Picture the scene it’s the long, hot, summer of 1990, WHAT AN ICONIC TIME ! Spike Island, the Haçienda, The Madchester Music Scene, and of course who could forget Italia 90 ! The 14th FIFA World Cup. New Order supplied the MOST Anthemic, not to mention, cool footie song ever to accompany Paul Gascoigne, Stuart Pierce, John Barnes, Gary Lineker and led by Sir Bobby Robson. At this time British football was experiencing a darker moment in its history, hooliganism was rife, English clubs were banned from playing in European competitions and attendances at games had drastically fallen.

To promote a peaceful world cup tournament for Italia 90, a little, as yet, unknown brand, still very much a twinkle in the eye of its founders Olaf and Su Parker dreamt up the ‘No Alla Violenza’ t-shirt range. Initially some retailers rejected the range on the grounds that the message was ‘too deep’, however they were soon stocked by icon stores like Duffer of St George, Bond, Geese, Psyche and Hip and over the next few months those retailers, who initially had turned the range down, had to eat humble pie as the more forward thinking retailers were selling them by the bucket load.The anti hooligan message was taken up not only by serious football fans but all the cool club kids at the time. By the end of 1990 everyone seemed to be wearing them including Mr Fatboy Slim, Norman Cook, The Farm and The Beloved(see above). This enabled Olaf and Su to launch Burro and well and truly put it on the style map.

Move forward by 26 years and another retailer with great soccer heritage has taken on the mantle. Burton, has produced some historical and stylish football moments itself, dressing the England team in suiting for the victorious squad of 1966 and then again in 2002. The two brands have come together to work on updating the designs for 2016.

Devon born Englishman, Neil Barrett began his career in Fashion after graduating from the illustrious Fashion college, Central St Martins, from this he was appointed Senior Men’s Designer at Gucci and Prada, where he established a new blueprint for minimal menswear. In 1999, Neil Barrett founded his eponymous label, with immediate praise from buyers and press. Ever since, Neil Barrett has delivered innovative and distinctive designs, with real attention to fabric development and cutting-edge techniques. Masculine, ageless and progressive, his designs combine precisely-cut tailoring, accurate detailing and athletic elements. Season after season, the brand has continuously grown and counts now over 400 doors worldwide alongside 15 mono-brand stores, whose concept has been developed by the late and great Zaha Hadid.

His latest venture is to team up with one of the leading names in Luxury Fashion and lifestyle retailing, Harvey Nichols to produce ORIGINALS: Vol #1’, an exclusive collection that revisits the work of the designer over the past decade, pinpointing the archetypes of the Neil Barrett wardrobe – available exclusively at Harvey Nichols.

‘ORIGINALS: Vol #1’ is a re-edition of 12 original designs, including iconic buffalo jackets, leather-detailed coats and tees, jacquard suiting, color-blocked shirts, and the double-bonded sweatshirts synonymous to the brand and promises to be a resolutely masculine collection of timeless pieces for the contemporary man’s wardrobe, underscored by Barrett’s distinctive vision.
The collection will be showcased in Harvey Nichols Project 109, a concept space that houses the latest in lifestyle products and hosts a curated series of installations and pop-u to celebrate the launch of the refurbished Harvey Nichols menswear department.

Our Pick of the Collaboration

Words by Anthony McGrath, Keanu Adorable & Nikita Agapovaite

The men’s Fashion industry, or it could be argued the whole Fashion Industry, is in a state of flux, fact, we have brands, Burberry, Tom Ford, Tommy Hilfiger etc doing away with prior viewing of their collections and moving to a see it purchase it platform. Then you have other houses, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada etc remaining with a more traditional approach. Throw into the mix the matter of many international Fashion labels merging their shows, in the past brands have shown their collections separately, menswear in January and June while their womenswear in February and September. However, Tom Ford, Burberry, Gucci etc have taken the step to start to show their collections together during the Womenswear Fashion Week. As Business of Fashion , only reported last week theat#Menswear is Dead. What’s Next? Surely this can’t true ? Surely !
As we entered the Ninth London Collections Men, London’s Evening Standard reports, “Predictions by Euromonitor show that by 2019, global sales of menswear will pass £3 billion and the industry is growing faster than womenswear”. And nothing could seem further from the harbingering of doom as we saw Internationally recognised designers such as Paul Smith and Neil Barrett throw parties to welcome in LC:M.

Katie Eary

We kicked off proceeding in great style with Gordon Richardson and his TOPMAN team showcasing their strongest collection for seasons, celebrating a homage to Great British Seaside towns and as almost to representation the unpredictability of the Great British Weather we saw cropped puffa and Bomber jackets. Later, on the last day of LC:M Katie Eary, seconded TOPMAN’s appreciation the British coastline with a thoroughly nautical setting, offering us a fishy tale in the shape of dressing gowns, matching shirt and shorts combos and jackets all in a highly fetching fish print reminiscent of Pierre Cardin. And it that wasn’t enough of Great British coastal tales for you, Barbour celebrated its North Eastern roots by showing key pieces from its Original North Sea Outfitters collection and iconic Heritage range. The brand also previewed their Autumn16 collaboration collection that takes some of the most iconic pieces in Barbour’s 120-year old archive and reimagines them in six statement jacket styles that will be exclusive to Selfridges.

Moving a little further afield was Universal Works‘ celebration of of the Cuban rebels and Havana locals, a mix of military and workwear style, trousers with smart jackets, four pocket and point collar shirts and oversized pleated trousers. Like an episode of Wish you were here, we ventured over to Oliver Spencer, who had created a collection with a distinct 1950’s Mediterranean influence. Inspired by his favourite house, Casa Malaparte on the Island of Capri, Italy. A house famed for its imposing modern Italian architecture.

Sibling

As if taunting us about needing a holiday YMC‘s offering for Spring/Summer 17 was true to form, entitled ‘Okoro’, celebrates the cross-pollination of cultural artifacts between Britain and Africa. The influx of African art that permeated British culture in the late 60s through to the early 80s.
Off on our travels again for SIBLING who took LC:M to present their Collection, inspired by the poolside life of Miami and California. The silhouettes are influenced by beach and sportswear; featuring palm prints, hand drawn doodled shapes and vibrant colours.

YMC

Now if it wasn’t British brands being inspired by far off exotic locations, it was equally exotic designers being inspired by their adopted home of the UK or more specifically, London. Nasir Mazhar‘s collection was influenced by the culture and counter-culture that make up the urban fabric of London. The The Turkish-Cypriot designer continues to make clothes inspired by technical sportswear and to experiment with interesting colour palettes on various materials such as shiny nylon, tracksuits, fur and crochet. Whereas, both Xander Zhou and Ximon Lee channelled their inner Punk. The latter using denim, leather and even transparent plastic was fashioned into angular cut shirts, jackets and uneven smocks to give each piece a unique story. Zhou on the other hand re-emphasized the London-based designer’s affinity for capturing the essence of tribal youths.
But one of the biggest trends during LC:M surely had to be the showcasing of Womenswear during a Menswear show. We had Astrid Andersen debuting her womenswear project and then Agi & Sam followed by Nasir Mazhar. Then came Casely-Hayford premiering their Female offering, Christopher Reaburn and Matthew Miller(see below). As almost a backlash against other Fashion Powerhouses who have decided to merge their menswear into their womenswear shows. Or could it have possibly been a subliminal message, trying to tell us they WANT to follow suit and merge the Fashion weeks into one ULTRA London Fashion Week in Sept and February????