Now
that it is a legitimately masculine pursuit, with London Collections:
Men kicking off a series of fashion weeks and trade shows, menswear is
beginning to succumb to many of the same issues that make womenswear
such a brilliant and often silly industry.In only its fourth season,
London Collections: Men (LC:M) already feels like an established event
and it must, in part, be responsible for the recession-busting 12 per
cent growth in the British menswear market during the past five years.
While it is a serious fashion business, then, it also takes business
seriously.Yet as its heft has grown, some of the fun has diminished,
particularly among the younger designers, who are very clearly aware of
the eyes of the world watching them. The participants divide along
-fairly clear lines: the old Savile Row hands adding a fashionable edge
to the best of British tailoring; and the young Turks, some
extraordinarily talented, others perhaps thrust in the spotlight a
little too early for their own sense of self-importance.JW Anderson, for
example, is widely adored in the fashion crowd: a womenswear powerhouse
who has collaborated with big names and the creative director of the
sublimely simple heritage brand Sunspel. Yet where menswear was once an
oasis of sanity in a habitually contrary industry, Anderson’s LC:M
collections seem to be aimed more at winning headlines than
customers.There’s always a place for that, of course, because few tweed
suits have ever attracted a front page of tabloid outrage, but what may
start to attract negative press at LC:M is the transferral of the
super-skinny aesthetic from womenswear to menswear.Meanwhile, Caltrans
is preparing to make some fixes to the Posey Tube that could make
commuting it a little easier for pedestrians and cyclists.Whole 2013 Cheap V-neck Scoop A-line Ruching White Flower Organza Flower Girl Dresses Unlike
the beefy male models of Milan and the elegant figures of Paris,
London’s models are hollow-cheeked, loose-limbed, hunched and awkwardly
lanky. It’s not pretty.The British tailoring side of things, on the
other hand, reflects its wide appeal with an ever more diverse selection
of models. The likes of Richard James, Hackett, Duchamp and Rake are
continuing to showcase the beard as the hot facial accessory – and what a
beard: forget perfect lines, it’s all about a vigorous growth,Aah! My
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The
Brideshead Revisited swains that floated around Lord’s Cricket Ground
at last season’s Savile Row and St James’s show, The English Gentleman,
were this season given a more intriguing persona, in the astonishing
setting of Churchill’s underground Cabinet War Rooms. Dressed in dark
wool coats, trilbies, flannel and tweed suits and horn-rimmed glasses,
models and actors presented tableaux of Second World War
campaign-planning, with punning Woolmark Company posters: “Help
Britain’s Warm Effort”.That 1940s look – the warm tweeds, the autumnal
colours, the neatly parted hair and geeky glasses – was, to varying
levels, the look of the season. Trousers varied from baggy flannel (at
Lou Dalton, Alan Taylor for MAN and Oliver Spencer) to neatly pressed,
short and tapered (Richard James, E Tautz, Casely-Hayford). Checks, from
dog-tooth at Paul Smith to Prince of Wales at Hardy Amies, added
liveliness in otherwise low-key palettes of brown, beige, dark blue and
an awful lot of black. Black, in fact, is one of those trends that will
continue to play through the next few seasons: ascetic looks from
Matthew Miller,Petra bursts into peals of laughter Discount Sexy Ruched Chiffon Sweetheart Beaded A-line Mother of the Bride Dresses With Jacket.
Topshop and Lee Roach were all straight cuts, round necks and layering.
Within the dark palettes everywhere, bold pops of colour came through,
from the summery flamingos of Orlebar Brown to the graphic knitwear of
John Smedley, as well as petrol blue and burnt sienna shades, and bold
yellow at Richard Nicholl, Christopher Raeburn and Oliver Spencer.
Microtrends included the biker jacket, whether in tweed or leather, at
Richard James, Matthew Miller and E Tautz; kilim-rug designs, in Paul
Smith’s shoes and scarves and Burberry’s giant bags; and straight-cut
trousers rumpled up and tucked into boots (Gieves & Hawkes,
Christopher Raeburn). A more significant look coming through is a move
towards the oversized in coats and shirts, with big, drooping, rounded
shoulders at Topman, sharp, gigantic one-button coats at Craig Green for
MAN, roomy black-and-white check coats at Agi & Sam, and relaxed,
fluid shirts over low-cut vests for Burberry.In fact, the relaxed looks
at Christopher Bailey’s collection for Burberry may prompt a change of
gear that drives on the menswear looks for future seasons, ditching the
uptight trenches, spacey metallics and tense postures in favour of easy,
summery shapes, silk scarves or Scottish wool blankets sitting
nonchalantly on the shoulders of loose macs and dusters.
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