London Fashion Week went out with a bang Wednesday, as the city’s menswear designers put on a tight schedule to match the rather brilliant women’s shows conjured up by London this season. As all the womenswear editors went to Milan in the morning not to be late for the Gucci show, J.W. Anderson opened London’s menswear day with a massively addictive soundtrack, which I think was a faster version of Beat Connection’s In The Water, which was also played at Matthew Williamson a few days earlier. Later in the day, Hardy Amies would put a stunning end to LFW with that same soundtrack, but we’ll get back to that.
Christopher Shannon showed a ghetto’ed down collection, which was one of his best to date. London’s obsession with streetwear is quaint, but there are only so many different things you can do with a chavvy chic street cast and a collection of trainers and bomber jackets. Shannon showed that he’s more than that and it worked wonders. Newcomer under the MAN umbrella Shaun Samson showed an interesting and totally un-London collection of boxy tops and trousers, playing with silhouettes and ethnic-ish patterns. It was a breath of fresh air to the menswear schedule’s often either-street-or-formal build-up.
London Fashion Week wouldn’t be anything without Sir Philip Green, and Topman Design certainly also reflects the influences of the city’s young menswear designers. The collection’s intricate prints and knits could have been a nod to London menswear king James Long, who followed Topman’s show with a Cavalli-esque collection of snakeskin and earthy tones applied to his grunge-biker universe. The young designer William Richard Green put on an impressive presentation at Fashion East’s showrooms, and reminded us why London’s trademark gloominess should always be a part of the city's Fashion Week.
As some of us expected, Katie Eary was the true queen (and the king!) of the day: with absolutely no support from anyone, the designer put together a stunning show at the London Film Museum, where Kanye West jammed to his own soundtrack on the front row as Eary showed a collection of uber-luxurious silk shirts with leopard motifs (as in the entire animal), enough gold to make Michael Jackson’s HIStory Tour jealous, and some debut womenswear looks, including a fabulous bridal gown, which closed the show.
The recently rebooted old tailor Hardy Amies – now designed by menswear genius Claire Malcolm – put a dazzling end to the day with an intimate show in a church in Mayfair. International top boys paraded down the isle in Amies’ incredible garments, styled to perfection by AnOther Man’s Bryan McMahon. And of course we yet again got to listen to – what I think was – Beat Connection’s entrancing In The Water, which, next to Lana Del Rey’s Video Games, will forever remind me of this season.