It seems Perth based menswear designer Mic Eaton has been celebrating his inner queen since he first launched his left of centre clothing range, Material Boy, back in 2003. In the last four years, Eaton’s outrageous and out there clothes – with the silhouette ranging from the oversized right through to the skinny – have been lapped up by boutiques both here, interstate and in faraway lands. Think Tokyo, New York, Paris, London and now even Scandinavia… it seems Material Boy is taking over a material world.
Part of Eaton’s success lies in the fact that his clothes come with a sense of humour already built in. In the past his pieces have included cabbage patch worked hoodies, paint splattered playsuits (yes, for boys) and fantastic zig-zagged fluoro t-shirts…released long before fluoro was flooding every superstore shelf. His playful eye and pre-emptive style make his clothes fun, far out and fast sellers indeed.
So what’s in store for this spring and summer from one of our nation’s leading lights in menswear? Well, to put it simply, Eaton is celebrating his inner gay. Again! Nowhere is this more apparent than in Eaton’s outrageous tailored shorts with padded cricket-box pouch over the crotch. Yes…a padded crotch box! While they may sound ridiculous in nature, to see them in action is to understand how adventurous Eaton’s vision truly is. Especially when this season’s palette piques the eye in fluorescent yellow, acid-wash and electric blue.
To take this camp little excursion all that bit further, Eaton slams it home hard and fast with his Boyfriend Pants. They feature a button waist band, a zip front, skinny leg tailoring PLUS stirrups. They come in blue, acid black and pink. Basically they’re leggings…for men…but the real charm behind them is that in London ALL the lads are wearing leggings like these, making Eaton the boldest menswear designer in Australia.
The label rounds itself off by mixing it up and out with style that stems directly from Andy Warhol’s Factory crossed with a lot of Deborah Harry. Oversized balloon print t-shirts and singlets stitch it up with Aztec print detailing, slight asymmetrical seams and squares cut right out of the side of tops. Add tuxedo motifs and huge slouch bags and the look Eaton creates is memorable to the max.
For those intimidated by Eaton’s exercise in eccentricity, he has released a slightly more street based collection called Another Boy. This diffusion line is the baby brother of Material Boy, carrying all the signature style of its bigger, bolder & brasher sibling. Big prints in bright colours stick it to slouchy oversized silhouettes while trademark tailoring and details make the letter jumbled tops and the dots and dashes hoodies most definitely the work of Mic Eaton.
Be brave this summer. Stand out in Material Boy. It’s only ludicrous if you don’t wear it with confidence, in which case you shouldn’t even be investing in boy couture. Particularly if it comes from wild and crazy Eaton, a straight boy who just loves his inner gay.
Material Boy and Another Boy are both available from Family on Murray Street in Perth.
