by Sati Malik

Created on: November 07, 2008

It has been the avowed aim of purists throughout history to sweep away the complexities of the world, to bring our lives back to a simpler, more honest truth. Martin Luther-remember-sought to undo the convolutions of Christianity imposed by the papal order; two centuries later, his counterpart in the Islamic world, Ibn' Wahab, successfully refocused the religion away from the authority of Caliphs and Mullahs and toward the literal teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. In both extremes simplicity, modesty, cleanliness, directness and sparseness are exalted. Look at the Holy City of Mecca, long stripped of its ancient, ornate Islamic architecture and now teeming with faithful dressed in bare white; likewise, white and wood just about entirely describes a Presbyterian Church.

I imagine in certain times a man wearing the multi-diamond pattern called "argyle" would be burned at the stake. Indeed in fashion, today's purists cluster around "minimalism," defined as clean lines, straightforward colors and extreme understatement-which usually means the absence of patterns. They accuse argyle of all manner of things: "square", "outdated", "frumpy", "preppy", "WASPY" and just plain "ugly." For many it evokes the golf courses, tennis courts and glee clubs of the 1950s-the last time it was all the rage.

But I'm not here to bury my favorite pattern; yes, I'm here to praise it. To be sure, it's more resilient than its many detractors ever anticipated. Some time around 2004 it began reappearing on fashion runways. Major labels like LaCoste, DKNY, Ralph Lauren, Armani and Burrberry quickly caught on. The result has been a revolution in the design never before imagined by its Scottish inventors in the town of Argyll, Scotland. Today, argyle gets heavy rotation in all the major retail chains-Banana Republic, Abercrombie & Fitch, Macy's, Gap, J Crew-and in a tremendous variety of accents and colors. I have seen it this Fall in a variety of places: on grimy Penguin billboards in the Chicago Subway; on tennis shoes in Urban Outfitters; on Viviene Westwood bags; and countless fashion strips in New York and Chicago.

As a measure of how far argyle has traveled, last February, 50 year-old Rap Mogul Russell Simmons officially launched a new clothing line called Russell Simmons Argyle Culture which celebrates his love of the pattern. He was no doubt buoyed by the fact that over the 2007 holiday season his new brand ranked number 1 in Macy's ranking of Men's Clothing lines. In March, GQ Magazine

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