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 They accuse argyle of all manner of things: "square", "outdated", "frumpy", "preppy", "WASPY" and just plain "ugly."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 ran a four-page spread of the opening as well as a behind the scenes look at the photo-shoot which appeared on its website. At the launching Simmons said "I have always intended to design sophisticated mens' wear for the urban graduate." Urban professional men over 25 can now wear argyle and get the young babes too!
But even I was surprised last summer to see argyle turn up on the field of sports. As I was thumbing through VeloNews' special Tour de France issue, I was shocked to discover an add for Cycleops Power Training system. The Tour de France cycling team that uses the product, Team Garmin-Chipotle (formerly Team Slipstream), wears argyle jerseys and shorts! Argyle is even on their helmets and bikes! The 25 man mostly American team is good (they've placed 1st in a number of tours in 2007 and 2008). By reputation they're refreshingly dope-free and also employ many unique gadgets (like compression boots and Garmin GPS devices); but the interesting point here is that they appeared to be boosting the profile of Argyle to new heights in the world's fashion capital. Just listen to the Denver Post's lead-in regarding the scene in Paris during the Tour de France:
"In a country of high fashion, where the clothes coming to a mall near you go through Paris first, the fashion world is bracing for a new craze...Argyle is in....Don't feel bad if you still think those multicolored triangles are ugly. Spend any time with Team Garmin-Chipotle and you'll start thinking in parallelograms. But the international attention this Boulder cycling team is getting at the Tour de France is bringing argyle to newspapers and TV screens all around the globe" ("It's All About the Argyle: Crowds of World Media Turn Their Focus to Team Garmin-Chipotle", Denver Post, July 11, 2008).
From the look of things, it's not clear if the argyle or the team's skills have captivated the media. Either way, I'm encouraged.
A couple years ago I was walking with my younger brother through a fashionable mall in Aurora, Illinois. As we looked in the windows for things to buy I pointed out casually that argyle was the older man's trump card. He protested (I would call him a minimalist by the way). I explained that clothing wasn't only about fashion, it was about POWER. Argyle, I continued, communicated the older man's power by conveying class, wealth and sophistication-even in its veritable absence. If Persian Rugs were cheaper and acceptable to wear I imagine they would have the same effect as a cashmere argyle cardigan. As my bro was just then pushing 30, I advised him to "be aware, of the power of argyle." Oddly, what I said must've drifted into the clouds and bounced around for a few years because the slogan printed atop that VeloNews add was "The Power of Argyle"; underneath, a buff rider decked out in a blue and orange argyle pattern.
Why does argyle have power? Why not, say, plaidor polka dots (which coincidentally have also made a comeback)? Ah, but if I overanalyze I may tarnish its mystique. I'll say the following: I've already mentioned that argyle has a conservative 1950s cachet. This fits well into the "retro" or "preppie" looks sweeping our age. It's also versatile. It holds its class even in the loudest colors. I've seen argyle in lime and baby blue that I'd wear to work. The rest belongs to zeit geist.
Admittedly, many of the urban youth who wear argyle today do it with a sense of irony. To accent this they integrate it with more conventional styles: they'll wear a tight argyle vest with a t-shirt and jeans for instance. And Argyle still has plenty of enemies. But the fact that it's migrated out of stores like Brooks Brothers and into those like Abercrombie-and more so into the Tour de France-is reason enough to believe in its enduring power.