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| My fashion week staple: This Urban Outfitters Panama hat, photo courtesy of Stuart Tingini |
180 The Strand, which is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from Temple tube station, became my home base during LCM. The official British Fashion Council (BFC) Show Space
was located on the ground floor and the first floor accommodated the BFC
Presentation Space and the Designer Showrooms. I did venture to other venues,
such as The Waldorf Hilton and the Lancaster Rooms at Somerset House, but the
beauty was that they were all within walking distance of one another.
Saturday June 11th
QASIMI
My
first ever London Collections Men (LCM) presentation and what a one it was
too. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to be broken in than with QASIMI’s Spring/Summer 2017 showcase,
‘Videogame Wars,’ hosted in Somerset House’s Lancaster Rooms. The brand is the
brainchild of Emirati designer Sheikh Khalid Al Qasimi, or Khalid Qasimi to
lessen the mouthful. He was born in Sharjah and raised in the United
Kingdom, having graduated from Central Saint Martins. Launching his womenswear
label in 2008, Qasimi made his foray into menswear in 2010.
The QASIMI models stood atop a shiny silver
mound, like some remnant of a spaceship that had beamed these beautiful alien
beings down to us, blessed with out-of-this-world bone structure. They stared
out at us mere earthlings from their metallic plinth, in our somewhat ethereal
surroundings. Fans played with the fluttering white curtains at the windows,
offering some respite from the muggy weather. The soundtrack of Jonjo Jury rang
out into the space.
Sunday June 12th
Christopher Raeburn
3…2…1…we had liftoff at Christopher Raeburn’s fashion show on Sunday, held at the British Fashion Council’s official show space, 180 The Strand. The British designer sent both men and women down the catwalk, with a vision influenced by George Lucas’ first ever film from 1971 – THX 1138. The film charts a terrestrial dystopian future, but if Raeburn’s collection is anything to go by, it’s a future that doesn’t look too entirely bleak as long as we’re dressed for the voyage.
For Raeburn’s graduate collection at
London’s Royal College of Art in 2006, he used upcycled fabrics at a time when
the concept was still emerging. The method requires repurposing old products
into something entirely new that often surpasses its old counterpart. This
sustainable aesthetic has continued to drive Raeburn’s designs ever since he
launched his brand in 2008.
Chester Barrie
The Prosecco was flowing, finger sandwiches and
mini scones (delicious by the way) were making their rounds, and everybody
looked like somebody. There was merriment and entertainment to be had in the form
of a live band with jazz singer Collette Cooper, who shimmied in sequins. It
sounds like the kind of party Jay Gatsby would throw, and in some ways it was
Chester Barrie’s LCM presentation on Sunday, ‘Summer in the City,’ at The
Waldorf Hilton was an opulent affair. In fact, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s character
was probably raising a toast in jubilation from beneath the pages of his book.
Then, of course we can’t forget the clothes, oh
the clothes, tailored with divine precision. What else would you expect from a
brand with 19 Savile Row as its address? Simon Ackerman founded Chester Barrie
in London in 1935. He left England for the United States, but returned to
create an English look to take across the pond, and the rest is history. The
ultimate in classy dressing, Chester Barrie has been worn by the likes of Sir
Winston Churchill, Cary Grant, and Frank Sinatra.
Monday June 13th
Katie Eary
Upon entering 180 The Strand on Monday for the unveiling of Katie Eary's Spring/Summer 2017 collection, my attention was already captured hook, line, and sinker. Fluorescent orange (I’m sensing a burgeoning colour trend from LCM) nets and buoys stretched across the length of the catwalk, intertwined with lobster traps. The setup was indicative of the spectacle to come, just as indicative as the excess of fish emojis Eary used on her Instagram prior to the show, and the barracuda-ridden invitation. That’s right, this season was all about the dark, murky depths of a starry sea, and I do mean dark.
‘Begbacuda,’ a mash up of Francis ‘Franco’
Begbie’s name (you know, the psycho one from Irvine Welsh’s novel Trainspotting) and the vicious-looking barracuda,
summed up Eary’s inspiration. Welsh’s new book for 2016, The Blade Artist, revisits Begbie who, although
not for lack of trying, can’t seem to put his violent past behind him. Although
the combination might sound kind of ridiculous, it actually really worked. Eary
reveals, ‘All the subjects I’m inspired by are a reminder of reality, even if
they originate in classic fiction as the kind of inspirational characters we
normally dare not admit relating to.’
Read my full review here.
Tourne de Transmission
Tourne de Transmission cryptically
urged, ‘CHOOSE YOUR ESCAPE ROUTE ->>>,’ at the first floor
presentation space at 180 The Strand on Monday. I was led into a bare,
dimly-lit room, all but for a wall lined with black and white photographs. Some
of the faces were instantly discernible, such as McFly band member and LCM regular Dougie Poynter, while others were not. The palpable
tension began to build and I fervently looked for an escape route, in case I
might actually need one.
Tourne
de Transmission translates directly to ‘rotating transmission’ and stems from
the desire to marry visuals with the written word. For the SS17 collection,
Creative Director Graeme Gaughan liaised with New York City-based contemporary
artist Chris Dorland. Although they did not collaborate on this project, an
idea manifested, as is often the way after two creatives interact. The result?
Sliced and diced billboard imagery from the 90s-00s, a bombardment of visuals,
and then the comedown.
Read my full review here.
SONGZIO
My last show of the season was rounded off with a very exciting one indeed, and I managed to watch it all unfold from the front row! Founded by South Korean designer Zio Song in 1993, SONGZIO is a contemporary menswear brand that made its LCM debut on Monday. While this is impressive enough in itself, it was also the first time in 10 years that Song has displayed his work outside of Paris Men’s Fashion Week. The brand is based in Paris, where Song graduated from the acclaimed ESMOD, and Seoul. Proving that SONGZIO is one to watch, this season’s collection, ‘Ocean,’ started just like all of Song’s previous ones – by taking paintbrush to canvas.
The designer first conceptualises his ideas by
using oil paints to create soft brushstrokes. These are then transmuted into
printed textiles to produce ‘wearable art.’ There is no denying that fashion is
an art form, and indeed, that art can be fashionable. The prints on the catwalk
at 180 The Strand were paired with sharply
tailored cotton, linen, and vinyl silhouettes.
Read my full review here.
Behind the Scenes
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| Getting street style snapped, photo courtesy of Getty Images/Kirstin Sinclair |
Various
branches of Garfunkel’s restaurant became my second home during LCM. There was
a lot, and I mean a lot, of time
spent eating (and writing) there in between shows. I also can’t forget all of
the tea breaks – a necessity! Since the shows that I attended were relatively
spaced out across the day, it didn’t make sense to go home, and the down time
allowed me to jot down my thoughts about each show.
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| Starting LCM off right with a bacon and pancakes breakfast at Garfunkel's |
My first
experience of LCM ran all the smoother because I had a friend along for the
ride with me! Sunna Naseer also works as fashion week press for WJ London and is a full-time blogger. Find her
at Inspired in the City, a lovely
space for all things lifestyle and fashion. She gave me lots of helpful tips
and tricks, including the advice to take photos during the fashion shows rather
than spend time writing notes, as it’s a lot easier to write a piece when you can
look back on the visuals. She was right! The phrase, “A picture is worth a
thousand words,” could not be truer when it comes to the sartorially inclined. Besides,
time spent writing is time spent not actually watching the show.
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| With my friend and fellow blogger, Sunna, photo courtesy of Amie Caswell |
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| Prosecco made a great accessory at the Chester Barrie presentation, photo courtesy of Amie Caswell
Overall, I
would say LCM reflected the continuation of the casual movement that has been so on-trend recently. Athleisure, sports luxe, or however you want to label it,
looks as though it’s here to stay, and it’s no wonder why. I’m usually a heel
devotee, much to the protestation of my poor feet, so I have embraced this new
trend enthusiastically, sacrificing the old adage that “one must suffer to be
beautiful.” Who says that you can’t have something that’s pretty and practical (without the pain)? I lived in
my new Kurt Geiger flatform trainers during LCM. I’m obsessed with them,
because they give me height, but they are equally incredibly comfortable – the
best of both worlds! They certainly helped when it came to all of the running
around that goes with fashion week territory.
All hail the flatform!, photo courtesy of Getty Images/Kirstin Sinclair
My highlight
of LCM was meeting some of its model (literally) veterans...
Model David Gandy
McFly band member Dougie Poynter
Model Johannes Huebl (Olivia Palermo's husband)
Made in Chelsea star and founder of clothing brand Serge DeNimes, Oliver Proudlock
Other notable names in
attendance included: television and radio presenter Dermot O’Leary, JLS band
member Oritsé Williams, models Toby
Huntington-Whiteley, Oliver Cheshire, Diego Barrueco, Hu Bing, and Ombra,
television presenter Darren Kennedy, YouTuber Jim Chapman, blogger Joey London, actress Naomie Harris, British GQ’s Editor-in-Chief Dylan
Jones, and Associate Style Editor Nick Carvell.
It’s hard to
imagine people like David Gandy existing outside of Marks & Spencer
billboards and advertisements, but there he was in the flesh, and he was really
friendly and obliging to have his photograph taken with me. In fact, they all
were. After the
Katie Eary show, which was super slick, I chatted with Proudlock about it. He complimented my outfit – high praise indeed from such
a stylish man – and I believe “badass” was the actual word he used. It doesn’t
get more surreal than that!
This post’s aim was to recap my personal experience of LCM, to give you a feel for the event as a whole. I’ll catch you all next season, where I'll truly be re-“capping” – hitting the shows in my trusty black Panama hat once again.  |
