Adam Kimmel's quest for quintessential American-male style has finally landed him at ground zero: the cowboy.
In a multilayered gallery presentation that was as impeccably curated as any high-profile art exhibition, Kimmel offered a comprehensive overview of the process that brought him to his new collection.
There was a video of champion bull rider Rocky McDonald by artist Meredith Danluck, a display of Kimmel's by-now-signature lookbook images, an exhibition of lightbox photos by Marlboro Man photographer Jim Krantz…and then there were the clothes.
Krantz's subject was a key reference. For Kimmel, he was the unambiguously masculine counterbalance to Roy Rogers, America's other cowboy icon, who was also something of a dandy.
Kimmel's collection veered toward the Marlboro Man's sober common sense, with just a hint of Roy's dressiness. A polo in navy piqué with western pockets? Well, that was a hybrid if ever I saw one.
At least half the clothes were reversible, which made for a smart option in a white coat in soft brushed cotton that reversed to denim.
Softness was, in fact, a singularly un-western characteristic of the collection. One pair of trousers that looked cut from the kind of suede a cowboy would have to break in at some personal pain were actually in cotton as soft as pajama bottoms.
But Kimmel always does his homework, and the put-on, "howdy ma'am" formality of the not-so-soft cowboy was evident in the daytime dressiness of a black-piped, shawl-collared jacket in railroad stripes, or a bottle-green suit, also shawl-collared.
What happens next? It will be interesting to see if Kimmel, having locked horns with the ultimate American, now casts off for international waters.
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