June 16 saw the start of the SS14 London Collections: Men and what
better place to start our review than with Mr Start himself:
MR START x MR HARE PRESENTATION
Mr Start brings sartorial elegance to casual wear with his SS14 capsule
collection. A twist to the bomber
jacket included starched double cuff shirt detailing and crisp white cotton
pique fabric. Other fabrics used were luxurious silks, linen and subtly striped
seersucker.
All teamed with Mr Hare
colourful footwear ranging from pearly pastel trainers to the brightly coloured
espadrilles that so conjured up a life of luxury in the Riviera.
Mainly a colour palette of tonal neutrals ranging from soft greys to
pure white with accents of cornflower blue, the collection had a calming and
soothing feel. Due to the neutral colours, intarsia patterns on sweaters, giant
mesh pique and tweed patterns on slouchy crombie coats and suits were subtle,
concentrating on adding texture and depth to the collection.
Sharp suits were teamed with long flowing opaque kaftan shirts, trilby
hats and neck scarves tied with woggles bringing a relaxed laid back twist to
the tailored look. Letting the
layering and tailoring do the talking, the main colour palette was black and
white with a few suits in cool blues and caramel browns.
Portraying the Spencer Hart man was American actor Clark Peters,
looking chilled and being king of all he surveyed as he leisurely walked the catwalk.
MAN
SHOW
This time the King was more of a fairytale prince with models wearing leather
cut outs of crowns and with Abley’s own signature design of the Teddy Bear
silhouette incorporated on tops in between the regal Fleur de Lys. Disney Snow
White’s blue bird fluttered around as tattoos on the models faces and arms as
well as shirts and tees. Like the fairy tales the colour palette was sugar
sweet with candy pinks, baby blues and basket weave prints of golden toffee.
ALAN TAYLOR
Taylor goes for a muted
colour palette of greys and berry in fabrics of grainy tweeds with elbow length
sleeved jackets and side slit shorts giving a kind of sartorial street urchin
look. Smoother fabrics included black transparent organza jackets with less
opaque lapels, seams and patch pockets over white shirts. Skinny cropped trousers created a slim
silhouette, whilst deconstructed jackets, shirts and jumpers attached to tops
hung down like aprons adding volume.
From the fairytale prince we go to the nuclear zone warrior carrying large
plywood sculptured shields whilst multi coloured bandage like scarves obscured
most of the models’ face and vision. Multi layered as though the warrior needs the
protection, included short sleeved tops over long sleeved, tunics under jackets
and wide cropped trousers over jogging style trousers. Raw edges and seams were
frayed and black chunky woollens worn inside out. Colour palette was either the
ninja black or a literal explosion of tie dye multi colours splashed like paint
over the pieces.
Real life heroes of WWII Long Range Desert Group were the inspiration
for Raeburn’s Sandstorm collection.
Colour palette was of the soft neutral sand and khaki with accents of
dusty pink and shades of blues.
The desert lizard was the animal of the season with garments in a subtle
lizard skin print whilst the lizard also cleverly disguised itself in a
geometric pattern. Fabrics were in keeping with the theme with 50s rubberised
cotton, army mesh and parachute silk.
Go
West Young Man
Two collections stood out for the Wild Wild West theme but both having
a different take.
Going for the drifter/road trip cowboy look you could image him hanging
out in a bar in the middle of the desert somewhere near the Mexican
border. Titled We Meet by
Accident, this collection is definitely no accident and this drifter has a sense
of style with a capsule wardrobe ranging from shorts, tees and blazers to suits
and ties. He’s brave with his
prints of Ikat, city sketches, bold stripes as well as the obligatory check
shirt and he isn’t afraid to wear colour from hot mustard, burgundy to the
dusty pastel shades of pink and peach. This drifter can fit in where ever he
lays his cowboy hat.
TOPMAN went for the rodeo
showmanship style with silk embroidered shirts over black skinny polo necks
worn with oversized pleated loose trousers and metallic belts. Absent were the flashy and garish colours, fringes and
rhinestones, this was a more refined cowboy in a winter colour palette of the classic monochrome black and white with
accents of deep burgundies and just a splash of gold. But watch out, some of
those embroidered flowers have whopping big spiders stitched amongst them!
Bright and Bold
Truly making travelling on public transport cool, prints from this
collection were inspired by the upholstery on bus and train seats from the small
placement prints on white tees to the colourful loud jazzy lines on the
suiting. Not all patterns and
prints; the plain fabrics were colour block panels of bright orange and shades
of blue on oversized jackets and coats with rubberised taped seams.
Inspired by the Super Club Scene, this collection was a mix of the
wearable and the impractical with a common denominator of all being
fabulous. The impractical included
the hard shiny PVC shorts bound to chafe and the sweat inducing opaque rubber
shirts in neon brights. But hey they say you have to suffer for fashion. The
more wearable were the softer ‘normal’ fabrics in retro Liberty floral prints
and techno zebra pattern. Bomber jackets with detachable zip sleeves and
buttoned up shirts worn with saggy shorts with dipped hem at the back. And for that finishing club scene touch,
the models’ hair were styled with brightly coloured glitter by Fudge.
Last but not least was Xander Zhou’ s collection showing his perception of the world with deconstructed tailoring, elongated shirt sleeves, pvc singlets,
mini tailored shorts and long
coats in a collage of website
imagery prints. This was the
designer’s ‘Sum of Likes’ and it didn’t matter that the viewer saw or
understands what he sees. For me, it wasn’t the rubber thigh garters, the
constricting steel chokers or the exceptionally ape length sleeves that puzzled
me but the wide waist sash with what looked to be a waiter’s side apron. But as
Zhou says, it didn’t matter.
Christopher Raeburn images by Carl Burgess
Christopher Shannon & Xander Zhou images by Christopher Dadey
By Karen Grace
Personal Shopper & Image Consultant for Frumpy to Funky http://www.frumpytofunky.com
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