Bowing before the feet of the Afro Punks

Casely-Hayford's Kings of the Kings Land.

Soon after the day itself I mentioned, that nothing represented the diversity of menswear design talent in the capital more than Fashion East's Menswear installations. As I stalked through room after room and looked in each nook and cranny I entountered many reasons to be excited. One of the real highlights was Casely-Hayford's collection entitled Kings of the Kings Land. For SS10 the design duo took inspiration from the Kingland Road area of London where their studio is based. A seemingly unique and uncoventional corner of the city where original EastEnders co-exist with the more recently landed public school boys. This incongruous social mix conjures up a rich sartorial vocabulary which the Casely-Hayford's have used to create a new English style.

A first look at Casely-Hayford's SS10 shoes...I want them all!

Inspired by the raw energy of Kingsland Road, the collection represents a new style tribe, the Afro Punk. One of the main recurring themes of the Casely-Hayford brand is the fusion of classic, English sartorialism and British anarchy. In previous collections this manifested itself in a wonderful balance of formal tailoring and sportswear but for SS10, instead relaxed tailoring sits extremely well with tribal, handcrafted ornate embellishment. This was no more apparent than in the footwear. I left the menswear day inspired by what I had seen but was impatient to learn more about the collection and in particular the shoes...my wait is now over as the chaps sent through their SS10 accessories look book this evening.

The Quilted Albert slipper

The quilted Albert slipper is something of Casely-Hayford signature piece (00o00 was certainly excited back in May) and echoes the brand's philosophy perfectly. The Albert is the generic name given to these slippers which were made famous by Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert.

The Allotment Creeper

The statement shoe of this season, the "Allotment Creeper", combines elements from traditional English sandals worn by allotment keepers between the 30's and 60's with the Classic Brothel Creeper. The wonderfully named, brothel creeper was originally worn during the second world war in the north African desert by the English army. When the troops returned to England, the shoes were adopted by the dominant youth cult of the time - Teddy boys and then at a later stage punks. Casely-Hayford have evolved this style symbol to represent the new youth cult and subculture of their Spring Summer 10 collection - "Afro punks". The fusion of punk subculture with traditional sandals worn by English gardeners reflects the brand DNA of English sartorialism and British anarchy.

The Ottoman

Influenced by Turkish embroidery seen on East London's Kingsland Road, the Casely-Hayford "Ottoman" combines the delicacy of Turkish embroidery with the sturdiness of a Goodyear Welt to create an elegant summer shoe which retains a rigid masculine form. This style is based on the classic English brogue, but with the ornate scroll work of Ottoman embroidery and the unstained Sole unit, the English classic is given a new context and meaning.

If I'm honest I don't think anyone would consider me to be an afro punk...but...I want to atleast wear their shoes...It is time to bow before the feet of the Kings of Kings Land.