From San Francisco’s Gap and Levi’s territory comes a new men’s line that’s all about style simplicity. David Romero’s casual and elegant d.ROMERO menswear label debuts in stores this spring and will have competitors like John Varvatos on guard for its easy and rugged American style. Trained as an architect, Romero’s background plays heavily into the way that he approaches designing accessible, masculine clothes. For AW ’04, inspiration is taken from the post-World War I era to create many separate components in a collection that fits together like the different parts of a building. Key pieces include a toque hood (a wool headpiece that resembles an aviator’s headgear), a gunner cardigan adorned with leather buttons, and a honey brown shearling bomber jacket with vintage brass parachute hardware and zipper arm cuffs to allow for easy movement. And like any good architect Romero looks to his immediate surroundings (Northern California in this case) for color cues that include blues, grays, charcoals, and orange. d.ROMERO sells at select Saks Fifth Avenue stores and Rolo in San Francisco.


-Grace Chen

Photos: d.ROMERO fall ’04