- By
- Felix Bischof
- Photography by
- Andrew Vowles
Styling by Jason Hughes. Hair by Mari Ohashi at LGA. Makeup by Thom Walker. Model: Joep van de Sande at Rebel Management. Photographer’s assistants: Mark Simpson, Freddy Lee, and Stephen Smith. Stylist’s assistants: Roberta Pinna and Fabiola Bonnet. Hairstylist’s assistant: Pablo Kumein. Makeup artist’s assistant: Rachel Shram. Set design by Thomas Bird. Casting by Liz Goldson at AM Casting. Production by Ella Moore at Rosco Production.
RORY PARNELL MOONEY
“I like to wear a hoodie, so I design one every season,” says Irish-born designer Rory Parnell Mooney. In his Spring 2017 collection, presented as part of Lulu Kennedy’s talent initiative Fashion East, the hoodie is cut oversize in deep black fabric; a second version casts the sportswear classic as a sleeveless tabard in scarlet red, worn like clergy vestments. Adapting and evolving signature items has been key to Parnell Mooney’s work since his London Collections: Men début in January 2015. “I don’t think it’s sustainable, especially for a young business,” he says of today’s industry. “It’s not sustainable to completely redesign the wheel every six months.”
Parnell Mooney is a recent addition to the group of Irish designers working and living in London, which also includes Simone Rocha and J.W. Anderson. “You almost reel against the mundanity of life in Ireland,” he says of his homeland. “You need to create an alternative reality for yourself.” Growing up, he found his sanctum in art and music lessons at school. Following a bachelor’s degree, he was accepted for the prestigious master’s in fashion at Central Saint Martins in 2012. Parnell Mooney was one of the last students taught by Louise Wilson OBE. “It’s almost like they don’t teach you. They kind of just leave you alone and you have to sink or swim,” he recalls, describing the course’s idiosyncratic approach to education as “If you sink, you’re out.” Tailored yet fluid, Parnell Mooney’s black, white, and midnight-blue graduate collection found inspiration in ecclesiastical robes.
The ten many-layered looks were also an essay on the ritual of getting dressed, a tactile theme continued in his latest designs for Spring 2017. A shrunken corduroy jacket is knotted tightly over a bow-collared gingham shirt; a glossy black trench coat is belted atop red shirting. Parnell Mooney’s work is solemn and of considered beauty. “There is something quite meditative about what I do,” he says. “It’s something that I have always tried to get across in my collections: a sense of humility, a quiet ease.” Upon graduating, Parnell Mooney interviewed for several positions in Milan and Paris before realizing that he preferred setting out on his own as opposed to manning big design studios. Today, he works with a small team in Dalston, East London. This setup affords Parnell Mooney the time and space to reflect on his work, a process he values highly. Research reigns supreme in the designer’s collections, conducted on trips to the city’s museums and libraries. “For me, the research phase is my favorite part,” he offers. “I could sit in a library or at the Victoria & Albert Museum for days and days.”
For Spring 2017, his findings included English folklore, the rituals and pagan beliefs of the Dark Ages, mixed with the free spirit of Berlin at night. “We started to look at really obscure things: the harvest, corn dollies, really early religions in Britain,” he explains. The resulting collection was worn by a cast of naturally beautiful models, in a presentation played out against a detailed set, cloaked in incense smoke. Rolls of scriptures lined the walls of the central London venue (the text continued on one of the collection’s t-shirts) and found objects were dotted throughout this tableau. Presentations and the designing of sets have become a principal part of Parnell Mooney’s approach; last season’s staging even inspired the fabrics used in his Spring 2017 designs, which include womenswear. “I kind of never want to get to this point where people know what to expect. To me it should be a lot more fluid,” Parnell Mooney explains after four seasons on the London Collections: Men schedule. “I definitely still want to do a collection, but it has to be more than just clothes on models.”
Take a look at our full portfolio of London’s new menswear scene, including Daniel W. Fletcher and Alex Mullins.
- By
- Felix Bischof
- Photography by
- Andrew Vowles
Styling by Jason Hughes. Hair by Mari Ohashi at LGA. Makeup by Thom Walker. Model: Joep van de Sande at Rebel Management. Photographer’s assistants: Mark Simpson, Freddy Lee, and Stephen Smith. Stylist’s assistants: Roberta Pinna and Fabiola Bonnet. Hairstylist’s assistant: Pablo Kumein. Makeup artist’s assistant: Rachel Shram. Set design by Thomas Bird. Casting by Liz Goldson at AM Casting. Production by Ella Moore at Rosco Production.
