Narciso Rodriguez tackles menswear

One of New York's hottest designers, who shot to fame when he made the late Carolyn Bisette Kennedy's wedding dress, is ready to tackle menswear.

His first menswear collection will debut tomorrow night during his runway show at the Exit Art Gallery in Manhattan and will be available from spring 2006 exclusively from the hallowed shopping halls of Barneys New York.

"I draw so much inspiration from menswear and menwear fabrics, and I've wanted to do this for quite some time," Rodriguez told WWD. "It's a true extension of what I do - tailoring, which I love."

On a trip to Italy to do research for his womenswear collection, Rodriguez ran into a hitch. "I found some beautiful fabrics and couldn't use them in the women's collection," he continued. "It was obvious to me they were fabrics I'd like to wear, and I said to myself, 'I should just put together a small menswear collection."

The new menswear line is separate from Rodriguez's womenswear line, wich is porduced and distributed by Aeffe and which generates annual sales of $20 to $30 million in 115 stores worldwide. Production for menswear will take place in-house and will be manufactured in the US.

Aeffe, which is based in Italy, launches Rodriguez's womenswear collection under a licensing agreement in 1997. According to WWD, relations with the Rodriguez team have, at times, been somewhat rocky.

"The gist of the collection is tailoring," said Rodriguez. "It's very conscious of the body and structured in the same way that I do womenswear." Seams play a big part in the structure of the clothing, whether running down the front and back of the legs with painstaking craftsmanship, or on tailored shirts and jackets.

"You'd probably never notice it, but that seam provides that extra bit of fit; it accentuates the chest and waist," he said of the jacket. "I like to do things that are quite classic and beautiful, but just changing things a bit - looking at things from a slightly different perspective."