Day 4 at London Collections: Men


Well guys, it's my last post on London Collections: Men and wasn't it a great four days? What I think we all adore about London fashion is the range you get from designer to designer, you have young emerging talent who are in early stages of shaping the future of fashion, then you have your tailoring from the likes of the world famous Savile Row and then of course you have the icons of the fashion world. London is just in a really good place right now, it has it for both the young and old and people who aren't afraid to stand out from the crowd. Anyway, back to today's shows, again I thought they were amazing. We'll be discussing Katie Eary, Dunhil, E.Tautz and of course Burberry Prorsum.

Katie Eary
Katie Eary is a show I've been looking forward to, ever since I first saw her punk Mickey Mouse collection for AW14 and quickly bounced into one of my favourite menswear brands. This season saw her bring back her slightly crazy but wonderful side, we witnessed brains, organs and many more all in the form of Jeff Koons balloon style sculptures. Not only inspired by some of the great modern artists, the collection had a whole sort of Clockwork Orange feel to it also, Alex DeLarge(s) of today if you will. And as the film, Katie Eary is also on the verge of having a cult following. The laces that featured on the garments have become a sort of staple , as I can distinctly remember seeing them in her River Island collaboration early last year. Katie Eary is one of the best print makers I have ever seen, I just love what she does with print every season, and this season was exactly that. I loved the brain prints in particular. And also, what else has been creeping up lately is like twisted knitwear, and she mastered that as well in this collection so nothing else left to see other than this was a great show once again. Favourite looks below.




Katie Eary

E.Tautz
I love Patrick Grant and everything he does, whether it's designing impeccable fashion or judging other people's sewing skills on the Great British Sewing Bee. 2014 saw Patrick Grant open the first ever store for E.Tautz and the 2000 square-feet flagship can be found on Duke Street, Mayfair, London. Perhaps the most gentleman in fashion of today, all thanks to his history tailoring on Savile Row. This collection was described as by Patrick himself, as one of his most personal collections he had done, the clothes were the clothes he would love to wear himself, extremely British: Tailored, grey and textured. I loved his thick, roll neck jumpers with the magnified fair isle pattern and oversized silhouettes dominated the show, masculinity was a key factor to the show also. So to finish, Patrick Grant has done a fantastic job of the rebranding of E.Tautz over the past five years, and I can't wait to see what he has in store for the future of the brand but whatever it is, I'm certain it'll be great.



E.Tautz

Burberry Prorsum
I don't think I've ever seen a dark setting, this dramatic for all the years Christopher Bailey and Burberry have shown in London's Kensington Gardens, but as they say there's a first time for everything and so here it was. This collection was described as "Classically Bohemian" by the designer himself. Like a few previous shows in the past (Tom Odell, Paloma Faith, James Bay) there was live music performed by Clare Maguire, whom Bailey found on Soundcloud. This always adds a romantic touch no matter what the show entails. The Burberry boy this season was cool, interesting, intelligent, wealthy and even exotic to a point, this boy loves to travel it would seem. Of course those reading glasses, which I found to be a very simple yet amazing touch that made the show for me in a very weird way. For some reason, I don't think we would have got the same feeling to the clothes and the character without them, so well done again Mr. Bailey. It was almost like nothing I'd ever seen from Burberry and could quite easily be my favourite menswear collection, rivalling the Fall 2012 menswear show. There's honestly no point listing what looks I liked best because they were all great and I've just noticed they had elements of a rich and modern day hipster vibe to them. And to mention the styling was great as always. Before we finish, we have to talk about that sparkling and glittering finale of falling confettie which was one of the most beautiful scenes I have ever layed eyes on. Favourite looks below. Don't blame me if I choose the total of 48 looks...



Burberry Prorsum

Dunhill
The last show of London Collections: Men and probably my favourite throughout the past four days and it is Alfred Dunhill. Honestly, I hadn't really took much notice of Dunhill in the past, well not as much as other shows for that matter, in fact it wasn't until I seen Jim Chapman wearing a suit from the brand at the British Fashion Awards last month. I'm so glad I took notice because I loved this collection. It was inspired by some of the best artists ever during the 1950's/1960's none other than Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon and David Hockney who would often get together in and around Soho. Besides the artist influence, I felt this collection had a very university lecturer feeling to it also. The looks were mostly formal but worn in a casual, end-of-the-day type way which I thought linked back to my lecturer idea? Ties were tucked into shirts, trousers loose and more often than not rolled up, the fabric of choice was corduroy in most cases and the colour scheme was also kept casual in muted down olives, browns, burnt oranges etc. What also caught my eye...anyone? was again the readers glasses worn by models and this again, extremely modernised the collection and gave it that cool edge, that artist of today have again (myself included) but yeah overall this was an outstanding collection that could have very easily been a retro clichĂ© like it has been so many times in the past. But this was fresh if not contemporary. For the last time until another six months, my favourite looks from the show.



Dunhill

Well there you have it, that is it for another season of London Collections: Men hasn't it gone by so fast. Anyway I hope you enjoyed reading my blog over the past four days. Do you like my new name for my blog? Feel free to leave a comment. Join me again on I think it'll be Sunday for the first coverage of day 1 in Milan. Take care and I'll see you all again soon.
The Wolf of High Street
xxx



Comments