Stylee Fridays: MAN Show London Fashion Week
- story Chioma Nnadi
- photo Catwalking.com
The MAN show at London Fashion Week is always a chance for the boys to get flashy, and obviously the first place to go shopping for new British menswear talent. A newcomer to the MAN fold, designer Katie Eary literally turned the human body inside out for her spring 2010 collection, taking the idea of underwear as outerwear right down to the bone with skeletal leggings, ribcage splashed tees and pigskin-covered shades with trompe l’oeil eyeballs. Hardly surprising then that William S Burrough’s Naked Lunch and Junky were the designer’s go-to texts for the wonderful weirdness of it all.
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posted on Sep 25, 2009 in STYLEE FRIDAYS tags Christopher Shannon, Eastpak, JW Anderson, Katie Eary, London Fashion Week, Reebok, Topman
Stylee Fridays: JW Anderson and his Fantastic Flights of Fancy
- story Chioma Nnadi
Fashion and drama kind of go hand in hand at all times, which is why the biography of British designer JW Anderson is achingly poetic. Originally from Northern Ireland, Anderson moved to Washington DC to study drama at the Actor’s Studio but ended up falling for the costume department instead. After working as a stylist for Rufus Wainwright, he moved to London and enrolled in fashion school, establishing his label straight out of college.
Topman Fall 09 Sneak Peek
- story Chioma Nnadi
Topman fall 2009 is conveniently sliced into three digestible mini-collections, which means dudes will be able to indulge at least three of their favorite alter egos next season—let’s call them Dashing Dorian, Moody Marcus and Rugged Ralph for organizational purposes. The lookbook is styled impeccably, and of course, there are tons of great pieces to start fiending for, including awesome slouchy trousers, double-breasted tweeds, and sharply tailored toggle coats, but we’ve narrowed it down to six of the best looks for now. Also, pinning fresh pink roses to one’s lapel everyday should be standard sartorial practice for all mankind.
Stylee Friday: MAN at London Fashion Week
- story THE FADER
British designer Christopher Shannon was sort of like the hot ticket on the hot ticket as newcomer to the MAN fashion show at London fashion week. The menswear show which is sponsored by Topman, was four collections deep this season and MAN curators the Fashion East group were happy to invite buyer Sarah from Colette to lend a hand as guest panel member. She in turn brought a little Parisian flavor along with her of course—madcap fashion installation vibes courtesy of our homies Andrea Crews.
To really get under the skin of Shannon’s work, a little lesson on British youth culture is probably in order. Shannon is from the North of England and likes to think of his aesthetic in terms of “refined Scallyism.” An exact definition of the word scally is a bit tricky, but if you’re familiar with the term “chav” then it’s kind of like the Northern English version of that—think shellsuits (that’s the British term for those shiny tracksuits popular in the late ’80s) and spiky gelled-out crew cuts. If Lady Sovereign were from Liverpool she would probably be a scally. It’s no surprise then that Shannon used to work for Kim Jones who also borrows heavily from lad culture—the Reebok Classics in the show are just as much a scally staple as they are a chav one. It’s those cultural references that make his clothes all the more fun to play with—he reinvents signature street looks with tongue-in-cheek elegance, like those tailored all-over-print suits and running pants paired with button-downs.
Another more folksy but equally strong collection at MAN came from Dane Hans Madsen. Designers like Sandra Buckland and Louise Goldin have been really putting the oomph back in to knitwear innovation on the women’s side of things, so it’s nice to see a fresher take for the boys too. Madsen essentially takes sturdy traditional knits and pushes them forward, updating the old world view with techy fabrics and modern knit-inspired prints without losing any of that chunky nordic charm.
