COLLECTIONS

ALEXANDER MCQUEEN – LONDON COLLECTIONS MEN SS14/ 19.06.13

NASIR MAZHAR – LONDON COLLECTIONS MEN SS14/ 19.06.13

Review to follow

Images by: Derrick Kakembo

Posted by: Rachel Holliman

MATTHEW MILLER – LONDON COLLECTIONS MEN SS14/ 18.06.13

A bare-chested model with the words ‘Untitled’, ‘Mixed Media’ and ‘Matthew Miller’ penned across his back opened Miller’s SS14 collection on one very clear foot. To the sound of a European female repeating various observations which more often then not opened with “our world”, Miller juxtaposed a cutting deconstruction of the art world with uncomplex, anti-elitist sportswear silhouettes, complete with raw hems and a cracked-paint finish.

 

Translating the gallery environment into garments, Miller was to re-appropriate art world iconography for the everyman. And thus the everyman (and woman – two, as it happens) exhibited laminated artist labels on the backs of sweatshirts, hoods, and denim, attached not to the wall, but to relaxed denims and cropped trousers thanks to an undoubtedly nifty key chain. A “post-industrial” edge was introduced through angular cuts, forming relaxed overlays, with unusual design elements such as concrete duffel coat toggles and wire rope providing another welcome example of Miller’s signature borrowed functionality. ‘Radical Prototypes’ Miller coined his collection, but what will you call yours? Because for Miller, “I am not the artist, you are”: time to sharpen those pencils and grab a handful of sticky labels.

 

Backstage images: Katy Davies

Runway images: Elise Rose

Posted by: Victoria Roe

NICOLE FARHI – LONDON COLLECTIONS MEN SS14/ 18.06.13

At Nicole Farhi the show notes announced a desire to bring soulful solace to our “complex modern world”. Keeping it simple Sykes promised, honest fabrics and wardrobe staples. So in her honour, and because she presented us with a thought-boosting crystal quartz, this report will aim to be refreshingly simple.

 

From the opening look, this was a collection preaching harmony and clarity, in palette and form. Jackets, knits and trousers sat in perfect cadence with their companions, fabricated in slate, sand, mist and a delectable sea foam. But there was nothing misty about these structures – clean, slick separates, cropped at the ankle, linear micro prints and rustic interlock jersey established sharp tailoring with an unmistakably industrial edge. It was this antithesis, the organic and the synthetic, which Sykes captured with intriguing simplicity. So computer grey and cornflower blue, skyscraper tweeds and rough welder’s suede coexisted happily under one season, each grounded in a relaxed leather espadrille. Equally striking were cotton gauze short sleeve shirts fashioned into an ombre-effect under the glaring runway lights, and textured intarsia knits with just a hint of optical illusion in their repetitive graphic quality. In fact, when it comes down to the reporting, this collection wasn’t quite so ‘simple’ after all – but honesty remains in the departing audience’s resounding approval: “beautiful, beautiful.”

 

Backstage images: Katy Davies

Runway images: Elise Rose

Posted by: Victoria Roe