New York Fashion Week: Brooks Brothers shoots for beds, birdies and beyond

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Brooks Brothers seems to be firing on all cylinders these days. When we popped into the Madison Avenue flagship during New York Fashion Week, in addition to getting the lowdown on next spring’s collection (more on that in a second), we found out that the company is getting ready to launch its first line of housewares online in October, a collection that includes bedding, towels, lampshades, headboards and even throw pillows that incorporate the color palette and patterns of the company’s shirting fabrics and neckties.

We also got a peek at a few pieces that will be part of a co-branded men’s and women’s apparel and

accessories line with Scotland’s St. Andrews Links, (known as ‘the home of golf,’ the sport’s been played there since about 1400), a relationship that will include a golf shop at the course and a golfing package experience that will be sold through Brooks Brothers’ holiday catalog.

And all that was before we’d even had a chance to check out the regular spring-summer 2011 offerings. Brooks is continuing the more relaxed ‘back to campus’ collection it launched for fall/winter 2010 (let’s call it ‘back to the beach’), giving guys the choice of fun shorts with all-over embroidery of hula girls and Tiki heads (a personal favorite), Madras (one of the fabric trends of the season) cargo shorts, button-front shirts and neckties, as well as Brooks’ take on the Baracuta jacket in a shade reminiscent of that perfectly faded pair of Nantucket Reds.

And in a nod to the the casualization of America (in feel if not in look), Brooks Brothers is adding unlined blazers to the mix for the first time, and the ones on display may have had a soft shoulder but kept a sharp look.

The Black Fleece collaboration with Thom Browne was even more subdued than usual, with the exploded plaid patterns and all-over prints of past seasons nowhere to be seen -- though that’s not necessarily a bad thing -- with memorable pieces that included a sleeveless khaki safari jacket dress (for her) and a tuxedo take on the safari jacket (for him) with grosgrain contrast taping at the lapels and pocket flaps.

Adam Tschorn, reporting from New York

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