GFW Catch Up: Fringe Festival

Alas I could not be with Susie in her perspex box today so missed out on the shows firsthand but I've been reading her coverage along with that of Fashion156 and I must say that I've been pleasantly surprised by the amount of good menswear on show. Leading the pack was Jason Mui from Nottingham Trent who experimented with exaggerated, structured looks which were covered in fringing and hair.

The mix of fabrics (the fringe and furry shoulders was combined with wool, suede and just look at the spikes on the footwear) all combined to create a depth of texture previously unseen in any of the other menswear collections I've seen thus far. Of course these looks won't be to everyone's taste but for me, this is one of the strongest graduate collections I've seen all week because it explores a concept fully and most successfully, pushing the boundaries in the process. This is certainly a designer to keep an eye on for the future.

The collection made me think of a recent post on Jak&Jill which caused a bit of a negative stir (granted this was mainly because of the look of the chap as opposed to his furry shoulders). We've seen fringe and furry shoulders stake their claim on the womenswear runway in recent seasons and subsequently paraded by the fashion crowd as captured by various street style blogs and I for one welcome the cross over in to menswear.

GFW Catch Up: The Emperor's New Clothes

Each June Graduate Fashion Week stages a static exhibition showcasing the work of some 50 universities across 52 courses, and approximately 22 university fashion shows. I kept Susie company in her perspex box exhibit at Earls Court 2 yesterday but managed to escape from the hamster cage (alas no wheel or giant water bottle) to take a seat during the shows. The amount of menswear on show during the first day of GFW was spread pretty thinly throughout the day.

Kingston University, on their first appearance here, had a wealth of talent on show and the menswear was particularly good. Alexander James was the standout collection of the day for me because he successfully reinvented a new set of clothes for his imaginary/contemporary emperor as he combined structured jackets with elegantly pleated trousers and cummerbunds which created stunning visuals. This collection would no doubt make us all want to steal the Emperor's new clothes. There is no mime here, in fact there is a great deal of real drama on show and it is plain to see that James is no Hans Christian Anderson swindler character. Of course the real star of the tale were the super pleated trousers which fell like harem pants and from behind had an extraordinary amount of detailing...with trousers like these I would be tempted to moonwalk everywhere just so people did not miss out on the pleats.

LCF BA Catch up: Chain Male

I'm currently at GFW in Earls Court (expect a post on this later today)and in between shows and wandering through the exhibits I am catching up on things I missed earlier this week. I unfortunately had to miss LCF's BA show last Thursday but thanks to the wonders of the internet I have managed to catch up on the missed talent. Though the show was low on menswear, Asger Juel Larsen shone through with his take on modern chain mail. Asger opened with a chain mail top which must have weighed the model right down but it certainly made the audience take notice. His simple colour pallete of grey, black and silver came in many textures including sheer to faded metallic silver and shiny patent making this collection anything but boring. Larsen created a modern adaption of armour by producing 'futuristic' ideas of chain mail, using alternative materials such as leather, PVC and rubber cords and I'd love to find out more about how he accomplished these looks.

Cher de la cruz (left) and Asger Juel Larsen (centre and right) images taken from Fashion156's impressive Graduate coverage over on their daily blog.