Sound & Vision

Model Fernando Cabral at John Varvatos's Milan Runway Fall 2014 Runway Show
Photography by Kevin Tachman

One of the byproducts of attending the menswear shows in London, Milan, and Paris is getting to discover the musical DNA of the designers, expanding your own musical store in the process. This year, Bottega Veneta turned me on to Rhye and Canali to the Italian classical composer and pianist Ludovico Einaudi, while Burberry made me wonder how I'd ever missed Patrick Wolf's "The Magic Position."

SLIDESHOW: BACKSTAGE WITH MILAN MODELS

Meanwhile, Italo Zucchelli at Calvin Klein reminded me of the grandeur of Ultravox's baroque synthpop masterpiece "Vienna," and Jil Sander proved, yet again, that Bowie's "Sound and Vision" belongs in the canon of pop's finest moments. Of course, ever since the Beatles made Pierre Cardin's suits hip in the '60s, music and fashion have been inseparable bedfellows. Mick Jagger had Ossie Clark to make his velvet jumpsuits, David Bowie had Yohji Yamamoto, and the Sex Pistols had Vivienne Westwood.

The relationship goes both ways: For a musician, style is a visual analogue to their music; for designers, music is an inspiration that frequently finds its way into the clothes on the runway. At this year's shows, the most graphic illustration of that came in Milan, where John Varvatos sent his models, made up like Kiss, down the runway to the sound of Kiss. As for the models, much of the music they strut to must feel like ransacking their parent's CD collections. Asked what he was listening during his downtime in Milan, Fernando Cabral, seen right in Kiss makeup, didn't have to think twice: Beyonce.

Below, playlists from six of our favorite shows.

Calvin Klein:
Vex Ruffin, "Living for the Future"
Ultravox, "Vienna"
Slava Tsukerman, Brenda I. Hutchinson, and Clive Smith, the Liquid Sky soundtrack

Ermenegildo Zegna:
Carlos Giffoni, "Evidence"
Arnaud Rebotini, "Un Cheval d'Orgueil" (Donovan remix)

Belstaff:
Deal with Death, "Disorder"
The Cure, "Primary [Demo]"
King Krule, "Easy Easy"
The Cure, "Pictures of You [Instrumental]"
Girls Names, "Kiss Goodbye"
New Order, "Crystal"

Jil Sander:
Beckenbauer, "Saturn V" (SEML remix)
Tindersticks, "She's Gone"
David Bowie, "Sound and Vision"

Bottega Veneta:
Beyonce, "Superpower" (feat. Frank Ocean)
Gesaffelstein, "Out of Line"
Rhye, "The Fall"
Mike Patton, "Bromance"

Burberry:
Clare Maguire, "Lilac Wine [Live]"
The Night VI, "Lover, You Should've Come Over"
Paloma Faith, "Just Be [Acoustic]"
Patrick Wolf, "The Magic Position"