WIT DANDY
ELECTRONIC SHEEP AND ROBERT ABLEY, playing with fashion.
There is a lot to be said of the new growth of interest and development in men’s wear, more choice, more experimentation, less boundaries and more fun. A new generation of media and fashion savvy men aren’t afraid of the concept, the context, the history or the story entwined within a range. Assuming a theory that men respond better to visual rather then emotional stimulus might explain their embracing of sartorial wit beyond the graphic tshirt. Entire wardrobes can be made up playing with the stereo types inherited from our predecessors combined with the criss-cross of visual references from comic strip and super hero, historical to futuristic, street wear to country gent etc. Where as women’s fashion tends to shift from season to season men’s trends from a graph of development, the further it travels the more it encompasses, the more story and context within a range the more space it allows a boy to fetishize it.
In the spirit of mixed narratives we have bashed together Robert Abley’s recent graduate collection and Electronic sheep’s a/w 10 range. Ravensbourne graduate Robert sent his models down the catwalk dressed as teddy bear loving, leather harness wearing fetishist, masked and gagged, new super hero wannabes, complete with speech bubble prints and repeat patterns of teddies and Roberts own face, quite a lot to mix into a range perhaps, but incredibly cohesive and matter of fact. Future projects it seems will have an equal mash up of interests.
Electronic Sheep have been knocking around for over 10 years and have always embraced the multi layered story within a range. This season a Victorian explorer collects artefact’s from around the world while at the same time having an interlude in early new york filled with sailors and tattoo parlors. The multi coloured knit wear is covered in motifs of ships, rhinos, exotic plants, lions, New York sky lines, pipes, mountains, valleys and guest appearances from characters past. Over the years the lists of characters have multiplied beyond the original Electronic Sheep and his companions who travel the world in a flying Amp, as featured in the companies limited edition comic strip. Last fashion week Electronic Sheep’s stand drew quite an audience for its sheer joy at selling a product with a story and a continuum, rather than a collection of hopeful this seasons must haves. As we have said here before, once you buy electronic sheep you become part of it, loyal to concepts that will evolve and change.
A woman playing with fashion is just clever, a man playing with fashion is endearing and hopeful. Sometimes its fine if its a mans world.
