Following an amazing week of menswear, with Men’s Fashion Week kicking off in London at London Collections: Men (popularly known as LCM), we at SPICE have been busy combing our way through the varied collections that showcased, to find out what’s due for our Fall wardrobes.
From Casely-Hayford’s printed puffa jacket to political pieces by Christopher Shannon and the magnificent peacock-ing by Jeremy Scott at Moschino, an amazing Autumn/Winter is on its way and there’s 10 reasons attesting to that, in our pick of the best collections, below;
Agi & Sam
Agi Mdumulla and Sam Cotton return us to Autumn/Winter, following a Spring/Summer’15 of kimono-inspirations, boxy jackets and socks worn with sandals, and have gone all artsy, letting loose with colour, garment length and structure, to present decent ideas for our wardrobes for the season after next.
Freedom-giving trousers paired with polo necks with slim, long sleeves were spied on the ramp at LCM, with the designer duo finishing every look with whiter-than-white Stan Smiths – an item to covet and keep clean for Fall.
The collection’s palette was loyally made up of black, grey, white, red, orange, yellow and blue, with the brand’s signature digi prints dotted along the lineup and models accessorised with multi-coloured, lego masks – all mounting to something remarkable and striking from Agi & Sam that’s already on our wish-lists for the year ahead.
Christopher Shannon
Leading fashion through a political statement with every look sent down the runway, London-based designer Christopher Shannon talked about ‘broken Britain’ with more than a whisper, loudly declaring his point of view with a cool collection for Autumn/Winter’15.
90% wearable (the full 100 if you ‘do’ peplums and carrier bag masks), Shannon’s cold month staples seemed destined to be on the lips of the critics and on the bodies of boys that dress for statement-making, with cut and paste appliqués, cutouts and quips like “Thanks For Nothing” emblazoned across pieces for a political touch.
We at SPICE enjoyed seeing the poverty theme employed via blue and white carrier bag-style stripes, the slogan”broke” seen on a crumpled Coca-Cola-esque can, and the various plastic bag masks that accompanied Shannon’s sporty, oversized collection.
Also, the fact the designer remembered to include some straight-forward, all-important branding among the range, slapping “Shannon” strips all over his work, was a pretty, though not subtle move; the talent’s name is now officially on our brain till it ends up on our bodies the Fall.
Moschino
When Moschino put Jeremy Scott in charge, for sure, they’d upped the ante – but multi-hued patchwork fur and pink (marigold-like) gloves? Well, who knew the ante could seem so… high?
Smoking hot and re-imagining what he described to Style.com as “buffalo plaid,” this collection is a kind of cool not everyone can wear: a certain type of discerning gent might concern themselves here, but every other wannabe with the funds to find it should probably think twice.
Rugged and renegade in signature Scott style, Moschino’s Autumn/Winter’15 will put fun into your cold morning commute, whether that’s a-top a mountain somewhere or a journey via the Tube.
And we can’t deny our excitement at seeing Ms Jourdan Dunn on the catwalk – adding her to all that Ben Hurr? Lord help us. If only we were as cool as she is, we’d help ourselves to something from Moschino’s Fall lineup, too.
Casely-Hayford
Fresh from Spring/Summer’s cool palette of white, blue, black, grey and pinstripe, British father-son duo, Joe and Charlie Casely-Hayford have presented a line full of print, stripes that lie like breton’s, and sickly, bright pink, creating a range that peaked and troughed in both the chic and the street.
There was a runaway theme at play that saw models roaming the ramp like the best dressed band of outsiders one might hope to find – especially if you were a way from home yourself and without charge in your phone, as the boys at Casely-Hayford were brandishing a secret weapon: a belt that contains a phone charger.
Aside from the touch of tech, there were oversized sleeves, every type of jacket a wardrobe could crave and a crescendo of cool that lead us to the pinkest printed parka with giant fur hood – a trophy piece that both the dapper and the deep South Londoner would rightly squabble for.
But there’s no arguing amongst us here on Team SPICE; Casely-Hayford’s Autum/Winter’15′s on all our wish-lists already. Hell, it had us at phone-charging belt.
Burberry Prorsum
What is it about Burberry that allows it to walk so seamlessly from the classic to the jet-set and rockstar-ready, and all inside one collection and while looking like a dream?
Said dream has us at SPICE imagining the brand’s best work – its Autumn/Winter’15 collection, which puts printed shirts, scarves, jackets and bags a-top well-cut, tailored trousers, hemmed to just above the ankle - on the backs of the entertainment industry’s varied lineup, and with ease. Nearly all of the range has Britain’s best boy, Harry Styles written all over it; there are prints and street-fusings that’ll keep Pharrell happy; a pony skin trench that wouldn’t go a-miss on Samuel L Jackson (whether he’s reviving the style of his ’70s-set characters, or just joining fashion for its revival); and there is even an almost-all-black-everything look that includes a bomber jacket, which Kanye West wouldn’t look out of place in.
Fictive dressing aside – though this is a line destined to star on the elite – facts are, the collection has everything any man could ever want: sequins feature via chunky scarves and sparkling blazers, tassels hang from capes and teddy bear furs are found alongside velvet. The only thing you won’t need to dress like the man who has it all (stylish nonchalance and the luck to own a piece of this collection come Fall) is a shirt – as seen at Burberry, the best looks are worn without one.
Matthew Miller
So Matthew Miller‘s a bit of a bright spark, bringing fire retardant fabrics to his studio for shredding, then stitching and patch-working them back together, to make things our hearts are burning for.
Slogans brandished the collection title, “Resistant,” which is the antithesis of what we are to its contents. We love how Miller’s clean silhouettes were only disturbed by tasselled shreddings to the hems of tunics, and how more slogans were used as thick pullies for the zips of biker jackets.
The result of Miller’s efforts? A whole team here at SPICE wanting to jump into each piece; a sufficient amount of girls and guys disturbed by matters of the heart concerning this brilliant, recklessly made collection.
Hardy Aimes
While creative director, Mehmet Ali took inspiration from the Three Peaks Challenge – a task that sees competitors try to climb the highest mountains in Scotland, England and Wales within 24 hours – the Autumn/Winter’15 collection he made might not have been intended to move mountains, but he did send one of the brand’s personal best down the ramp.
It was the little things in the lineup at Hardy Aimes that stood out – things any artisan of dressing or wide-eyed jet-setter would understand; takes on men’s classics elevated by subtleties and a wicked instinct for layering without laying it on too thick.
As the collection climbed to a peak in fine, matte-metallic dinner jackets, we caught super-tuned tailoring here and a well chosen colour range everywhere, what with the palette stolen from Mount Snowdon itself, though in the form of a painting by landscape artist, J. M. W. Turner.
While we’re not surprised the collection, given the source of its ideas, turned out so quietly elegant, we remain impressed by the precision of Ali’s work with his chosen fabric – his brushed wool worked to perfection, a la Mr Turner’s brushed canvases. The real shocker will be seeing the range styled as it was on the runway, with so many pieces worn in one look that at times, it was as though the models were ready to climb to altitude, in style – a goal to set yourself for Fall.
Christopher Raeburn
When Christopher Raeburn set out to create his version of Autumn/Winter’15, he was escaping from Spring/Summer on Royal Navy life rafts that were past their sell-by date. Wondrous, then, that his exploration lead to such a cheery take on outerwear – some pieces even daring to ‘do’ witty, with cartoon sharks stamped across knitted jumpers, one even going stray and ending up as a bright orange bag.
And on brights, the collection goes full force with the palette; high-vis red, orange and bold royal blue sailed through the lineup, until drifting into the mix came a splash of greyed-out print and murky brown.
We at SPICE especially love the fit of the trousers involved – loose and relaxed, even when in denim – and if you think of Fall dressing as a desperate attempt to stay warm while looking stylish, we suggest you look to Raeburn’s ideas like a sartorial life raft, saving your season’s wardrobe from a lack of humour and adventure.
Topman Design
Guess what, guys: fur’s for you this Fall – at least, it is according to the team at Topman Design, who foresee furs of all sorts finding their way into your Autumn/Winter’15 wardrobe.
Shaggy furs, sheepskin linings and layers of striped hides were sent down the ramp at the highstreet brand’s showcase – the opener of LCM last week – and, kickstarting what we hope to be a full on love affair with ’70s staple coats, the collection saw a range of pieces to cuddle into your possession.
SPICE favourites include the patch-worked coat, plus the looks made up of pinstripe suits and polo necks. Pick something out now and put plans together in advance for just how you’re going to pull all this fabulousness off.
Gieves & Hawkes
Have you seen the new Saville Row? If you saw Gieves & Hawkes‘ Autumn/Winter’15 collection, then yes – yes, you have.
Gone here, are the suit, shirt and ties one might safely expect from the Row’s repertoire, with a subtler, sleeker aesthetic breaking stereotypes, and models dressed for the part, spied in the chicest sort of cat burglar-wear ever made; things we all want be caught red-handed in this Fall.
Though it’s not red, it’s berry – a brilliant hue to walk into any sort of wardrobe but especially those intended for impact. Because who’ll forget the guy rocking one colour, head to toe in varied hues – and in not just any colour, but the cousin of pink and purple?
This be the way to do chic next season (ok, so there are suits, shirts and ties, but at Gieves & Hawkes, they’re of a new standard) so discerning gents with the money to shed old thoughts on smartwear should join the statement. And somebody tell Kanye it’s no longer about black: it’s all-berry-everything next season.
Image source: Style.com