GQ’s 2009 menswear designer: will tennis be their muse?

And then there were six: GQ and CFDA have narrowed down their nominees for Best New Menswear Designers in America down to a sextet of talents: André Benjamin (Benjamin Bixby); Robert Geller; Alex Carleton (Rogues Gallery); David Mullen (Save Khaki); Sam Shipley and Jeff Halmos (Shipley & Halmos); and Yigal Azrouël.

Shipley, GQ EIC Jim Nelson, and Halmos

The winners will be announced in a few weeks, with the coveted prize being $50,000 and an opportunity to create a collection to be exclusively sold at Bloomingdale’s and Levi.com for a month; after that, other retailers can get a piece of the pie.

Edit: Geller takes the cake. Congratulations!

A recent “best menswear” award (s/s 09 NY Fashion week) went to British designer Nico Kubisch, whose collection was inspired by “gentlemen’s sports, particular tennis in the 1920s and 30s, where sportswear was just a softer version of formal menswear with its tailored jackets and trousers.” Will the GQ/CFDA winner follow in his footsteps? Or those of Thom Browne’s s/s 09 collection?

(GQ party pics via style.com; NC pic via fashioncapital)