Honoring Menswear's Fledgling Stars

Showing gray flannels, plaid work shirts, black army pants, and lace-up mid-calf boots, the half-dozen menswear designers honored Wednesday night conjured up the image of a man more at ease at the mill than the country club.

The six finalists, chosen by the men's monthly GQ and the Council of Fashion Designers of America — Engineered Garments, Spurr, Steven Alan, Obedient Sons, Gilded Age, and Rag & Bone — are in competition for the title of Best New Menswear Designer in America. They represent the future of design and innovation in menswear.

"We were hoping that this fashion crowd would turn out," the editor in chief of GQ, Jim Nelson, told The New York Sun. As he spoke, he gestured toward the stylish throng that gathered at 620 Fifth Ave. in Midtown to view the presentation, which featured men modeling the collections on a raised platform.

The dapper Mr. Nelson explained that the competition was born of a desire to give "these designers, who might not have a full-on show, the opportunity to show the breadth of their work."

Voting by a panel of judges from the CFDA and GQ commences at the end of the month. (A fashion spread also touting the work of these designers appears in this month's issue of GQ.) Although the event marks the second annual effort to recognize emerging talent, this year, the stakes are higher and the bounty more plentiful. The winning label will receive a $50,000 cash award, a CFDA mentorship, and the opportunity to create a capsule collection for the iconic jeans brand Levi's. A limited showing of that collection at Bloomingdale's and Levi's stores will coincide with Fashion Week in New York in September.

This week's presentation was a sort of preview of the looks slated to have a full-scale runway treatment (Rag & Bone and Obedient Sons) or presentation (Gilded Age) during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, which starts today.

One half of the design duo Rag & Bone, David Neville, told the Sun that the fall line was a nod to the disciplined sensibility of the military, the decade of the 1940s, and "a bit of 'Blade Runner,'" referring to the classic science-fiction film. The British designer, who with his partner Marcus Wainwright started the label as a premium jeans company, has fully matured into sophisticated suiting. Although the pair is based stateside, our peek at the collection Wednesday was not devoid of English flourishes, such as well-tailored tweeds and wool cigarette pants.

Gilded Age designer Stefan Miljanic is an avowed student of American history and his fall collection includes lots of layering, plaids — as well as Fair Isle sweaters and cashmere knits over scruffy denim. Simon Spurr's Spurr label featured somber cardigans and an eye-catching allover gray plaid suit.

Steven Alan's eponymous line represented a preppier take, perhaps the only one among the finalists to embrace color. Husband-and-wife team Christina and Swaim Hutson's Obedient Sons and Daiki Suzuki's Engineered Garments also drew heavily from a gray palette, showing fitted leggings, blazers, and baggy trousers and wool "overpants" — or adapted overalls.

Those assembled on Wednesday included more established designers such as Michael Kors, the buzzed-about designer Thom Browne, who was clad in his signature shrunken suit, and even some aspiring designers.

The rapper André 3000, né André Benjamin, said he was actually wearing his own line, expected to launch this fall. Mr. Benjamin, who wore denim jeans tucked into knee-high riding boots, smiled broadly when asked about the source of his sartorial inspiration: "Everything."

As the fête neared its end, Mr. Nelson remarked: "There are so many talented American designers and they've struggled and need all the help they can get."