London Collections: Men showcased MAN the joint initiative between Topman and Fashion East (the non-profit organization established by Lulu Kennedy MBE and the Old Truman Brewery in 2000) which was a rather creative collection this weekend at London Collections: Men. The three designers Alan Taylor, Bobby Abley and Craig Green each had their own knack for creativity on the runway. Starting with Abley, a collection where medieval meets the Looney Toons is how modern day kings and princes would look with cartoon-like motifs. Tweety birds drawn on models legs, necks and hands was rather amusing paired with the stern faces of the models. It was a boyish appeal that had a slight feminine quality to the collection. Transparent pants and shirts, thigh high shorts, tapered pants and somewhat soft color palette left the audience with a comfortable look that Abley presented.
Alan Taylor an Irish designer followed the animated collection by presenting a minimal tailored collection of his own. Transparent blazers tied the collection to that of Abley, but in a more refined manner and for an audience who wanted a more controlled look. A knit short suit with mid-drift sleeves highlighted the London appeal to gentlemen. Although soft in color choices, the collection did spark creativity with upside down coats fixated to pants where the end of the sleeves served as pockets.
And then there was the grand finale for this show at London Collections: Men. Finishing off the show with the usual deconstructed knits, a slew of layering, tie-die and 3-D cardboard constructions is what Craig Green offered. This part of the collections made the ending of the show look more theatrical than anything else. The question of how to turn this into a commercial look still remains. However the layers of thick woolen, glossy inserts and jarring tie-dye looks showed off Green’s fundamental passion for what fabric was meant to do. A beautiful nightmare in essence is how the show happily ended.
