John Lawrence Sullivan kicked off the first day of London Fashion Week: Mens by presenting a collection drawing its inspiration from psychopathic thriller movies like Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and Lynch’s Twin Peaks. The Arashi Yanagawa translated this in looks that featured indigo blue jeans mixed with black leather on the legs, worn leather gilets and jackets that tied on the sides like straight jackets. Yanagawa expanded on his signature palette of black and grey with licks of lavender purples and emerald greens. Plaid printed coats and a leopard print overcoat riffed on Hedi Slimane’s Saint Laurent which played into the cowboy western theme. John Lawrence Sullivan is what Vetements wants to be but more authentic and less consumer and appealing to the masses.
The spaghetti western American cowboy inspiration was evident at Astrid Andersen. Despite not being alive for the Buffalo movement she managed to captured and replicate the look with a modern, street wear edge that her brand has been founded on.
All the Andersen signatures were there – lace and logo t-shirts and hoodies, ornate and check printed baggy trousers and shorts sent out to a hip-hop soundtrack and Nike trainers. She added the Buffalo spirit through accessorising looks with Stetson hats, lashings of tweed and shaggy wool.
The standout of day two came at the end of day two from Charles Jeffrey’s Loverboy. Charles Jeffrey is currently riding a momentous career wave. Hailed as London’s contemporary Galliano for this generation he’s coming off the back of winning the award for Emerging Menswear Designer at the British Fashion Awards last month presented by John Galliano himself. He was one of highlights of the MAN show for the three seasons he showed before going it alone. Since then he’s gone from strength to strength with a team comprising of the infamous Gary Card. He’s managed to bring the young gay community collectively together, gave them a space to bring their theatre, drama and performance back to fashion shows, educated the young and unwashed about club kid culture but through it all manage to put a grin on the coldest hearted individual in the room.