LEADING CUSTOM MENSWEAR DESIGNER
www.Davidaugustinc.com
WHEN IT COMES TO THE OSCARS, RED CARPET menswear fashion is almost on par with winning the award itself. This year, two celebrities, Michael Strahan and Stedman Graham (Oprah’s significant other) asked David August Heil, to design stunning menswear for their appearances at the Academy Awards.
This is isn’t suprising, Heil has gained a stellar reputation for designing couture menswear. He is known for creating timeless, customized, looks steeped in fashion-forward style, paying the upmost attention to exquisite fabric and tailoring details.
The journey of dressing megastars for the Oscars, starts months in advance, as Heil takes design-style planning meetings with the stars and their stylists. He personally selects stunning European fabrics, oversees the custom tailoring process and attends several fit meetings wih the stars and their stylists before the outfits are ready to wear.
This season the handsomely-styled talk show host and former NFL star, Michael Strahan worked the red carpet in a stunning hand-tailored steel-grey sharkskin tuxedo. “Strahan is 6’5, so it was important to choose a fabric that was elegant, made him feel approchable, as well as, looked great all day and into the evening,” said Heil. “This exclusive, Italian wool sharkskin that we sourced really worked, and it’s comfortable under the hot TV spotlights. Because of the complexity of the design it took our master tailors over 60 hours to complete the final garment.”
At David August, our 2015 direction for formal wear is a slightly shorter jacket length to mirror the direction of suits and sports coats, detailed with a contrasting silk peak or shawl collar, like the jacket, Strahan is wearing. It’s classic and sophisticated at the same time, showcases a modern fashion-forward edge.
on the red carpet, image courtesy of Getty Images
STYLISH ADVICE
DAVID AUGUST HEIL OFFERS
EVENING WEAR TIPS
• TUXEDO & DINNER JACKET: A tailored jacket is always best. It creates an elegant, modern look. Notch and peak lapels are classic styles for dinner jackets.
• TIE: A long narrow satin neck-tie works well with the narrower lapels or David’s personal favorite, a narrow and full classic bow tie; it’s always appropriate!
• SHIRT: White solid or tone-on-tone bib front shirt with either fabric covered buttons or stud front.
• PANTS: Tuxedo pants are designed to be narrower at the thigh, knee and hem, therefore, the hem
length needs to be shorter to create the best drape to the pant.
• SHOES: Always black!
