OMAR KASHOURA SS 11

As the birthplace of many pivotal sartorial movements, Britain likes to wear it’s pop cultural references on it’s sleeve. Just finished, Shane Meadows’ Channel 4 series This is England ’86 is lovingly detailing the wardrobes of it’s cast of Punks, Mods, Goths and Casuals, coming over as much a style guide as TV drama. Britain’s social history is a consistent source for designers hoping to conduit romantic ideals: the rebellion of Punk, the freedom of the Hippies, the hedonism of rave culture. Menswear often succumbs to these categorizations, and in their Summer 2011 collections many London designers simply illustrated familiar male role models. But while women’s wear seeks a path to red carpet press the men’s collections reflect a widening of audience and market, happy to take the last day of fashion week and enjoy the eclecticism still allowed in the shadow of the media glare, but how long will this last?

kATIE EARY SS 11

At the Somerset House exhibition, Katie Eary used punk’s tried and tested tartans and studding, but applied to a boxer’s wardrobe. This meant a small, sporty collection shown on sparring tattooed teenage fighters in leopard print separates or shredded denim pants.  Punk was JW Anderson’s AW10 influence and, still using appliqué and patchwork, his summer offer took a psychedelic trip to a 60’s rock festival. He showed a convincing series of looks that dreamily clashed colour and texture, showing lace doilies stitched to tie dye t-shirts and paisley leg wear. Proportion and cut were left on the back burner to decorative flourishes: sets of monkey boots came encrusted with trippy growths of Swarovski crystal. James Long covered similar ground, his usual mix of dramatic leather jackets and distressed prints were given a gentler feel by means of an acid-test palette: all over prints of marbling in pink, orange and aqua. The highlight came in a series of over-sized and deconstructed bohemian knitwear.

JAMES LONG AND JW ANDERSON SS 11

Should one think it was purely drugs and rock’n’roll on the runways, another group of designers revised more establishment dress codes. Carolyn Massey interpreted a vintage sensibility (perhaps it was the Lawrence Of Arabia desert hues) into a desirable proposition for a 21^st Century man. Delicate styling, where braided accessories and straw hats rubbed against her slouchy, work wear jackets and sharp cotton tailoring, meant this stood out as her most successfully realized collection yet. Christopher Raeburn scored much approval with his recycled parachute fabrics, boldly printed and reassembled into fun, wind and water cheating outerwear. Omar Kashoura’s variation on tradition saw his brylcreemed and bearded models playing jazz in a brass band quartet. He took an elegant, aristocratic vibe and updated it with sporty, modern details and luxury fabrications; all to winning effect. Similarly, St.Martin’s graduate Felipe Rojas Llanos, in his stunning debut LFW outing, showed a sophisticated sequence of minimalist looks; expertly cut jackets, in glossy silks, pinched at the front but billowing at the back. Refreshingly free of any obvious stylistic references, this was probably the most contemporary showing of the day.

CAROLYN MASSEY AND FELIPE ROJAS LIANOS SS 11

Another British preoccupation for stylists and designers is always the stereotypical working class male. His sportswear uniform is Christopher Shannon’s signature influence, and for summer, he viewed it through the lens of dancehall and drum ‘n’ bass culture. Mixing a b-boy military print with shirting and shorts cut into contrasting panels of ice cream colours, the look was cool and cohesive, but sadly did little to move on his athletic aesthetic.

NEW POWER STUDIO SS 11

In this way, New Power Studio were more successful. Whilst their show had perhaps less polish, they work a contrary, individual humour that began to make sense in their second LFW outing. Using a ‘scally boy’ wardrobe they injected inspired references to youth: a jersey top appeared to feature abstract spots of multi colour flocking – in reality, the soggy paper bullets chewed up and spat out by some bored teenager in detention. The collection’s punch line arrived in a model wearing a jacket / back pack combo made completely of rubber gloves that turned to reveal a 7 year old boy (alive and smiling) being carried inside.

JAMES LONG SS 11

Showing a raw and upbeat collection, Martine Rose made her live debut at The Royal Opera House. Shirts came in cotton /nylon cagoule hybrids, whilst a bold series of block colour tops with eponymous branding paid homage to the logo overload of 90’s street wear. The weirdness of floral upholstery fabrics inserted into leather pants or utility jackets made for a creative vision, reminiscent of stylist Simon Foxton’s early ‘non-fashion fashion’ editorials that remixed English/Gay/Ethnic stereotypes into playful, experimental images. As with all these up and coming designers, it will be interesting to see how she grows her nascent and idiosyncratic vision as London’s menswear showcase grows from season to season.

MARTINE ROSE SS 11

Words and illustrations by Slashstroke.

Keep a look out for mini designers profiles, coming soon.