London Collections: Men SS15 (Day 1)

Hi guys. I am so so sorry for not updating my blog in a while, I've just been super busy revising and getting myself prepared for my A Level exams which have been taking place over the last couple of months, as I'm sure you were all aware. Anyway, they're over now and I'm just playing the waiting game until results day (wish me luck) I love London Collections and all the talent situated in and around London, so I just had to blog about the first day of menswear fashion. Enjoy!

Topman Design

I look forward to seeing what Gordon Richardson has done with Topman Design every season, and Spring Summer 2015 was no exception. As everyone knows retro is really big at the moment, and this Topman show took this concept on board and advanced it to a different level. It was very Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon and Noel Gallagher influenced. At times it was very floral and flared 1970's and at others, very 1990's britpop with super slim silhouettes and rock'n'roll messy mop hairstyles. To say some of the pieces in this collection were a statement, would be an understatement because prints were very psychedelic, it traveled from spring sunflowers to pinstripes to geometric patterns...Overall very summery and colourful. If you know me, you will probably have guessed that my favourite look from the collection was the 'Woodstock' printed jumper, but I also really loved the retro style printed tees and the parkas were amazing, I particularly found the one with the mint green fur trim the nicest. Something I wasn't the biggest fan of was the flared jeans, I mean they worked with the feel of the collection, but I would perhaps wear some stretch denim or spray on skinny jeans. Below are my favourite looks from the collection.

MAN

What I love about the MAN shows are the way three designers work together to produce completely different designs but somehow they work together, and that is something I would imagine is a really hard to achieve. The designers this season included Bobby Abley, Liam Hodges and Nicomede Talevera. But I have to admit, I thought Bobby Abley's pieces were the strongest out of the three designers, I just loved the 'dark' Disney prints on the sweatshirts and also when the top and shorts matched in colours, especially the red. I also really loved that skater boy aesthetic, which looked really 'retro-cool' and laid back and off-beat, something I love in fashion. And Ursula's face on that light grey neoprene sweatshirt. With Talevera's designs, I wasn't overly impressed, I mean I only really liked a handful of single pieces, and that's that really, unfortunately. With Lim Hodges' designs, I was a little 50/50 split, some pieces I liked, some I disliked. I liked the first four looks that featured the raglan sleeve t-shirt (loving at the minute) and the last six designs I liked, I thought it started strong, fell drastically in the middle and picked it up again towards the end. These few designs in particular just felt like London with a great deal of street style influence, which has had a major impact on fashion the past year or so. My favourite looks...

Agi and Sam

A brand to me, that each season is just strengthening their collections. For SS15 Agi and Sam opted for a colour palette mixed with blue, white, silver and an incredible stand-out mustard. Clothes were simple and minimal but the signature prints made up for this, to put on what could only be described as an overall great season for two boys. Prints featured a brush-like design and also in a dramatic checkerboard style. And I never thought I would have seen this, but a kimono for men and I thought it looked great, flowed really well with the rest of the collection. And to mention, this man is on fire with inspiring London designers so far this season, and that is John Lennon, as the models walked down the runway sporting 1960's Beatles style, overgrown bowl cuts teamed with retro and round John Lennon sunglasses. I actually feel a little ahead of the trend game, because I actually purchased some John Lennon sunglasses last week, from eBay and they were like £1.59 a pair, so I got three (black, green and blue lenses) What I also really loved was the relaxed fitting t-shirts that were shown in navy and silver. Finally this collection depicts for a me a very technical introduction to dressing cool and laid back, within bringing a more Asian meets London street style culture to the table and I look forward to what Agi and Sam does in the near future. Favourite looks below.

Sunglasses I purchased from eBay last week...

Jonathan Saunders

I could only best describe Jonathan Saunders latest collection as "subtle futuristic" and the designer himself said he gained inspiration from the work of Ettore Sottsass and 1980's Italian postmodernism interiors for the designs of his stripes and graphic lines. I'm just gonna put it out there, I love yellow, who doesn't I mean its fun, bold and speaks for Summer itself and the yellow garments in this current collection just wowed me. I love the car coat and the jumper that faded into white, even the Woman's Resort collection that showcased alongside the Men's SS15 collection used the colour so bravely and clever, that yellow dress and waterproof jacket were so strong, design-wise. The countless number of different shoes shown also amazed me, the Chelsea boots that sparkled, the classic tan loafers, the Cyan blue boots they were all spectacular. For me, the best fitting suits are the skinny fit suits, and Jonathan Saunders this season done me proud, the texture looked like something from another planet, really edgy, really unique, really android like...just really cool. Now, finally lets talk sunglasses, again WOW! they looked like something from American Hustle. They were retro, they were fun, I loved them. Check out my best looks from the collection below.

Woman's Resort Collection that was shown alongside the latest menswear collection...

So that is it, I hope you enjoyed reading my round up from Day 1 at London Collections: Men and please check back tomorrow for my reviews on my favourite shows throughout Day 2. Feel free to leave a comment on what you think of LC:M so far for Spring and Summer 2015.

xxx