Team Chutzpah girds his loins and wades through the new menswear names so that you don’t have to…
Menswear is a tricky business. A good menswear designer balances creativity, commercialism, and innovation with dexterity. Us men don’t mind a concept, just don’t make us look fools when we’re out with our mates. Technical fabrics and tricksy cutting techniques might pique our interest, and subtle clashes of colour and texture may tempt us to experiment, but bring too much crazy to the party and we’re running back to our faithful jeans and tees.
There are some menswear labels that purely exist to dress a certain schism of East End club kid. I have ignored those and chosen designers who I believe will grow from these nascent collections to household names, designers who adroitly address the needs of the modern male wardrobe whilst keeping one eye firmly fixed on the future.
BAARTMANS AND SIEGEL
Describing themselves as “modern traditionalists”, Wouter Baartmans and Amber Siegel met whilst working for conceptual Amsterdam-based fashion house Viktor & Rolf.
United in London, their mix of masculine tailoring and luxury fabrics has found favour with Esquire magazine, fashion writer Colin McDowell, and the contemporary menswear buyers at Harrods, who will be exclusively stocking their Jules Verne-influenced Spring/Summer 2011 collection.
Irish linen, silk boucle, and wool combine to create a capsule wardrobe in soft aquatic hues whose wearability belies its craftsmanship and beguiling use of texture.
Combined with a continuing collaboration with Grenson shoes, responsible for the covetable soft-as-butter suede-tipped brogues pictured, this is a modern, yet ageless collection which deserves an audience outside of London. (Main pic above)
JAMES SMALL
Fashion films are ten-a-penny these days. With this in mind, London Fashion Week Newgen Menswear recipient James Small drafted in his mates Tom Beard and Jamie Hince (of The Kills and Kate Moss’s fiancé) to produce a short film to showcase the London College of Fashion graduate’s Spring/Summer collection.
The presentation, ‘Journey’, has a dreamy, retro feel thanks to the use of Super 8 footage and a soundtrack by Roxy Music. The theme centres around four men with contrasting personalities and styles on a Summer road trip together.
The clothes themselves are a thrifty mix of festival must-haves with a focus on colour and print. A key piece is the W Insider belt, which was designed especially for American Express and W Hotels Worldwide.
They say it’s not what you know but who you know. Luckily, James Small has the talent to refute this cliché. (Click on the link below to see James Small video).
MATTHEW MILLER
Men love technical fabrics. Miuccia Prada and Massimo Osti are testament that a bit of manmade fibre scratches the male inner geek itch. It is possibly with that in mind that Royal College of Art graduate Matthew Miller takes modern materials, such as Tyvek and Neoprene, juxtaposes them with conventional tailoring fabrics and creates a menswear collection that perfectly encapsulates the trend for finely-tailored utilitarian clothing.
Miller’s Spring/Summer 2011 ‘Form = Function’ collection is an exploration of the modern gentleman and notion of masculinity. Jackets and shorts fold up into their own pockets, traditional techniques are contrasted with performance fabrication. This is a collection that is greater than the sum of its parts.
The future looks bright for Matthew Miller. (Pictured below)
The future looks bright for Matthew Miller. (Pictured below)
WILLIAM RICHARD GREEN
Influenced by ‘The Deadliest Catch’ and the designer’s nocturnal musings following his extra-curricular DJ gigs, British menswear newcomer William Richard Green’s Spring/Summer 2011 collection is the darker flip-side to the jaunty nautical stripes spotted just about everywhere last Summer.
Locally-sourced squid ink provides the predominantly black & grey palette, with the yellow accent an instantly recognisable hallmark of the working deep sea fisherman.
Mixing up the rugged elements of the fisherman’s wardrobe, Green has produced a collection of waxed cotton sowesters, cable-knit leggings, and Neoprene jackets which is reminiscent of Raf Simons' early work. An atmospheric film presentation directed by Zaiba Jabbar underlines Green's conceptual vision and innovative use of materials. (Click on the link below to see William Richard Green film)
Article researched and written by Lee Clatworthy as Team Chutzpah.
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