London Collections Men: The Designers Reinterpreting Craft

Grace Wales Bonner

Grace Wales Bonner has had extraordinary success in the past two years, winning the L’Oréal Professionnel Talent Award at Central Saint Martins for her graduate collection, followed by a critically acclaimed debut with Fashion East at London Collections Men. She was then invited to present her AW15 collection, Ebonics, at the V&A’s prestigious Fashion in Motion programme, before going on to scoop the Emerging Menswear Designer award at at the BFA’s later that year.

Exploring intersections between diverse cultures, Wales Bonner’s influences span Coco Chanel, blaxploitation films, and traditional African craft techniques. The designer has become quickly recognised for her 70’s sportswear silhouettes, use of decadent fabrics, embroidery, and ornate crystal headdresses. She professes, “I try to make my images as un-stereotypical as possible,” and certainly her designs are indisputably original.

Wales Bonner’s collections are fraught with cultural references, partly inspired by the designer’s mixed race heritage, her sense of black British identity, and more specifically, representations of the black male throughout history. Her shows to date have been almost entirely made up of black, Asian and mixed race models, a feat in itself in the fashion industry. The young designer is interested in pushing black male identity in fashion beyond the ubiquitous streetwear we have become so used to, investigating notions of public perception, sexuality and gender.

Spirituals, Wales Bonner’s AW16 collection, was presented alongside live music by Nigerian-Irish composer Tunde Jegede, playing the kora, a West African lute. Featuring crocheted bucket hats, intended to evoke “winters in hot climates,” the collection was in part influenced by the work of Sun Ra, an artist who accelerated the age’s visions of modernism, delivering messages through music on how the future would appear. Thoughtfully translating the artist’s visual and philosophical message, Wales Bonner created a wonderfully elegant and optimistic collection, challenging racial and gender archetypes.

Grace Wales Bonner will be showing her new collection on Saturday 11th June as part of Fashion East Men’s Presentations during London Collections Men.

 

Craig Green

London born Craig Green studied Fashion Design Menswear at Central Saint Martins, graduating from the school’s acclaimed Masters programme in 2012. His graduate collection was received with widespread acclaim, winning the L’Oréal Professionel Creative Award and a nomination for the Design Museum’s Design of the Year 2013. His deceivingly minimal designs, impeccably crafted and sculptural, quickly gained a cult following, with taste-making stores like Dover Street Market and Milan’s 10 Corso Como stocking his early pieces.

Green first presented his work on-schedule through Fashion East’s MAN show for London Collections Men in 2013. Continuing to show under the guidance of Lulu Kennedy, Fashion East’s founder, for two more seasons, he established a venerable name for himself, innovatively smudging the lines between art and wearable garments. With further support from NEWGEN, Green secured his first solo show at LCM in 2015. Exploring notions of uniform, utility and a sense of community, Green’s aesthetic synchronously appeals to a sense of functionalism and grandeur. The designer’s fascination with uniform is resonated most unmistakably in the returning presence of his signature worker jacket, which continues to be subtly modified for each of his collections.

Last month, Green was awarded the prestigious British Fashion Council and GQ Designer Menswear Fund Prize, comprised of £150,000 of funding and invaluable business mentoring from the industry’s best. Accepting the award, Green said of his work:

“I think when a lot of people focus on my shows, they see it as non-wearable, or purely creative. But since the beginning we’ve always had a kind of workwear uniform core on offer … and it’s based on the way men dress. I buy the same thing over and over again – I’ve been buying the same pair of jeans for three years – because that’s how men shop.”

Referred to as “British fashion’s favourite conceptualist”, Green’s collections are layered with references, sometimes overt but often so subtle they become indecipherable. Utilising timber and tarpaulin, materials not conventionally associated with luxury fashion, Green has honed his recognisable sense of showmanship, creating unwieldy props, portable frames and wearable masks, offering a theatrical aspect to his presentations. Draped in fabric, these sculptural objects are reminiscent of Franz West’s Adaptives from the early 70’s. There is certainly something to be said for the equivocality of Green’s complex and nuanced garments, which join influences as diverse as Sylvanian Families, Samurai uniforms and hospital scrubs.

Craig Green will be presenting his new collection on Friday 10th June 2016 at the Topman Show Space during London Collections Men.

 

Alex Mullins

British designer Alex Mullins was educated at Central Saint Martins, where he was runner up in the L’Oréal Professional Young Designer of the Year Award. He went on to complete an MA in Menswear at the Royal College of Art where he was awarded a full scholarship with Kopenhagen Fur, and was later nominated for the Dazed and Confused/Casio G-Shock Spirit of Toughness Award. After working for global brands like Alexander McQueen, Diane von Furstenberg and Jeremy Scott, Mullins set up his eponymous label in Spring 2013. With continued support from NEWGEN, Mullins has gained acclaim through the presentation of his work at London Collections Men, with his garments now retailing at influential store’s like Milan’s 10 Corso Como and JOYCE Hong Kong.

Mullins has a bold and experimental approach when it comes to silhouettes, whether it’s a panel of denim riveted and buttoned in sloping curves across the body, forming unusual shapes as it warps, or a floor length coat created with layers of printed neon fabric, the young designer continually questions the traditions of menswear. Applying a breadth of craft techniques and processes, including painting, screen-printing, beadwork, embroidery and patchwork, Mullins constructs unique and complex garments, both in regards to texture and shape.

For his last presentation, Mullins took inspiration from the concept of boredom, or more specifically, the way in which we combat it. Influenced by feelings of escapism, the alteration of time, and the way in which we construct false realities in an effort to overcome the effects of monotony, the designer envisioned and designed the collection. He states, “My imagination let’s me make combinations of things I’ve seen and write narratives for them, creating a primary and unique source of inspiration for my work.” Mullins’ intriguing exploration of the mundane has us curious about his next offering.

Alex Mullins will be showing his new collection on Saturday 11th June at the BFC Presentation Space during London Collections Men.