It’s hard to believe that not only has another year come and gone, but that the fashion week cycle has started up yet again. The season has gotten off to a stellar start, however, with a characteristically good humoured and boundary-pushing selection of menswear at London Fashion Week Men’s. Once again, Charles Jeffrey Loverboy stole the show with a theatrical, colourful and boisterous collection that glimmered with dramatic McQueen and Galliano-isms. Meanwhile, Art School created waves on Instagram on Saturday by sending a selection of cisgendered, trans and non-binary models down the runway in glamorous, shimmering evening attire. Here are some of our highlights:
A-COLD-WALL*
For his AW19 collection, Virgil Abloh protégé Samuel Ross artfully combined space-age with streetwear. Padded jackets, cargo pants and multi-pocketed gilets sat side-by-side graphic cut-outs, Star Trek-style polo necks and elegant trench coats. Heavily influenced by British street culture, A-COLD-WALL* offered a glimpse into a smartly-dressed streetscape of a — hopefully — not so distant future.
Charles Jeffrey
Charles Jeffrey’s Loverboy brand is widely heralded as the ultimate look for London’s current generation of club kids and his latest collection, shown at London’s Wapping Hydraulic Power Station, did not disappoint. With pleated teal leather skirt suits, jovial plaid tailoring, feather halos, masquerade makeup and mod colour blocking, the British designer added some welcome flamboyancy to the proceedings.
Bobby Abley
Copyright: catwalking.com
For AW19, the designer obsessed with animation nostalgia turned his eye to a well-loved millennial anime obsession. Bobby Abley went full Pokémon master for his London show over the weekend, sending Pokéball ponchos and Squirtle pyjama sets down the catwalk, as well as closing the show with a giant Pikachu. The collection also flexed its unisex credentials by featuring both male and female models to showcase the fluorescent clothing. But kitschy TV-patterns were not the only prints Abley presented, as the designer showcased a range from flamed separates to tartan tracksuits and chequerboard overalls.
Art School
Photo: Chris Yates
Art School were the brand on everyone’s lips over the weekend with their brave gender nonbinary presentation. The show opened with a bang as a model in a slinky satin black cocktail dress, cut to the thigh, emerged — not what you might expect from a collection branded as ‘menswear’. Paired with hot-pink extensions, micro-bangs and late ‘90s pom-pom sandals, the tone of high-but-confusing glamour was set. An array of models across the gender spectrum — donning tongue-in-cheek “Art School Dropout” t-shirts and slashed hoodies — brought good old fashioned rebellion and a fresh dose of vibrancy to grey old London.
Craig Green
Opening his AW19 show with unusual multi-pocketed and belted outerwear and cargo trousers in offbeat shades of teal and rust, before segueing into tartan kaftans and a rainbow-bright selection of plastic garments that resembled cellophane-wrapped sweets, Craig Green brought us to the edge. After the show, the three-time designer of the year at the British fashion awards spoke poetically about the inspiration behind the collection: “I was thinking of this man made of glass, and that idea doesn’t have to mean fragility. It can also mean strength.” Green showed us a cross-section of clothing, from the wearable to the conceptual, from the fashion-forward to the emotive.