Palmiers du Mal Fall 2018 Menswear...Fashionweekly..On Fow24news.com

Shane Fonner’s Palmiers du Mal cavalcade headed to points southeast for Fall, landing in a fantasized “opium parlor” in Bali. Yet even though Bali is, by reputation, very Zen, very backpacker-y, and very paradisaical....
there’s always a purposefully seedy reverb apparent in Fonner’s output; in certain ways, the collection felt less Ubud lair and more smoke-filled back room of a Macau casino. Fonner didn’t seem to mind the suggestion; he used the phrase a “bit licentious and seditious.” The conscious seediness, then, is part of the Palmiers pull.

Fonner did one-size-only sweaters, rendered in 100 percent cashmere knits. The best here was a mock-turtleneck latticed option in saffron yellow. Also top-notch: a shawl, with knots so thick they looked like river stones (albeit, they were soft as cotton balls). The designer made note of Japanese silks and “simple” pants in pinpoint cotton, as well; a boilersuit, in faint-relief plaid, rounded out the mix.

Palmiers du Mal is not for generalists (see: a tiger-striped upholstery fabric blazer, which was a bit of a miss), but in the more robust yet digestible pieces, like those sweaters, Fonner found his highs.