潮男必備:經典天鵝絨休閒夾克大綱
Enter some men’s wear departments these days, and you could be forgiven for thinking Christmas has come early. Velvet jackets, the stuff of end-of-year-dinners and festive get-togethers, festoon the rails even before the inevitable racks of tinsel, cards and wrapping paper have appeared in stores。
隨便走進幾家男裝店，恍然感覺聖誕已然到來。這也不怪你，通常歲末年終赴宴以及節慶歡聚時才穿的天鵝絨夾克已經琳琅滿目地擺滿了貨架，甚至比亮箔、卡片和包裝紙年復一年的上架時間還要早。
The current crop of velvet jackets, however, has a rather more casual feel, more blazer in style rather than resembling something pulled from the black tie or evening wear section. Designers from Giorgio Armani to Dolce &Gabbana and Gucci have taken this luxurious, louche fabric and brought it squarely in to the daylight。
但是，當前這批天鵝絨夾克更具休閒與運動風格，而非隨意模仿半正式禮服和晚裝款式。從喬治·阿瑪尼(Giorgio Armani)到杜嘉班納(Dolce &Gabbana)以及古姿(Gucci)，設計師們都認可了這種原本屬於公子哥穿的奢侈面料，並讓它堂而皇之地登堂入室。
Case in point: her predecessor at Gucci, Tom Ford, a man at home in a glossy velvet jacket, whose current eponymous men’s wear campaign features actor Nicholas Hoult (who appeared in the film Ford directed, A Single Man) in a zingy midnight blue velvet blazer complete with jaunty playboy cravat, a pair of sultry shades, and a flock of psychotic ravens perched on his shoulders for effect. Available in eight colours, from emerald green to ruby red, ebony and aubergine, Ford’s blazers are cut from fine Italian velvet (the “daytime” version – yes, there is a “daytime” version – retails for a cool ?2,370, the evening version for ?2,290)。
舉個例子：湯姆·福特(Tom Ford)是賈娜妮之前的前任古姿創意總監，在家喜歡穿亮光色天鵝絨夾克，他目前舉行了以其名字命名的男裝推介會，主打款以男演員尼古拉斯·霍爾特(Nicholas Hoult，曾出演福特導演的影片《單身男子》(A Single Man))爲偶像，穿的是活力四射的午夜款藍色天鵝絨運動夾克，配以時髦的牛仔圍巾，佩戴一副讓人想入非非的遮陽鏡，模特肩上還蹲了幾隻“精神不正常”的烏鴉以增加視覺效果。福特設計的運動夾克(哦，本系列還有“日款”，零售價賣到了讓人咂舌的2370歐元，晚裝款零售價則爲2290歐元)由上等意大利天鵝絨面料裁剪而成，共有8種顏色的款式面市，從翠綠、寶石紅、烏黑到紫紅色不等。
Gucci and Tom Ford are not alone in their velvet blazer adoration. Giorgio Armani offers a classic two-button style in black velvet with deep lapels (1,400)； Dolce &Gabbana, with its navy single-breasted blazer (605, from Harvey Nichols)； and Etro, courtesy of a neatly tailored jacket in deep purple velvet (830) have also fallen for this style. Angelo Galasso, an Italian men’s wear designer with a store in London, has velvet shoes to match his silk-lined, piped-edged, five-pocket velvet jackets with working cuffs (1,750)。
並非只有古姿與湯姆·福特鍾情於天鵝絨運動夾克。喬治·阿瑪尼也推出了一款經典的黑色兩粒扣深翻領天鵝絨夾克(售價爲1400歐元)；杜嘉班納則推出了海軍服風格的單排扣運動夾克(夏菲尼高(Harvey Nichols) 百貨店的售價爲605歐元)；埃特羅(Etro)也附庸風雅，不失時機地精心推出了製作精良的深紫色運動夾克(售價爲830歐元)。意大利男裝設計師安吉洛·加拉索(Angelo Galasso)在倫敦設有分店，他設計了帶工作袖套、以絲綢作裏襯，再用天鵝絨鞋來搭配的五個口袋的滾邊型天鵝絨夾克(售價爲1750歐元)。
British designers are no less enthusiastic, albeit in a slightly more low-key way, from Paul Smith London’s easy-cut jacket (425) to Ede &Ravenscroft’s ready-to-wear smoking jackets in a variety of rich shades (550). Savile Row is also softening to the smoking look. “We have at least one bespoke velvet jacket going through at the moment,” says Patrick Grant of Norton and Sons. “But velvet is a tough cloth to work with. Smoking jackets are one of those items in a man’s wardrobe that can be spectacular when well-cut and well-made, but can also be spectacularly bad if poorly cut。”
英國設計師雖說顯得較爲低調，但熱情也絲毫不減： 從Paul Smith London推出的簡易款夾克(售價425英鎊)到埃德和拉芬斯克洛夫(Ede &Ravenscroft)推出的的多款現成的強色調晚便裝(售價爲550英鎊)。專注男子高級純手工定製的薩佛街(Savile Row)也放下了架子，向休閒風格轉型。“我們目前至少已有一款全定製天鵝絨夾克正在推介，” 諾頓父子(Norton &Sons)的帕特里克·格蘭特(Patrick Grant)說。“但天鵝絨是種很難伺候的面料。男士衣櫃裏有上幾套裁剪了得、製作考究的晚便裝會讓人增輝出彩，但若是裁剪功夫拙劣，做出的夾克穿在身上會慘不忍睹。”
This hasn’t stopped the high street, including Banana Republic, COS, and Marks and Spencer, from attempting its own version of the casual velvet equation. As Andy Rogers, brand director at British high street chain Reiss, says: “Velvet is a strong men’s wear look for us this winter and the velvet blazer is a distinct move towards a more luxury approach to tailoring。”
這並沒有阻止包括Banana Republic、COS，以及瑪莎(Marks and Spencer)等名牌在內的“高端服裝界”( high street)推出自己休閒系列服飾的努力。正如英國時裝連鎖店Reiss的品牌總監安迪·羅傑斯(Andy Rogers)所說的：“天鵝絨是今冬男裝的主打面料，運動夾克是成衣業走更加奢侈風格的標誌性舉動。”
Just consider the testimony of one London-based financial services director, who admits: “My girlfriend bought me a grey velvet jacket from COS to smarten me up. The first time I wore it I felt a little too overdressed, a bit too try-hard, but now I throw it on with a T-shirt and jeans and don’t give it a second thought. I’ve had a few compliments too, which can’t be bad。”
聽聽倫敦金融服務業的某主管是如何評說的，對當前的時裝界風向就略知一二了，他坦承：“女友在COS給我買了一件灰色運動夾克，想讓我穿後帥氣十足。第一次穿的時候，自我感覺有點講究過頭了，有點太過造作了，但如今我就隨意配穿T恤和牛仔褲，並不太刻意追求該如何搭配。這樣的穿法也有人誇獎，他們是發自內心的說好。”
