“An American somewhere—that’s actually how I design my collections,” Todd Snyder said at a preview of his spring lineup. Like his customers, the designer is happy to be on the move again after several years of closer-to-home collections. Following in the footsteps of Paul Bowles, Snyder made Morocco his destination this season, and took inspiration from ’50s photos of American expats in Tangiers.
One of the distinguishing characteristics of this sun-kissed collection is Snyder’s use of textures and textural embellishments. Luxe grainy linen, sometimes with a herringbone pattern; macramé mesh; knits; and embroidery make for an intensely tactile and expressive offering. It’s a big departure—intentionally so—from his most recent outing: sartorial but not trad, even if the silhouettes are fairly classic.
The touch-me quality of the garments plays into the sex appeal of these clothes. Snyder says there’s a touch of American Gigolo to the garments, meaning a sort of unfiltered, rugged masculinity that was common in Greed Decade imagery. “The ’80s, for me at least, are coming back,” he said. That being so, the designer’s popular waist-defining “ghurka” pants could have walked out of a classic movie from generations earlier. Speaking of time travel, one of the downtime options in the collection is a pair of soft, roomy Japanese denim jeans with a lived-in patina.
Snyder says he’s designing for a dream of what’s next. This lineup is essentially a ticket to ride off into the sunset.