Friday of last week Robert Geller showed his Fall/Winter 2009 Collection in New York. Geller’s collection began with an interest in the imperial city of Vienna at the turn of the century. The city was a cultural melting pot which produced many of the intellectual and artistic impulses that shaped the 20th century.  Mostly it is the themes of strength, romance, elegance and curiosity which are all very telling of the atmosphere in Vienna at this time. This relates to Geller’s quest to describe who his ideal man is, how he dresses and what is modern.

The color palette is somber, ranging from a dusty rose to a deep black, with touches of Fuchsia, plum and a powerful ultramarine. The fabrics are quite textural and seem to carry a sense of history. Geller used mohair and alpaca for the knitwear and most of the cut and sew is made from softened Japanese cotton jersey. The outerwear consists of many exclusively developed fabrics, such as boiled wools, cotton canvases hand painted with a thin layer of polyurethane and a beautiful diamond textured jacquard used in the suiting. Robert also used rubberized denim and dip-died cottons for the more casual garments in the collection.

Earlier that day, GQ magazine announced Geller as the winner of the Second Annual “Best New Menswear Designers in America” project.  This competitive initiative, established in 2008 in collaboration with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), was created to recognize the rising stars of American men’s fashion design.