BEST OF LONDON MEN'S FASHION WEEK FALL 2014
More than Milan and Paris—and even ever-youthful New York—London has always had a special lock on the current moment. The latest season of men’s shows in the British capital demonstrated that the city’s young designers (along with some dependably innovative stalwarts) have just as firm a grasp on what’s just around the corner as always, as shown by this slideshow of The Last Magazine fashion director Alastair McKimm’s top ten looks. There was a brilliant graphic twist to the season, as in the oversized pack of cigarettes, emblazoned with a “Monday Nights” brand, that exploded across a Christopher Shannon sweater. Astrid Andersen harkened back to the Nineties with a collection of glowing sportswear. Lee Roach, in contrast, had his eyes squared firmly ahead, offering sharp suiting and sportswear that snapped with modernity. The duo of Joe Casely-Hayford (whose reach in London fashion stretches back to the Eighties punk scene) and his son Charlie offered an eclectic mélange that felt appropriate for today’s Internet-era remix culture in their first show. Craig Green, showing for the third time as part of MAN, which supports emerging designers, provided a layered and distressed take on monastic robes that was forcefully compelling. His fellow MAN participant Bobby Abley touched on London’s youthful vigor, toying with Disney’s iconography for a collection that felt innocent, but brushed by a creeping darkness. Christopher Bailey brought a hardy masculinity to his Burberry Prorsum show, taking inspiration from British artists for a spirit of emphatic strength and creativity. James Long put a sci-fi spin on his sporty designs, adding a futuristic tone to the abstract swirls that spun across his pieces. Sarah Burton sent out an elegant history lesson at Alexander McQueen, with a romantic revisiting of some of Lee’s favorite idées fixes. And JW Anderson, the city’s erstwhile enfant terrible, cemented his status at the forefront of London’s new wave with an assured collection that brought a new sense of maturity to his androgynous inventiveness.
For more looks, see our best picks from Milan Fashion Week and Milan Fashion Week.