning an Academy Award in a way – and I will definitely always count this as one of my proudest moments. No matter what happens in the future, it’s a moment no one can take away.

Michael Bastian Shares Shirt Secrets

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In this incredible video, courtesy of the folks at Mr. Porter, Michael Bastian describes the myriad ways guys can wear a button-down shirt.

Before he launched his eponymous label in 2006, Mr Michael Bastian was the fashion director of a luxury New York department store, so he is better placed than most to know what sort of clothes that men want to buy. This insider knowledge is reflected in his line, which specialises in wearable, timelessly stylish pieces: “I work with the classic building blocks of an American wardrobe, then I elevate them to a luxury level whether that’s in the fabric, the fit or the details,” Mr Bastian explains.

In this exclusive Video Manual for MR PORTER, the designer talks about the importance of the button-down shirt – that key component of the preppy wardrobe – as well as sharing a few tips on how to wear them. “A button-down shirt is really the most versatile of all the shirt collars,” Mr Bastian says, and we would be hard-pressed to disagree.

Michael Bastian More Suitable Than Ever

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So proclaims this Wall Street Journal feature:

Michael Bastian democratizes dress-up with his dapper new collection

A suit that has personality. That flatters the chest and shoulders without costing an arm and a leg. This elusive wardrobe staple may now be an easy get, thanks to designer Michael Bastian and Barneys.

Starting this month, the fashion-forward department store is offering suits by Mr. Bastian, who’s made a name for himself in menswear with his bracing blend of Italian tailoring and sporty, unstudied American cool. Two years ago, Mr. Bastian stepped toward the mainstream with a line (one he still designs) for the preppy label Gant. Now, for Barneys, he’s retooling the suit [...]

‘My Affair’ intends to purchase at least one of these MB x Barneys suits — put your money where your mouth is, right?

Our very own Michael Bastian also appears in this uproarious Refinery29 contribution:

No matter the season, you can count on Michael Bastian — the prince of preppy menswear on Dianbol (that’s a steroid for all you non-muscleheads) — to have at least one smokeshow model flashing an eight-pack, coming down the runway. His fall ’12 show was no exception — apparently despite the chill, it’s never too cold to show some flesh, post-David Barton workout, perhaps?

And, speaking of dropping temps, Bastian outdid himself this season, opening his act with some high-drama music and rolling fog, before dropping fake snow from the ceiling as the finale approached. Appropriate, given the pieces on offer: corduroy suits, slim shawl tuxedos, quilted hunter jackets, and lots and lots of fine wool.

From a black-tie dinner at The Palace in St. Moritz to a joint-smoking weekend in Millbrook (or James Bond ski-retreat courtesy of a silk robe/boxers combo), MB’s pieces ensure that no globe-trotting man with money to burn will need turn to any other designer. And dog lovers are in luck too — Bastian sent not only a French bulldog down the catwalk, but also dachshunds in the form of sweaters and scarves. Also on tap? The debut of Lulu Frost’s new range for dudes, J. Frost — the lines flower boutonniers were attached to jacket lapels, hats and bags. And, thankfully Stubbs & Wootton returned again, with new slippers and bags that prove you can match your shoes to your carryalls, and go sockless in winter (or get in on the trend and sport hunter green, light purple, and yes, white socks). Add the return of Tyson Beckford to this wintry mix, and you’ve got enough motivation to start saving — for a puppy, a trainer, and/or a first-class ticket to Switzerland.

GANT by MB Sweater Appears On ‘Body Of Proof’

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The GANT by Michael Bastian Lambswool Cardinal Sweater previously featured on NBC’s Community was just featured on ABC’s Body of Proof!

In “Cold Blooded” (Season 2, Ep. 14), Ethan Gross — played by Geoffrey Arend — wears the very sweater ‘My Affair’ has spotlighted on several different occasions.

Congratulations, Michael Bastian — you are taking over our television screens (and it is most welcome!)…

The College Years: Michael Bastian

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Last month, ‘My Affair’ wondered what Michael Bastian was like in college at Babson.

Thanks to GQ, we now know!

In case you haven’t seen an issue of GQ for the last five years, Michael Bastian started his eponymous label in 2006 and since then has emerged as one of the key members in the new American menswear establishment by creating classic clothes that are tailored, literally, to the needs of modern men. Critical acclaim and a cult following soon gave way to a collaboration with GANT, which has been equally successful. We sat down with the designer prior to the Fall 2012 GANT by Michael Bastian presentation to find out why he’s going back to school this season, and what he simply can’t live without.

This collection was born out of your college years in Boston and a mod revival that was happening during that time. What were some of the key pieces from that period that you felt were appropriate to bring back and reinterpret for Fall 2012?
Well when you’re talking about mod you have to have that perfect little black jacket and the button down where the collar’s a little shorter and the skinny ties and the pointy shoes and all of that. And these are all things that I don’t naturally do in my own line or with GANT so it was kind of fun to push myself. You know, I don’t play around with black so it was nice to kind of explore that in a nice GANT way, in an accessible way. When I looked back, the way that we all dressed, it was a little bit mod but it was a lot preppy and that never changes.

Speaking of, you mentioned in your inspiration for this collection that the mod and preppy overlap a bit. Are you referring to the spirit of the two styles or is there a more specific element the two share?
There are these shrunken, shaggy sweaters and gingham and checkerboard pattern all over the place. It’s one of those things that I always have a hard time putting into words but you know it when you see it. You know, clothes are kind of my language and I have a hard time translating it into words.

When the GANT by Michael Bastian line started it was positioned as the younger brother to your full line collection. Do you still see the GANT by Michael Bastian guy as that younger sibling?
No, not at all. Something happened in the six seasons we’ve been doing this with GANT. It started that way, and that was kind of my effort to make sure the lines each had their own separate identity. They were brothers but they had their own spirit, their own look, everything. I started wearing tons of GANT myself, mixing it up with my own stuff from the main line and I was seeing my friends and my customers doing the same thing, and what I realized is they’re a lot closer than I may have originally thought. I think I now approach GANT as more the sportswear end of my world, so maybe it’s 75% sportswear, 25% tailored and dressed up and with my designer line it’s kind of the opposite. And I think if you put these two collections together you kind of have this great Michael Bastian lifestyle brand. The two halves kind of fit together nicely. So I don’t know if the little brother grew up or I grew up, but I think they’re a little closer than I may have once thought.

You have your main collection clothing line and GANT by Michael Bastian. Is there any uncharted design territory for the Michael Bastian brand you’d like to explore next?
Yeah, you know there is and we kind of took our first baby step in it. The program we’re doing with Barneys with the suit, shirt, and tie. Now that’s a great classification for us because in our own line and with GANT we don’t sell suits as a full suit. And suits are kind of an exciting moment right now, which sounds crazy to say that suits are where the excitement is, but all these young guys are approaching suits in a whole new way. I had always thought maybe there’s a business in that suit, shirt, tie thing and then Barneys came to me so we’ll see. We also have the whole world of licensing to explore with Michael Bastian. You know I’m dying to get a fragrance, I’m dying to get a footwear license, all those things. But the framework is set-up and I’d be very happy to keep it the way it is. I don’t have a diffusion line, per se, I have a sportswear line and I have a designer line and they fit together.

The cult of Michael Bastian is not only interested in the designer’s goods but also his preferences on everything outside of fashion. So we asked him to give us a quick punch list of what he’s into at the moment, from his preferred watch to the stylish guys out there we should all be watching.

Watch you’re currently wearing?
GANT by Michael Bastian limited edition MB3 watch

Drink of choice?
It’s kind of ghetto but right now, vodka and Orangina.

The one style item you can’t live without?
Well it’s winter right now, so shearling-lined L.L. Bean boots.

Book you are currently reading?
The Journals of John Cheever

TV shows you’re into?
Lately it’s been on demand episodes of South Park and Family Guy.

Last great movie you saw?
Beginners with Christopher Plummer and Ewan McGregor

Best place to travel to in the world right now?
The great place I’ve just recently discovered is the Canary Islands.

Here at GQ we’re obviously interested in who stylish men like yourself look at as having great personal style. Is there anyone at the moment that you look to?
I have to say it’s guys like [GQ fashion editor] Justin Doss and Eric Wunsch from Barneys and Antonio Ciongoli from my team. They are young guys that really have great style and really enjoy dressing up. Antonio will come to the office sometimes and he’ll be wearing more of Michael Bastian and I’ll be wearing more of the GANT collection. So it’s these young guys who are really brining their game every day and dressing up but doing it in a new way.