Menswear is Going Back to School
I've finally recovered from London Fashion Week and am ready to share the key learning: school's in next summer.
Now, I am fully aware that a new wave of prep arrived on these shores and most others quite a while ago. But that has mostly been focused on the collegiate style from the other side of the pond. Aimé Leon Dore brought back the Columbia University professor aesthetic, while Nigo's vision for Kenzo is textbook Japanese Americana + some fun sticker-like mascots handed down from his Human Made marque. Rowing Blazers is Rowing Blazers, and just as you would imagine, Ralph Lauren has been cashing in all along.
But a new class of looks is rising through the ranks that leans away from Ivy League, and instead favours good ol' British prep. Just look at Skepta's grand show-and-tell, and Kent & Curwen's return from its gap years.
To unpack the former, the rapper-turned-designer presented his second runway collection of his apparel label, Mains, at the Royal Horticultural Halls.
The theme was immediately clear: the lockers, school crests, journals and similar ephemera that punctuated the assembly room (which, upon researching the space, I learnt is occasionally used as an exam hall. Fits around 450 desks, ICYW) made sure of that.
So did the fact that 'Naughty' from Matilda The Musical soundtracked the opening segment of the runway, which saw a model – or, rather, a pupil of Mains High – retrieve something from her locker. I was sat too far away from the action, as were the rest of the cool kids (Dave, Jack Harlow, Central Cee), to decipher quite what.
The clothes that followed lived up to expectations. Ensembles were comprised of Kickers, Oxford shirts and blazers, accessorised with ties, brainery caps and Sports Direct-y holdalls, and styled in a too-cool-for-school, lost-property-chic.
As for the latter, a revival of a quintessentially British brand, the subject was academic elegance. A masterclass in, well Master Class, attended by lots of new, fresh talent: including Beetlejuice Beetlejuice's Arthur Conti, Heartstoppers' Will Gao and Titans' Jay Lycurgo, just to name three.
Daniel Kearns has re-assumed his role as creative director headmaster, and he elected to present his new regalia for the smart set at the Royal Academy. Our favourite 'fits included a maroon short suit, put with a striped tie, yellow shirt, beret and loafers, and a tapestry co-ord with, yes, a tie, a shirt, some loafers, but more excitingly, a book holster! An A+ for Kearns.
In addition to this month's runway moments, I refer you to the Fendi and Moschino SS25 collections shown at Milan men's fashion week in June. Ties! Grids! Stripes! Jumpers! Stationary! Italian in nature but British in flavour.
Could it be that everybody just really loved Saltburn? Regardless of influence, I recommend you start getting your uniform ready for next term.
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