Todd Snyder rolls out NY Fashion Week with nod to nerds

NEW YORK — With a nod to jocks, nerds and 1960s Savile Row rebel Tommy Nutter, Todd Snyder rolled out a men's fall collection of grandpa cardigans, East Coast prep and slacker trouser suits cropped and loose as New York Fashion Week kicked off Monday with three days for the dudes.

Nutter had the distinction of dressing Elton John, Mick Jagger and three out of the four Beatles (not George) for the cover of their 1969 "Abbey Road." Snyder did him justice with swinging London silhouettes shaken up to offer a vintage flair worthy of the decades to come.

He also showed loose hoodies and sweats, acid-washed denim and shrunken schoolboy sweaters in a collection dominated by tweeds, wool, corduroy, plush Sherpa fleece and mohair in hues of olive, brown, camel and aubergine — and pops of varsity red, Oxford pink and bottle green.

Grammy-winning trumpeter and songwriter Keyon Harrold, who fuses jazz, classical, blues, hip-hop and rock, kept Snyder's crowded runway moving as he wailed on one end while the models walked.

There's a romance to color for men these days, Snyder said in a backstage interview.

"Velvet is really important because it shows color well," he said. "I like mixing that up with some of the softer colors, like the pinks and the yellows."

He offered roomy volume in nubby tweeds and lumberjack plaids for that touch of retro chic.

"I've always been inspired by classic American style and you always find some of the best stuff in thrift stores," Snyder said. "Even the mohair sweaters mixed in with the retro plaids do it."

Snyder called Nutter a "huge inspiration." He "brought the '60s to a looser style and we're going a bit toward that looser style today. Things aren't quite as buttoned up as they were 10 years ago. It's a slacker vibe but mixing that up with some of the glam like the velvet."

He included a black shearling top coat in a charcoal mohair, paired with a schoolboy sweater and white Oxford shirt and black denim five-pocket jeans.

Snyder's eclectic ode didn't forget the '90s, a throwback decade in his mind, including a few tailored joggers as part of an ongoing collaboration with Champion.

Nutter died in 1992 and Kurt Cobain in 1994. Snyder served both.