This London Collections: Men's fashion week, the lovely style blogger SUSIE BUBBLE reports, just for OC!
Torrid winds and persistent rain couldn’t keep London’s menswear crowd from piling into Mercer Street studios to discover the latest batch of Fashion East Menswear installations, put together by Lulu Kennedy. What used to be a menswear “fun house” filled with installations and presentations in every nook and cranny has evolved into a more focused and edited selection of menswear designers with strong statements to make.
Upon entering the room, you were hit with Liam Hodges' druid roadies standing in circular formation, described as a looking a bit like an "aerial Stonehenge." The models looked well ‘ard in an armor of gaffer-taped workwear. A music video featuring the track "Cosmic Grit" by the band Puffer completed this clash of gruff roadie culture and ancient pagan ritual.
When you stepped to the right into Tom Ryling’s presentation, things took an even darker turn––through the slits of black balaclavas, we were stared at with menacing eyes. Ryling’s second collection "He Taught Me How to Fight" is a lean 'n' mean take on American sportswear, with glitchy white-noise prints and painted denim bags looking like they might rough you up.
Massimo Casagrande is a Fashion East Menswear Installations newbie and presented a succinct collection of white shirts with a difference. Inspired by the work of artist Adam McEwan featuring photographs of New York sidewalks covered with gum, Casagrande teamed up with sculptor Stephen Morgan to similarly transfer textures of concrete and bubble wrap onto shirts, using print and molded silicone.
Men who show a bit of bravado at LC:M is nothing new, but jewelry designer Roxane Farahamand, a recent graduate from the London College of Fashion, is paving the way for new wave male bling. She had bare-chested boy racer-types draped over a Mazda car wearing her 3-D printed plated bracelets and necklaces. It was certainly an updated spin on the phrase "Boys and their toys" as Farahmand seeks to add jewelry to the usual peacocking tools of gadgets and cars.
Last but certainly not least, Nicomede Talavera, who recently graduated from the esteemed Central Saint Martins MA course, demonstrated that more of the same thing is not necessarily a bad thing. Continuing his obsession with the graphic lines of artist Robert Morris, Talavera accented his 1980s sportswear silhouettes with geometric paneling in an articulate palette of baby blue, dusty pink, mustard and mint. Your eyes were drawn to the elongated flared trouser in leather, patent, and wool, uniformly unzipped. Ribbed layered knitwear, developed with fellow CSM grad Jaimee McKenna, was equally precise. An ongoing backpack collaboration with Eastpak was the perfect final flourish to this impressive sophomore outing from Talavera.
Photos by MAFALDA SILVA | E-mail ONLINE@OPENINGCEREMONY.US to be notified once the Fall/Winter 2014 collection hits OC!![]()
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Torrid winds and persistent rain couldn’t keep London’s menswear crowd from piling into Mercer Street studios to discover the latest batch of Fashion East Menswear installations, put together by Lulu Kennedy. What used to be a menswear “fun house” filled with installations and presentations in every nook and cranny has evolved into a more focused and edited selection of menswear designers with strong statements to make.
Upon entering the room, you were hit with Liam Hodges' druid roadies standing in circular formation, described as a looking a bit like an "aerial Stonehenge." The models looked well ‘ard in an armor of gaffer-taped workwear. A music video featuring the track "Cosmic Grit" by the band Puffer completed this clash of gruff roadie culture and ancient pagan ritual.
When you stepped to the right into Tom Ryling’s presentation, things took an even darker turn––through the slits of black balaclavas, we were stared at with menacing eyes. Ryling’s second collection "He Taught Me How to Fight" is a lean 'n' mean take on American sportswear, with glitchy white-noise prints and painted denim bags looking like they might rough you up.
Massimo Casagrande is a Fashion East Menswear Installations newbie and presented a succinct collection of white shirts with a difference. Inspired by the work of artist Adam McEwan featuring photographs of New York sidewalks covered with gum, Casagrande teamed up with sculptor Stephen Morgan to similarly transfer textures of concrete and bubble wrap onto shirts, using print and molded silicone.
Men who show a bit of bravado at LC:M is nothing new, but jewelry designer Roxane Farahamand, a recent graduate from the London College of Fashion, is paving the way for new wave male bling. She had bare-chested boy racer-types draped over a Mazda car wearing her 3-D printed plated bracelets and necklaces. It was certainly an updated spin on the phrase "Boys and their toys" as Farahmand seeks to add jewelry to the usual peacocking tools of gadgets and cars.
Last but certainly not least, Nicomede Talavera, who recently graduated from the esteemed Central Saint Martins MA course, demonstrated that more of the same thing is not necessarily a bad thing. Continuing his obsession with the graphic lines of artist Robert Morris, Talavera accented his 1980s sportswear silhouettes with geometric paneling in an articulate palette of baby blue, dusty pink, mustard and mint. Your eyes were drawn to the elongated flared trouser in leather, patent, and wool, uniformly unzipped. Ribbed layered knitwear, developed with fellow CSM grad Jaimee McKenna, was equally precise. An ongoing backpack collaboration with Eastpak was the perfect final flourish to this impressive sophomore outing from Talavera.
Photos by MAFALDA SILVA | E-mail ONLINE@OPENINGCEREMONY.US to be notified once the Fall/Winter 2014 collection hits OC!
Liam Hodges
