A Maverick Eye. That’s the title of a tome chronicling the street photography of John Deakin, an inspiration for Sarah Burton’s autumn/winter 2014 Alexander McQueen menswear collection.
The truly maverick eyes of London Collections: Men this
season belong to three designers: Craig Green, whose MAN show on
Monday was a highlight; the young Irish designer seen as London
fashion’s next big brand in the making, JW Anderson; and Sarah
Burton. Over the past 48 hours they are the mavericks who have
elicited applause, annoyance and much heated debate.
Burton is the most established: the McQueen label has just
turned 20, and its namesake founder’s aesthetic found fertile
ground in both men’s and womenswear. Burton staged her show in a
disused church, summoning some of the menace synonymous with
McQueen’s name. Bauhaus boomed about Bela Lugosi on the soundtrack
and her models flocked out frocked-up as Frankensteins, complete
with lug-soled platform boots. Despite patchworks in gold lamé and
lavish embroideries, the results never felt overly rich, or
complicated, even when Deakin’s imagery was digitally printed and
woven into tailoring.
Oddly, Burton’s hyped-up crepe soles found a reflection in the
work of JW Anderson. Luxury goods behemoth LVMH purchased a stake
in his business in September, the fruits of which could be felt in
a refinement of quality, an expansion of range and a focus on
accessories.
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If Burton’s platforms referenced Goth subculture and
street-style, Anderson’s aims were loftier. Inspired by portraits
of aristocrats, those elevated heels placed Anderson’s men, cloaked
and cravatted in abstract takes on 18th-century attire, on literal
podiatric pedestals.
Rather than kings, for many, Anderson’s shoes rang of the
emperor’s new clothes, a gimmick for gimmickry’s sake. Those
clodhoppers also acted as distraction from a collection that was
straightforward, often saleable, frequently covetable. At least
when you dissected the outfits, and discarded a few.
London Collections: Men autumn/winter 2014 in pictures
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