London Collections: Men, powered by Renault (Day 2)
By Will Stroude
Day 2 of of LC:M saw us starting out at Agi & Sam, where it was pockets galore: Pouches were placed on the backs of the clothes, creating a very neat minimalist aesthetic from the front. The silhouettes embraced comfort and protection from the elements, with slouchy-fit knits, hoods and layers all coming in a muted colour palette, which we could have done with ourselves, as we were in for a wet and windy day weather-wise.
Tiger of Sweden was our next stop, where inspiration was taken from the Scandinavian province of Dalarna, famed for it’s dense forest, crystal clear lakes and open skies. Fully committing to character, Tiger used botanical prints produced by Swedish artist Jakob Krajcick, who took note from the embroidery of the traditional clothes of the local Dalarnar people. The moody Scandinavian winters produced smart bombers, new neck jumpers, fluffy jumpers and roll necks in melancholic muted colours as well as suits in dusky pinks, including both single and double breasted tuxedoes with high lapels in peaches and apricots. There were plenty of loose drape fits introduced to the collection, to go along with the narrow cut we have come to expect from Tiger of Sweden. The wider shapes, layering with turtle necks, teddy bear bombers, drop shoulder double breasted overcoats and plush fabrics gave you a wrapped up cosy feeling against the Scandinavian winter.
Next up we headed to Astrid Andersen, who served up an all-too-rare ‘theme’: her own intuition. Giving us a personal authentic expression of her personal vision rather than restricting herself to a theme, Andersen sent down fantastic quilted nylons, Linton tweeds in mute tones, along with some pops of aqua. The dynamic duo continued between Astrid and GQ Style’s Elgar Johnson, who once again styled the show with aplomb. The collection really felt like it was Andersen exploring fabrics with plenty of layering, and mix media techniques on the garments, whilst staying true to her popular design signatures- with panels of lace, dungarees and oversized silhouettes.
The day progressed with a live band at YMC, umbrellas and a trashed car in the middle of Bloomsbury square for Soulland and some great transparent pieces from the Christopher Shannon exhibition.
The day’s grand finale – and one thing we always look forward to at LC:M – was the Sibling London Show. The brand are the first to admit their obsession from the ’70s and ’80s, and this time it was the turn of Grace Jones and Jean Michael Basquiat using colours inspired from Jones’ album covers, an array of primary colours such as acid yellows, and blood reds made it down the catwalk mixed in with some royal blue and grey. Basquiat found his influence recognised in the form of baggy pleated trousers, cropped wide suit jackets. With a nod to Jones’ combative image, Sibling went sporting for a fight. The muscled models walked the runway to a mashup of ‘Another One Bites the Dust’, wearing boxing shorts with high waists (with the signature Sibling leopard print) logo sports socks, kit covered boxing gloves and head guards. They Festooned with sporting medallions, wrestling belts- the knitted boxing robes with hoods had the models pectoral muscles and rippling thighs popping out in all their jock glory.
Sibling have mixed the masculine with the feminine with the collection, with fine knitted lace boxing gowns, sequinned blue metallic knits, leopard print and pale gold and shimmering war paint make up, making sure that their Sibling Gang ‘would be ready for a Wednesday night at the Cafe de Paris- where better for Jones to drag her sharp nails across their backs?’ The brand’s display left us pumped up with our heart rate climbing all a flutter – maybe we need them as our personal trainers for the new year? They may be obsessed with the ’70s and ’80s, but Attitude are head over heels with Sibling.
We ended the day at the Diesel party, hosted by Renzo and Nicola Formichetti. With a carnival of things to do, we were treated to the Sink the Pink performers, a room full of giant balloons, a t-shirt slogan machine, where you could pick whatever you desired to go on the front of) and Jodie Harsh spinning everything from Britney to Missy Elliot on the dancefloor. One thing’s for sure; Nicola and Diesel know how to throw a party.
And with that, it was time to put day 2, and our Renault Kadjar to bed. Meanwhile, you can read all about day 1 at London Collections here.
#LCM2016
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