Social tensions and anxieties are fertile contexts for creativity. Brexit-torn Great Britain is a testament to this, resulting in the scintillating, innovative runway shows of 2019’s London Fashion Week (LFW): Menswear. The shows and street style demonstrated promising new designers and trends for the new year, as well as some that may take more time to get used to. A stand-out show was Charles Jeffrey Loverboy’s newest collection “Darling Little Sillies.” The garments featured boasted inspiration from the original Peter Pan, influenced by the turn of the twentieth century. The collection drew inspiration from London’s Victorian past in the form of tailored tartan, updating it through bright pops of colour and draped, asymmetrical cuts. Iridescent balloons and fallen chandeliers created an atmospheric after-party for the models to traipse through. By fusing past and present, Loverboy created a playful time capsule of clothing.
This surrealist trend was taken a step further by Chinese designer Xander Zhou. His runway collection featured male models carrying “babies”, a nod to the “pregnant” male models at his show last season. Speaking to the press about his LFW show this year, Zhou said that he wanted to explore both the excitement and uncertainty of the future.
“Iridescent balloons and fallen chandeliers created an atmospheric after-party for the models to traipse through”
A number of Irish designers also shared some attention in the limelight last week for their collections’ debuts. Robyn Lynch, a Printed Textiles graduate of NCAD, incorporates her Irish roots into each stitch of her simple yet striking clothing. Lynch commented in an interview with Dazed that “from early on as a designer, I’ve used the RTÉ archives and I also look back at family photographs and study Irish photographers. All my research comes from the Irish people.” This is reflected in the chunky cable knit sweaters and boasts of green, white, orange which were highlighted at her most recent show in London. Her promising debut collection will make her one to watch in the near future as she continues to build a career in the UK.
No fashion week would be complete without the clothing featured off the runways. This LFW featured continuing trends of chunky footwear, fanny packs, and industrial clothing (think Carhartt WIP). Expect to see an extension of these 2018 trends into this upcoming autumn, albeit keep an eye out for classics with a twist as well, such as illuminated tartan and monochromatic twentieth-century inspired cuts. Excitement now builds for next month’s the LFW womenswear spectacle.