Satyenkumar SS12

Satyenkumar is a designer who has always quietly gone about his business of creating quality tailored causal wear for us modern eccentric English playboys. After graduating with an MA from Central Saint Martins and honing his craft with Versace and Ashish, the design talent decided to go it alone for AW06. Having long admired his work from afar, it was not until I took my seat at his SS10 show, Reflection through a lens, that my eyes were really opened to the designer. In a season where so many designers delivered a surprisingly dark, industrial, almost sombre colour palette, Satyen dazzled with his kaleidoscopic travel through a lens. It might have been a typical September afternoon in London but examining Satyen's colourful craftsmanship transported me to an Ibiza beach at sunset. Seemingly weightless outwear, jean inspired trousers and pyjama shorts, sheer/dense mix shirts, rainbow patch worked vests and featherlight unlined blazers in Swiss Voile, Habotai and Tulle. A true celebration of colour and lightweight tailoring. I was hooked. However, this addict was only treated to one more season before the designer took a couple of seasons out. Despite not being the loudest of designers, his absence was noticed. Thankfully, Satyenkumar makes his welcome return for SS12 and I can exclusively offer the first glimpse of it.

Satyenkumar customarily begins his design process with a character and for SS12 he looked to the British explorer, Percy Fawcett, who disappeared in 1925 during an expedition to uncover Z. "The collection was actually pre-visioned last Summer. It was inspired by David Grann's 'The Lost City of Zed'. I found this book over a year ago, just before I began to think about last summer and then of course I decided to take some time out. I still kept the book in my mind and still thought it relevant for this collection." Inspired by this tale, Satyen wanted to do something that was even more detailed than previous seasons, playing with military, adding more layers and pushing himself. "I have always done tailoring but wanted to move my aesthetic forward." SS12 certainly marks the return of an evolved Satyenkumar.

Building on the character of the lost explorer and having had the book playing on his creative mind for some time, Satyen turned to his obsession with murano glass which then led him to marbles. Everything clicked in to place. "The idea of losing your marbles and Percy Fawcett in the Amazon, going with the intent of exploring but then becoming trapped within the craziness, colour and tropics." The prints developed from this mental state and follow the process of losing your mind. "It is fantasy that is grounded in real clothing which dictated this idea of print, colour, detail and contrasting. A lot of my pieces tend not to be 100% one fabric but there's often a twist where two fabrications are used or a poppy colour has been changed to alter the silhouette for example a more military piece can be transformed by a flash of royal blue or coral." The collection takes the observer through the imagined phiscal and mental journey of Fawcett. The darker side of the collection was inspired by the idea of this character having to integrate in to his environment, this takes you in to the more subdued, black monochrome pieces. However, despite the strong literary influence this is not a theme collection. It is grounded in style and the beauty of menswear in general. Satyen teamed up with long term stylist Jason Hughes to help bring the collection to life in the look book. Rather than wax lyrical about the collection, allow me to do the polite thing and share it with you...

Exclusive SS12 look book shots courtesy of Satyenkumar.

As ever with Satyen, the SS12 collection showcases exquisite, timeless tailoring and modern hybrid classics in an assortment of fabrics that long to be touched and prints that daze and hypnotise. For me, the piece that provides the best summation of Satyenkumar as a designer are the tailored combats. "They are a tailored trouser with combat pockets. When you put them on, they feel nothing like a combat pant. They've gone to another level." However, the designer has challenged himself throughout but it is in the outerwear where we see just how far he has  pushed and evolved. The denim trench with twill, the belted suiting,  the multi pocketed bomber jacket in printed silk. Throughout, Satyen wants the looks to feel relaxed in places and restricted in others. The combination of these two elements is ever present.

Having bounced my way across the capital yesterday and seen countless SS12 collections as part of LFW, I have to confess that few left me as excited as this one. The return of Satyenkumar is a welcome one. Having been away from the spotlight for a couple of seasons now is Satyen's time to shine. The recovering menswear addict has a new hit. 

Ozwald Boateng SS12

Last year, Ozwald Boateng closed the SS11 season with a blockbuster of a presentation. As an army of models marched across town, the Savile Row tailor provided an all singing and dancing sartorial extravaganza to help celebrate his twenty five years in the business and mark his return to the capital. Twelve months on and the designer chose a more reserved but no less impactful way to present his SS12 offering. Located in the House's flagship Savile Row store, Boateng let the clothes take centre stage whilst taking us on a journey to Kenya.

For SS12, Ozwald Boateng invites us to relive his personal experience on a family safari in Kenya. Rather than sit us down in front of a slideshow, the seasoned design talent offers a dazzling  reimagination of his experience. In a nod to an emotional journey, Boateng presents an assortment of weary travellers, pioneers and revolutionaries outfitted in looks that perfectly balance leisure and refinement. Inspired by the essentially masculine and functional dressing of the expedition, the collection   weaves through tradition and innovation whilst showcasing the House's iconic understanding of detail and sense of colour. Traditional pieces including the safari jacket and stone shirt are adapted to the practical needs and luxurious style of the modern explorer and reinvigorated with a popping spectrum of colour. There's very little khaki or stone on Boateng's safari and true to the house DNA, colour is explored and represented in innovative ways. Here, the vibrant palette reflects Boateng's vision, painting a picture of the vast African landscape. Terracota and orange hues recall images of the burnt red soil under foot, whilst rich greens inspire images of lush vegetation and deep indigo of the huge African sky. Take my hand and lets go on a Boateng safari...

A selection of my presentation shots.

After snapping away at Boateng's reimagined expedition, I caught up with the stalwart of British tailoring to hear more about the trip to Kenya that sparked the collection, his thoughts on the evolution of menswear in London and his impending film documentary...

SS: Now, the starting point for the collection is quite obviously safari but what was the trigger?

Ozwald Boateng: I went on safari last year with my kids to Kenya. It was actually the first holiday that I had been on with the kids without anyone else being around, no air support, no ground troops and it was quite something. It was an amazing experience. I had my own tent and they had their own and there was a definite sense of being alone and yet surrounded by wildlife. It was down to me to instill the confidence within them that they could do it. Then it was all about getting up before the break of dawn, driving in to the unknown and patiently waiting. I bought both of my sons cameras and we all snapped away. At the tail end of the trip, I took all of our images and made a little book of the whole experience. That was the backdrop of why. Also, there was a number of personal connections. Firstly spending time with my children, secondly going to Kenya which is a place I've always wanted to go to on Safari and also the realisation of the important role of colour within the whole concept of safari. The moment of realisation came when I was sitting there in my beige shorts and khaki top and I looked at my guide, a Masai warrior dressed in an amazing array of rich colours, from emerald green, vibrant turquoise blue to lion red and I was blown away. We are conditioned or told to dress in a certain way but there was our guide who is going to track down these animals and I realised that it was all nonsense, it means nothing. Why not have as much fun as the guide? So, I threw away the obvious colour palette and introduced all of these colours to create a new rule book. With the local backdrop, huge sky and the ever changing soil combined with an exciting colour palette, everything just pops. That was the driving force for the season.

SS: What else influenced your designs?

Ozwald Boateng: In terms of the concept itself, I looked at the practicalities of being on safari and the uniform that you wear. For example, the need for pocketed sleeveless zipped tops but pushed it that bit more with the colours used and with my background in tailoring introduced layers. Tailored thin lapels, shirt jacket hybrids and finding clever, intelligent uses of colour to alter shape and aesthetics without working too hard to get there. When I started as a creator I was always running so fast, it was so important to be at the forefront but with the benefit of experience, the real skill lies in being in control of your creativity in such a way that there is always a fascination in what could be missed. For example, I was preoccupied with moving the notch on the lapel and something so simple can be interesting. There is a beauty in subtlety. Just by looking at a shaped collar for instance, there are so many collars but to create a new one in just a single movement is hard but when you do it The Nile chiseled shirt seems familiar yet different and that is a great place to be, I always strive to create garments like that. I've always been known for my texture and fabric and that is a key identifying feature and dynamic of the brand but the real focus is, and always has been on the detail of the cut. When you really look at one of my garments that is where the depth really lies.

SS: Remarkably, last year marked your twenty fifth anniversary in menswear. How has London menswear changed in your time?

Ozwald Boateng: The simple way to define is that when I started, there was no platform to show your work and this has only changed recently. I had to show in Paris, Milan and New York before I had to show anything here as part of the official calendar. For me, that says everything. The fact that designers can say that they are part of the British fashion week experience is huge. From a purely stylistic point of view, British menswear has always been grounded in tailoring and I've certainly played my role in continuing this tradition but it is always evolving. What is interesting for me is that men are happy to be fashionable again, the younger men in particular are expressing themselves in such a way that I can only remember occurring in the 80s. There's a real confidence and enjoyment about dressing again. I have always been interested in the masculinity of fashion, how you can rework a traditionally feminine in such a way to transform to appear masculine. I have seen men wearing fashion in the street and even though it has an element of femininity it is worn in such a way that makes it looks more masculine. It really reminds of when I started out and that whole Buffalo movement and when the Face just started out, it was really a time when men could enjoy fashion and I finally feel we are back there again.

SS: What's next for Ozwald Boateng?

Ozwald Boateng: Firstly, I'm keen to open more stores. We are in a really strong place as a brand and now is the right time to expand. Also, we've got a documentary film coming out next years and that is going to be a joint release both here and in the States. It is a twelve year documentary film of my life and the response has been really positive. I've refocussed the business in recent years, moving away from the wholesale side and concentrating on the core. This was a tough decision because in one sense you are losing revenue but it was important for me to control the core elements of the brand, to have everything on my terms. It felt like a return in a way. Following the twenty five year anniversary, I felt as though I had come full circle. It is a hugely promising time and I'm excited.

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To supplement my eager shots from the presentation, I'd like to take another look at a few of the key looks. Thanks to the Jimmy Hansen shot look book we can...

SS12 Look book shots by Jimmy Hansen.

Details...details, details

Shaka Maidoh was my vote for Britain's Best Dressed Real Man. Each outfit is packed full of details yet the ensemble on first appearance seems so effortless. Here's just a snapshot of him on the night he picked up his runner up prize.

Details... Embracing the early arrival of Autumn

A finalist in Esquire and My Wardrobe's Britain's Best Dressed Real Man and Doherty Evans Stott's very own Matthew Evans sporting his own well tailored two piece.

Edward Green and Hardy Amies

Back on that hectic day in February and in the relative tranquil of Savile Row, Claire Malcolm showed her debut collection for the historic and royally patronised house Hardy Amies. For AW11, the design talent explored a period of Sir Hardy’s life in which he was a particularly prominent figure on the European society circuit in the 1930s. In a widely acclaimed show, and in the true spirit of Sir Hardy himself, no detail was left unconsidered. The show unveiled the fruits of a collaboration with Edward Green. In a happy marriage between two quintessentially English companies that pride themselves on quality and style, the offspring were particularly stunning. The range, developed closely with Malcolm, infuses classic Edward Green quality and the dashing Hardy Amies’ sartorial spirit. Four Edward Green classics have been reworked in a palette of blues, greys and burgundies to complement the catwalk collection. 

To mark the launch of the covetable collaborative which are now available in Matches and Edward Green's Jermyn Street shop, we sat down with Edward Green's very own Euan Denholm. Here we talk about the collaboration, take a closer look at the shoes themselves and learn what the Jermyn Street space has in store for us...

Edward Green for Hardy Amies. Introducing the Midnight/ Twilight Falkirk brogue; Black/ slate Piccadilly loafer; Burgundy / old rose Shannon boot; and Slate Chelsea oxford.

SS: What brought these two quintessentially English companies together for this showcase of craftsmanship and design?

Euan Denholm: The idea started because Hardy Amies wanted to have beautiful shoes for their London Fashion Week show. They came to us to see what we might be able to do for them. There's a wonderfully dynamic new team at Hardy Amies who are really looking to bring a fresh angle to Savile Row. So it seemed right to jointly develop the capsule collection and offer them beyond the catwalk show.

SS: How would you describe Edward Green? And Hardy Amies?

Euan Denholm: More than anything else Edward Green is defined by a dedication to craftsmanship. We've been making shoes since 1890 and the workshop in Northampton is very much our heart. We've been asked to make shoes by many leading brands over the years because they know our quality is the best. Our own shoes have a recognisably English look - but always an elegant English look. Even a rugged shoe has a refinement to it.

Hardy Amies is of course a Savile Row tailor - established by Sir Hardy who designed dresses for the Queen and really personified a certain sartorial spirit in his own age. Today, his successor Claire Malcolm is bringing a new creativity to Savile Row and her ready-to-wear collection has been bought by many of the world's leading fashion boutiques. English tailors haven't always found it easy to evolve in the way that French couture houses have done but Hardy is doing a very good job of bringing their tailoring to a new audience.

The Chelsea

SS: The range reimagines four classic Edward Green styles. Could you tell us a little about the original to Chelsea, Falkirk, Piccadilly and Shannon.

Euan Denholm: The Chelsea has long been our best-selling shoe - this version is on the slim 82 last which makes for a perfectly balanced cap-toed oxford. It has our signature 'swan's neck' - a detail drawn from the 1930s.

The Falkirk is a brogue with a thistle pattern. In it's usual browns it's a heavier country brogue but the colour palette of blues and greys gives a very different look - the juxtaposition makes for a shoe of real character.

I think the Shannon's probably my favourite of the set. It bears a striking resemblance to the old RAF marching boot in our archive. We've produced it in black and burgundy with different suedes but the two levels of polish in this capsule give it a new life.

The Piccadilly is our best-selling loafer - it's popular in black and chestnut. There's also a lovely very classic chestnut version with a twill apron - similar to another loafer - the handsewn Harrow - that used to be a favourite of the Duke of Windsor.

The Duke of Windsor's favourite reimagined. The Piccadilly loafer in slate/ black.

SS: How were these classics reworked to compliment Hardy Amies' AW11 collection? Could you talk us through the design dynamic and working relationship with Claire Malcolm?

Euan Denholm: Claire chose the patterns that she felt best complimented her clothes and reworked them in the collection's colour palette. We'd recently started doing some shoes in midnight blue but the light slate was a new leather which worked really well with the greys of her clothes. Once we found the right base colours we experimented a little with the polishing and Claire liked the toecaps polished down to a darkened shine. It gives them a certain wow. I remember that there were three of us over at the house on Savile Row polishing and polishing until we had all the shoes just right the Saturday before the catwalk show.

The Falkirk in midnight twilight.

SS: What's next for Edward Green?

Euan Denholm: As well as the Hardy Amies collaboration, we've got some other really interesting new shoes in for AW2011. The Harrogate and Oakdale are two very elegant longwings - a derby and oxford respectively - very classic EG but in a full range of our burnished calf leathers. Then there's the Lakes Collection - three country inspired shoes with solid storm welts in beautiful cordovans and coloured country calfs - I think that they'd be the ones to catch the eye of many a Style Salvage reader. In the shop everyone is most excited by the Ullswater brogue in navy country calf.

If you come into the shop on Jermyn Street you can expect to see plenty of other new shoes too going forward. We're making more limited orders which allows us to bring in regular new models - so expect to see a green suede capsule later in the autumn.

Edward Greens will be available at Spencer Hart's new flagship on Brook Street in Mayfair. It's very much Rat Pack cool. So expect to see a dark sophisticated set which would tempt Frank Sinatra.

My personal favourite...the Shannon range.

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As Euan Denholm talked me through the collaboration and pointed out the key designs for the coming season he invited me up to see their workshop for myself. Of course, I jumped at the chance and will soon make the trip up to Northampton. However, to whet my appetite further, he sent through a selection of shots that he himself took. The workshop continues to make shoes according to the same simple philosophy Edward Green laid out in 1890 – never compromise the integrity of the craftsman. Where necessary their shoes are still hand-sewn with a pig’s bristle; they are still hand cut by a ‘shoe clicker’ who makes his own knife; they are still Goodyear welted, allowing them to be remade again and again, gaining character as the years go by. Denholm's photography captures this spirit and demonstration of craft wonderfully.

All images by Euan Denholm.

Treasured Items... Dean Webster

Rei Kawakubo is among the most respected and unconventional designers in contemporary fashion. As the driving force behind Commes des Garçons, she has continually challenged current ideals of body shape, garment construction and use of colour. From the moment the label sprang to fame with its first presentation in Paris back in 1981, the world of fashion has never been the same. Comme des Garçons quickly became the preferred label of the avant-garde and the highly independent. Whenever I think of the label I'm reminded by a sentence penned by Cathy Horyn in her NY Times piece, Gang of Four. "Kawakubo has been making clothes for nearly 40 years, always under the label Comme des Garçons, which means ''like some boys'' and in a way suggests a gang." Over the last four decades, Kawakubo has amassed quite a gang of followers thanks to her radical approach to fashion design.. Amongst them is One Nine Zero Six's very own Dean Webster who treasures a single breasted suit from 1988.

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Dean Webster and the Comme des Garçons suit.

"My treasured item has to be my black Comme Des Garcons Homme two button single breasted wool suit (black of course) and was purchased from the original Comme store on Fulham Road.

It states on the inside care label, like a discreet badge of honour, the date AD1988 and, most importantly, its made in Japan credentials.

The jacket has an exaggerated shoulder line and wide lapels with a dropped notch and is shorter and boxier in body length, indicative of the zeitgeist that the Japanese Dark Wave designers brought to men’s fashion in the mid to later 1980s.

The trousers are high waisted with grown on waistband, dropped belt loops and a double pleat front, cinch back waist adjuster and what would have been called a ‘peg’ silhouette at the time (very full at the top of the trouser, tapering from the knee quite severely to 16” bottoms).

I guess that it’s almost a ‘zoot suit’ but without the longer line jacket of its obvious design origins.

The fabric is a 100% wool jacquard and upon closer inspection, the jacket and trouser fabrics are mismatched weaves. The jacket is a horizontal slub rib, almost boucle-like texture and the trousers are a cross hatch version of the same weave. The buttons are real horn.

I would almost certainly have worn it with a white shirt, fastened at the neck without a tie and with a pair of black suede, crepe-soled, side buckled creepers (I still have a version of the same shoe in my wardrobe to this day with white leather piping on the front apron and buckle trim).

It’s a thing of real beauty to me, in great condition and still looks relevant."

Dean Webster, Creative Director of One Nine Zero Six by Gymphlex

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