from left to right, Thom Browne, Michael Bastian and Gilded Age SS09 preview

If you’re as enthusiastic about New York Fashion Week as I am, I’m sure a week prior to the tents going up you probably deliberated, religiously, on what to expect this season from the likes of Rag & Bone, Obedient Sons, Thom Browne and other notable menswear designers. Would their aesthetic evolve and positively build from their last season or would inspirations for this spring leave them with a resounding kaput?

I cared to know and The Upgrader fed that appetite as they served up a sumptuous preview of twelve New York designers’ SS09 collections!

Granted that Rag & Bone’s British neo-punk leanings of a tailored yet rocker look have come and gone (their show took the stage Friday of last week), the revisiting of “the lives and work of great American Realists, Regionalists, and Abstract painters” courtesy of Gilded Age is yet to take hold (it’s Thursday, Sept. 11 folks) so one can still make do and familiarize themselves on the motivations behind these men’s collections.