While menswear may have moved on from London to Italy, there is still a
lot of incredible collections that deserve to be shared, and FashionUnited
has selected their five best presentations from London Fashion Week Men’s
(LFWM) spring/summer 2020, which took place from June 7 to 10.
Alexander McQueen SS20
Alexander McQueen returned to London Fashion Week Men’s with an intimate
presentation for its menswear spring/summer 2020 at Charter House as a
direct continuation of the autumn/winter 2019 womenswear collection in its
emphasis on Englishness, as it looks to create a “dialogue” between the two
lines. The collection also references and reminisces on Nineties McQueen
and the frequent inspiration trips to Japan by Lee McQueen and Sarah Burton.
Traditional tailoring is reconstructed, cut up and pieced together, with
asymmetric trompe l’oeil suiting featuring in men’s pinstripe fabrics, made
in the textile mills in the North of England. While double-layered jackets
are panelled in different scales of pinstripe, double-dyed black wool
gabardine and grey tonic mohair, an early Nineties McQueen signature, and
feature pleated half-skirts.
Other inspirations from the McQueen womenswear included a black tuxedo
spliced with lace and a studded coat in black and white leather.
The exploration of hybrid garments continues, with tailored jacket
showcased with satin bomber sleeves, while a beige cotton gabardine trench
features a black wool collar and wool gabardine sleeves and a classic navy
wool coat has deep red satin dragon jacquard sleeves with rib-knit cuffs,
taken from hand-painted artworks created in the McQueen studio. There was
also a cotton satin all-in-one, again nodding to the Nineties, which had a
white body and cuffs with black dragon jacquard sleeves.
There was also a nod to the increasing need for more sustainability in
luxury collections, with a ruffled, pleated appliqué coat combining three
hand-worked techniques that had been made entirely out of unused fabrics
from previous seasons. This means that no two versions of this particular
piece will ever, therefore, be the same.
Images: courtesy of Alexander McQueen
Round-up of the best presentations at LFWM SS20
St-Henri SS20 ‘Heart Cave’
For their second presentation at London Fashion Week Men’s, St-Henri
were inspired by the creation of a fictional community of “odd, yet
fascinating characters, blending countercultural sensibilities and
spirituality into a modern utopian aesthetic”.
Montreal-born designer Jean-Loup Leblanc Roy displayed a uniform for his
“community” by refining and reinterpreting American shapes and juxtaposing
rigidity and fluidity with a collection featuring distorted lines and
patterns and acid washed and overdyed fabrics.
Comfort is described as “primordial” with oversized pieces wrapped
around the body, while utilitarian details it states allows wearers to
achieve “self-sustained attitude” and the soft colour palette of white,
green, yellow and brown aims to “stimulate inner purity”.
To keep on message with its ‘love and acceptance” rhetoric being played
out during the presentation, the brand, which has been known for
responsible sourcing, using organic fabrications since its inception, from
spring/summer 2020, it will also stop using animal leather in its
collections, will introduce eco-friendly packaging and leverage bioplastics
and innovative materials.
Images: courtesy of St-Henri
Belstaff SS20 ‘Travelogue’
Spring/summer 2020 marks the second Belstaff collection by new creative
director, Sean Lehnhardt-Moore, and showcases a contemporary take on the
heritage brand’s history with the aim offering a range of clothing and
accessories for men and women who want an “effortless and fluid wardrobe
for all modes of a busy modern life; work, leisure, travel; day to
evening”.
“Since its first days in the 1920s in the industrial north of England,
Belstaff has always made kit for those who love to travel and explore,”
explains Lehnhardt-Moore on the show notes. “With the pace of modern life
being ‘always-on’ it feels we have now come full circle, as we crave
experiences that take us back to nature; personal journeys of discovery
that take us off the beaten track – that is what has inspired this season’s
collection: Travelogue.”
The presentation took place in Hoxton Docks, chosen for its exposed
brickwork, metal struts and warehouse proportions, to mirror the label’s
industrial heritage, while evoking the desert road trip that inspired the
‘Travelogue’ collection with vintage camping canvas, a large tent and
cacti.
The collection spans from the discovery of two archival jackets by
Lehnhardt-Moore, who explained: “One was a cotton fishing jacket called the
Castmaster, the other was a crisp, nautical jacket from the 70s – the
XL500. The Collection became about the fusion of these two spirits. Both
pieces had Belstaff’s signature use of the best fabrics and finishes, and
yet each interpreted these qualities in different ways. I was interested in
the juxtaposition of fabrics using Linen and Cotton that have a lived-in
quality, but mixing them with something that’s very Belstaff, such as
‘Oxford Nylon’.”
Belstaff’s spring/summer 2020 is all about the contrasts, juxtaposing
fabrications and colours, with soft linens paired with hard hand waxed
leathers, the worn in with the new, and the safari mixed with utility,
rugged with polished, showcase with a battered khaki safari jacket teamed
with a raw ‘Ecru Denim’, and the brand’s new ‘Adventure Print’ featuring
line-drawn illustrations applied to a rayon shirt.
Other key pieces include the military inspired ‘camo-tech’ fabric in
deep English rifle green, and a sleeveless version of the Castmaster
fishing jacket from the archive in orange dry ‘Waxed Cotton’, while a khaki
version retains the sleeves of the original.
At the heart of creating essential looks for a modern wardrobe is the
brand’s intention to move towards “a more conscious and sustainable
approach to clothes that will be purposeful and remain beyond seasons,”
added the brand.
Images: courtesy of Belstaff
Ahluwalia Studio SS20
Family is at the heart of the Ahluwalia Studio spring/summer 2020
collection, which sees designer Priya Ahluwalia inspired by nostalgia of
her family archive of photographs of their own childhoods, which she turned
into her first ever prints, with the psychedelic rave-like flyers covering
trousers and backpacks.
The tradition of passing clothes and possessions through families also
plays a part for SS20 and continues the brand’s philosophy of shining a
light on fashion’s overconsumption through inventive approaches such as
giving new life to vintage and dead-stock clothing.
Knitwear from her relatives has been reimagined, while tailoring comes
from bespoke suits made in India given to her by her Nana and worn by her
late granddad, which have been recut and modernised, while referencing her
dual Indian-Nigerian heritage.
Completing the theme of family, gold jewellery pieces created in
collaboration with jeweller Elena Croce are featured and made from
repurposed metals. Other collaborations for the season includes customised
Adidas trainers and backpacks from Invicta.
Ahluwalia, a Westminster MA graduate, is a rising star on the London
fashion scene and is recognisable for her eco-fashion, and last year she
was named the winner of the H&M Design Award and given 50,000 euros to
further her brand.
Images: courtesy of Ahluwalia Studio
Michiko Koshino SS20
Contemporary silhouettes and aesthetically designed detailing are
prominent within Michiko Koshino’s SS20 collection. The brand is instantly
recognisable through its fits and volume DNA, however, for spring/summer
there is an emergence of a slightly “softer and less adventuresome”
designs.
“In a world where content is developed and discarded faster than ever,
there is a thin line between inspiration and imitation,” states Michiko
Koshino in the show notes. In response to this, the brand adds that the
only inspiration this season is the “evolution” of the label, which
includes the addition of more commercial ready-to-wear pieces such as polo
shirts and knitwear to cater for what it calls its “modern audience”.
The collection is made up of cotton, nylon, silk and mixed-fibre fabrics
sourced in Italy, with many of the colours used appearing on-brand for
Michiko but with a softer-approach, through the use of white, sand, mud,
pastel prints and khaki tones as it looks to evolve the brand with a
commercial acronym and a softer aesthetic.
In an attempt to overcome the seasonal timeline and constraints of the
industry, this collection also fuses womenswear and menswear, with each
piece shaped specifically for men and for women, keeping the fits clear and
differentiated.
Image: courtesy of Michiko Koshino
Main image: courtesy of Alexander McQueen
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