Brief Monday Comparison: Borrowed Details?

It is always a good exercise to keep your fashion history memories going, trying to spot where certain inspirations and ideas from the current collections may have come from, but it is equally intriguing to try and identify correspondences in smaller details or accessories. Let's look for example at Hermès's Autumn/Winter 2015-16 menswear collection-

Véronique Nichanian Creative director at Hermès visualised in her A/W 2015-16 collection a man working and strolling in the city. Nichanian's models walking down the runway in Paris' Maison de la Radio seemed to reflect in their clothes a sleek urban environment: traditional pinstripes or suits in concrete grey were juxtaposed to more relaxed outfits inspired by luxury sportswear but recreated in the finest fabrics available that included track pants in a shorn mink and leather/crocodile sweatshirts (among the other luxurious materials featured in the collection there were also double-faced cashmere, baby lamb and calfskin), while an arty twist was added via graphic prints by artist Richard Gorman.

There were details, though, that looked borrowed from the past or from other designers: the lining of one coat seemed to include schemes of mechanical parts, evoking classic Brioni pieces from the early '60s, such as gabardine raincoats with leather details that featured a printed lining with images inspired by means of transport or engine parts.

The working bags with embossed cameras and snorkeling masks looked instead like a lighthearted version of the darker (and infinitely more ironic) "Guardian Angel" bags by Dutch duo Vlieger & Vandam that feature a three-dimensional gun or knife embossed on the wool felt or on the leather (the knife/gun bags have been been produced for quite a few years now, becoming the duo's trademark designs).

Are these references real or imagined? People working in the industry will tell you "it's in the air" when you point out how something was already done or can be pinned back to specific designs from the past, but the truth is that it is often possible to identify tangible links and connections with the past in many different collections.