By Jessica Michault

It is hard to imagine what the world of menswear would look like if David Bowie had never been born. He is such a style icon, whose chameleon like proclivity to ceaselessly shed his sartorial skin has inspired generations of designers. It’s a wonder that Bowie never launched his own successful clothing line.

Thankfully this oversight leaves the fashion field wide open for designers like Costume National’s Ennio Capasa to step in a produce collections inspired by the musical maestro.

Backstage before his show, Capasa’s mood board was an ode to Bowie during his Berlin era of the late 1970s. A sleek and clean esthetic that translated on the Costume catwalk into two clearly defined silhouettes. One consisting of a slightly longer and just a touch oversized jacket paired with skinny pants or alternatively more fitted tops and jackets worn with trousers cut with a faintly flared shape.

Off of those straightforward looks, the designer pushed himself with his use of color. Injecting plumy purples, burgundy reds, blood orange and bottle green into a line famous for its commitment to the urban shades of white, grey, and black. Count on the designer’s degrade sweaters, which changed in both shades and textures as they progressed down the torso, to be a hot ticket items next winter.

Also fresh was Capasa’s exploration of fabrics. Usually he tends to focus on a handful of textiles in a collection. But this time he tapped over thirty-five different materials to create this fine show. “It’s a very masculine mentality,” explained the designer. “Men sometimes don’t need much shape but they enjoy very much the possibility of having different fabric options.” And too that end, this season Costume National is offering men quite a lot to love.