Andre Landeros Michel to Debut Menswear Collection at Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week

"I went back to Eighties music," says menswear designer Andre Landeros Michel. "I was feeling nostalgic through music."

Michel's inaugural presentation and show of his company Landeros New York will take place on February 11, 2014 from 6-8 pm and will feature 17 looks, outfitted from head to toe, with original accessories and footwear customized with raw Chinese silk, mohair, and muskrat.

Educated at Parsons School of Design in Fashion Design, Michel interned for Thom Browne. "I sought him out," says Michel. "He had a vision and he stuck with his vision. He created a world. I wanted to work for someone who was trying to change the silhouette. I chose him for his America spirit and for what he was trying to communicate in men's fashion."

As Michel recalls, "It was an internship in production and it showed me that you could use local New York talent and that production was possible."

Much of Michel's debut collection for Landeros New York draws inspiration from the designer's love of Goth, as well as the atmosphere surrounding New Wave and New Romantic music that was popular in the Eighties nightclubbing subculture. "This collection is heavily influenced by music and art from the early Eighties," says Michel.

Described by Michel as "unconventional luxury," the collection features double-faced cashmere, wool bouclé, silk charmeuse, wool crepe, silver fox, raccoon, sable, and neoprene. "Some of the imagery is dark," says the designer, "slightly romantic with a hard edge."

For his inaugural collection, Michel revisited the music of his early youth. "This collection is very New York-based and reflective of the music stations I was listening to growing up: WLIR and WDRE," says Michel. "As a teen, I was fascinated by the layering of music and art and how artists were communicating through their graphics and album covers and liner notes. The inspiration that spawned the music. The visual cues."

Michel's initial foray into New York design was a collection of clutches and bags sold at Oak NYC. Handcrafted in Sweden, The Restraint Collection drew upon Michel's love for leather and fetishwear. With a wink and a nod to bondage and S&M, the edgy collection sold out for Holiday 2012 at Oak NYC.

According to Michel, "This collection maintains the same thread, but with a softer approach. It's not as rigid. It's a lot more fluid and soft, the softest I've ever done."