London Collections Men - Day Two

The second day of LCM saw a hectic round of presentations and shows. Here are some of the highlights -

Hunter Gather

 

A collection entitled Neon Noir created a mood of dark and moody feel to the new pieces, inspired by the supremely cool Mr Ryan Gosling in Drive. A punk colour palette of fluorescent yellow mixed with Jackson Pollock prints created an ease to all of the pieces, including the tailoring. Undeniably 80s referenced, Hunter Gather produced a fearless and youthful collection. 

James Long

 

 

For AW14, James Long looked to the world of primitive science fiction and costume play to create a collection featuring beautifully quilted outerwear, highlighted by trim, and using compartmentalised fabrics.  Mesh was a fabric that featured heavily throughout - on the reversible bombers and on trousers and jogging bottoms . Use of black, red and blue and grey, and especially with the blue haired boys on the catwalk, gave a extra terrestrial feel to the show.  

Duchamp London

This is the sort of life that we all want to be leading - lounging at the billiards table in a velvet smoking jacket, enjoying a leisurely game of chess with a friend on a Tuesday morning in a beautiful checked suit. As one would expect, tailoring was key. The collection focused on how the luxury gent should dress for Winter - whether he be a jet setting rogue, an artist or an entertainer. To stand out from the crowd, he wears luxury corduroy, English jacquards and printed silks with focused flashes of colour. 

Christopher Raeburn 

 

 

The arctic explorer was the man of the moment at the Christopher Raeburn show. Highlights of the collection were the huge shaggy coats, made from re purposed sheepskin coats, the sleeping bag parkas and the rubberized knitwear. Small flashes of colour like cream and mustard added some depth to the general colours of grey and ice blue that made up the bulk of the collection.  

Richard James

 

 

Always a highlight of the LCM calendar, Richard James showcased a slick and sharply focused collection of tailoring where elongated jackets were paired with narrow trousers. Shamelessly decadent, the collection brought together a blue biker jacket, windowpane checks and military detailing. The boys that walked the catwalk, strutted and are the kind of men that use the catwalk as the street. 

Kaushal Niraula

An incredibly strong and tightly edited collection of pieces, taking influences from Nepal, India and Dubai and fusing them with austere English heritage and tradition. The work that had gone into this collection was evident in the pieces, especially in the hand stitching in the Savoy jacket, with peacock detailing. Luxury is key to this brand - soft cashmere scarves and silk ties were great accessories to compliment the vivid checks and pin stripes that featured on suits. 

Hackett London

Known for putting on a great show, with theatrics included, the Hackett London show opened with a bellboy pushing a trolley loaded with elegant luggage. Returning to a time of elegant travel, soft grey suits were paired with beanie hats in clashing colours. Blue and grey were complemented with dashes of magenta, purple and pink and rugby player/ model Thom Evans became the first LCM celebrity walker. 

Alexander McQueen

 

 

It is a testament to LCM that labels like McQueen show here. Sarah Burton's latest offering for men looked back to the rebellious, dark McQueen collections of old with monochrome broken up with glimpses of gold, scribble and paintings. Models wore feathers in their hair and evoked an urban warrior, which is a style that the McQueen label can do better than anybody else. 

Casely-Hayford

 

A much anticipated collection that did not disappoint. Beautiful graphic prints, like on the trousers imaged above were paired with cardigans knotted at the waist and sharply tailored outerwear. The collection had that special, need to wear it now quality. 

Crombie

A personal highlight of LCM for me, was the Crombie presentation, entitled "Modern Militia". There was not one item of this presentation that I did not lust for. The outerwear was cut close to the body and featured fur and leather detailing on collars. The suits were slick and tailored and paired with two tone heavy brogues which added a contrast. A dark colour palette only served to add to the luxury and desirability of all of the items.  Inspired by the brands rich military heritage, new techniques on traditional garments gave them modernity and glamour. 

YMC

 

The fall collection from YMC will have you be the smartest kid on the street. A controlled and savvy collection, with lots of really versatile and wearable pieces, easy to incorporate into an existing wardrobe. The star print trousers were some of the best trousers seen at LCM. 

Tobias England 

Tobias launced its first shirt collection at LCM this season, combining traditional design & single needle tailoring to create shirt staples for the contemporary man. Each shirt paid homage to men - the urban gentleman saw denim combined with paisleys and brushed flannels and the bloom embraced regal floral prints on baby cord fabric. 

Pretty Green

Pretty Green threw a party presentation to close day 2 of LCM. The collection featured mod inspired tailoring with sharp suits in an standout electric blue, with fur lined parkas and patterned scarves and jacquard bombers. A hedonistic rock and roll collection. 

Attending Day Two of LCM in a brown check Topman suit with white shirt and red derby shoes from Asos and Reiss briefcase.