DANIEL W. FLETCHER

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The vote in favor of Brexit this summer came as a blow to much of the younger generation in London, but it was particularly disheartening for the menswear designer Daniel W. Fletcher, who had strongly voiced his support to stay just a week earlier with the presentation of his Spring 2017 collection, staged as a peaceful protest. “It’s really disappointing, because when you look at the statistics, it was such a large proportion of people over the age of sixty who voted to leave,” he says of the referendum. “The people who are going to live through it and the generations that it’s going to affect most—people like me, my friends, my colleagues—we are going to be affected, but our vote was kind of ignored. Against our will, we are being forced to leave the European Union.”

The provocative setup became one of the highlights of the London shows, as Fletcher made his point loud and clear with the word ‘Stay’ emblazoned across track jackets, t-shirts, and baseball caps. There was a sense of urgency to his call to arms this June, but the designer has never been one to shy away from imbuing his creations with a sense of political significance. His graduate collection from Central Saint Martins, for example, took on gentrification in London, while his Fall 2016 outing made a case for supporting the struggling National Health Service. “It’s never really something that I think about; it just happens. If things are happening around me, it really tends to have an effect on the way that I work,” he explains of the serious issues that he confronts with his designs. “There are other elements that are not political, but I feel like if you’ve got a voice and people are looking to you, then you should use it and stand up for something you believe in.”

Now twenty-five, Fletcher initially studied an art foundation course at Kingston University and began to specialize in fashion, specifically menswear, drawn to the challenge of creating clothes that men could actually relate to and wear. He went to Central Saint Martins to sharpen his focus, and during his time there worked under both Lucas Ossendrijver at Lanvin and Kim Jones at Louis Vuitton, where he continues to spend a few days a week designing leather goods. “If anyone is studying, I would say the most valuable thing you can do is intern, because it really gives you a perspective of what you’re doing in university and how it fits in the real world,” Fletcher says. “I felt like all I was doing before was drawing men and I actually had no idea how to design. Seeing a collection come together and all the elements that were involved was a really amazing experience.”

His time at the two major international houses would prove useful when he found himself effectively with no choice but to start his own brand after his graduate collection was bought by Opening Ceremony. “It wasn’t actually what I had planned, because I really enjoyed my experience at Louis Vuitton, so I thought it would be a dream to start my own label, but I wanted to keep learning,” Fletcher admits. “Opening Ceremony approached me to say that they wanted to stock it, which doesn’t happen to a lot of people, so I was like, ‘Well if I can do this, I’ll put mine into production.’ I got a lot of support from them and after I produced it I was like, ‘Well maybe I should just do another one and see how it goes.’ Now one year later, here I am with a couple more collections under my belt.”

The learning curve has been, admittedly, steep, but Fletcher says the whole experience has been invigorating. Just three seasons in, he has already expanded into accessories—backpacks, scarves, and those slogan caps—and appears comfortable walking the line between concept and commerce that many young designers struggle with. “Having seen the effect that accessories can have on a collection and what a difference they can make, I feel like if I’m going to do something that’s well-rounded and tells a full story, accessories are part of that,” he explains. “The caps helped the brand become slightly more accessible as well. A lot of people are not going to be able to go out and buy a jacket with ‘Stay’ on it, for example, but if they want to have some part of this brand, then they can buy a cap and it reaches a wider audience.”

Fletcher’s most identifiable designs—soft striped shirts, trousers with contrast piping along the pockets—have their basis in the past, referencing British schoolboy uniforms and Sixties silhouettes, but his ethos is powerfully contemporary. And even if the Brexit vote didn’t quite go his way, Fletcher is optimistic about his future—and London’s. “It feels like you can mess things up a bit. There’s potential,” he says of his new hometown. “You can do whatever you want to do, and I think that’s something you don’t always get in other cities.”

Take a look at our full portfolio of London’s new menswear scene, including Rory Parnell Mooney and Alex Mullins.