Williamson again.

Could it be?

2010 will see Williamson trying his hand in menswear, further evidence [if you needed any] that menswear is the ultimate push of the fresh decade, giving us lots to busy ourselves with.

Williamson has already dabbled in dressing the dapper men of Britain during his collaboration with H&M.

He has no returned to his luxurious roots and created a range of colourful, close fitting, cashmeres for men who like to feel fabulous and quite literally stand out form the crowd.

Styled in a rock-ready, indie boy style, this capsule collection slips nicely into the current street fashion affairs of the British menswear world.

The collection will be available from Harrods menswear department and Matthew Williamson boutiques by the end of this month.

Another rumour was whispered into my ears about this busy bee of a man. If rumours are in deed to be believed, then Williamson has plans in the pipeline to create his first ever full menswear collection, and if you really believe in these whispered facts? Tilda Swinton- the personification of androgyny - is said to be the face of the campaign.

Only time will tell if this is fact of fiction, but it's nice afternoon story either way.

The Inoue Brothers. . . AW-2010

Looking to Latin America as their main source of inspiration and material, the Inoue Brothers AW-collection brings traditional Bolivian knits. Forming a unique collaboration with the people of Bolivia to create hand-knitted Alpaca garments. All professional knitters are artisan mothers working from home, unable to leave for a city job due to family commitments.

Bringing together extraordinary products come together for the everyday individual. The Inou brothers incorporated the material to their designs, which can be easily seen in today's market.

The alpaca is a South American member of the camel family. Alpacas have been domesticated for over 5,000 years by the Indians of South America, for their exceptional fine-fibred wool. Alpaca Fleece is soft and contains no lanolin, which makes it hypoallergenic. The unique hollow core of the fibre gives the wool a natural insulation that keeps in or lets out body heat according to body warmth and the temperature of the surrounding environment.

Contributing Editor - NJD

Images thanks to the Inoue Brothers...

James Long: The inimatable rebel.

The collection was cohesive and immediate: you just wanted to run and steal one of the distressed black woolens, to put on immediately, his ability to manipulate yarns is second to none, except perhaps Mark fast's womenswear: but that is neither here nor there.

The palette was dark and sulky, flashes of red were littered about creating a richness to the collection that the otherwise inobtrusive palette could not have managed alone.

Details: Head bands, leather: cushioned/panelled/all over it was everywhere, oversized knits, boiler suits, biker trousers, obese courdroys, shearling, denim, distressed.

I think those words summarise the collection in it's most simplistic terms quite effectively. Again shearling was sent down the runway: this time in the shape of bags and random detailing. All denim was printed with red, all courdroy was made up of FAT channeling rather than the rather demure grooves of courdroys on offer in American Apparel.

Navy was a popular colour for this maestro of British fashion and a biker/grease monkey theme was impossible to ignore: what with the leathers and boiler suits popping up consistently.

All in all, this collection stayed true to Long's menswear vision, It was fresh, contemporary and wearable.

Images by James Pinkie Terry.

Shannon Backstage Images

Faithfully, all these images are by the now infamous James Pinkie Terry

Christopher Shannon shows us the slopes.

No one has ever mastered quirky leisure wear with quite the same mastery as Christopher Shannon: his trade mark icy palette remained but with neon pop colours which added a lovely retro edge and made me think of it as the wardrobe for the cast of Saved By The Bell - if they were ever to go skiing.

The formula was the same as always: Panelling, colour blocking and pattern OVERLOAD. Paisley and snowflakes are the patterning choice for AW10, appearing on knitted head bands, turtle necks, trousers and jackets: it was simply sumptious.

The tech fabrics that Shannon has the ability to manipulate with such ease were fashionably in attendance: netting and nylon the infamous favourites! Splashings of sartorial kept the juxtaposition of sportswear and tailoring going strong.

Shearling detailing confirmed this as the ultimate fabric for the colder, fresher months of 2010 and the earliest months of 2011 or now (if you are not already wearing your spring/summer concoctions in an act of brazen defiance?).

Quite frankly, I want nothing more than to go to the alps next winter in head to toe Christopher Shannon, not to ski. Just to wear it.

Tim Soar: The epitome of class.

http://www.dazeddigital.com/Fashion/gallery/34/6828/10/Tim_Soar_AW_10-11

No ones collection shouted WEALTH, quite like Tim Soars. With the addition of some of Savile Row's finiest tailors showing collections at Men's day: some of the more contemporary designers gave prestigious sartorial and infinite elegance a whirl.

Tim Soar was the most successful: leather cumber bands and rain hats, double breasted jackets and coats. Camel, caramel, black, navy and white: the palette of a gentleman, the attire of a success story.

AW 10 may just be the season of Soar. Cropped jackets and collarless shirts added a contemporary twist with the traditionalism that was flaunted in the faces of the avant-garde supporters, and there was the blue boy - he was pretty avant garde, but immaculately dressed!

Unfortuneately the camer suffered technical difficulties throughout our time backstage so the image is borrowed from Dazed Digital and the imagery talents of David Hellqist.

Komakino set their marching orders.

Komakino sough help from the experts with the styling for their fiercely military show: Anders Solvsten Thomsen - previously of 'Pop' - currently with 'Love' was tirelessly making sure these dip dyed boys were immaculate, whilst the designers were scarcely seen.

Ominous music, remeniscent of a scene prior to rape or murder in cinema, accompanied the boys in black down the runway.

Gothic and 90's grunge undertones added depth to the fiercely military collection: epaulettes topped off many a shoulder, intimidatingly painted doc martins gave a sturdy edge to the boys walk, and wool coats with leather panelling created a delightful contrast admidst the black.

Splashings of bleach over trousers/shirts/jackets reinforced the decade that is now officially vintage: the 90's have been courted for many seasons among the fashionistas of the real world, and it is now that the designers have smartened it up for adaption.

Head wear looked to be inspired by the war attire of medieval knights: offering up a touch of heritage which has been flounced about generously among all the fashion weeks.

Overall Komakino offered up an inoffensive interpretation of some sort of grunge army: leather knuckle dusters contrasted with carefully structured wool coats, set off nicely by nude shirts, a perfectly proportioned, expertly crafted, military creation.

All images by ( as always) by James Pinkie Terry

Carolyn Massey: Obsolete Prototype C53

And so here we have the collection that set the standard for men's day on Wednesday 24th, and what a standard. The boys reminded me of ballet dancers with their dramatically sunken eyes, prominently shaded cheek bones and slickly swept back hair.

Massey's innate talent for knits was displayed to perfection: chunky, intrusive snoods were draped around necks, and striped, forties inspired, jumpers were kepeing the boy's leather clad bottoms warm.

Leather was adored throughout, as was a delicate shade of mauve - the exact same shade that popped into JW Anderson's collection - a new shade of elegance. Wool coats were worn open, loose and long.

Trousers were cropped emphasising the detailing on the brogue ankle boots, and introducing an interesting element of femininity to the scrutinizing masses: gaping, rope like, fishnet tights: a quirky detail which complimented the sartorial masculinity of the collection beautifully.

Carolyn Massey has firmly established herself at the very tip top of modern menswear.

All photos by James Pinkie Terry

The finer details of JW Anderson AW10/11

Back stage at JW Anderson, the team were running comfortably (or should I say fashionably) late. Effortlessly causing a tangible suspense among the neatly seated audience.

The details included a whole host of picnic rugs sculpted into delectable items: bags, jackets and waistcoats were all victims of the itchy tartan look, by by God it worked well.

Sleeping mats were rolled into bags, whilst resembling their camping partner - the sleeping bag.

Studs were embellishing everything from faces to ankles, and back up to the necks. And LOOK at those JW earrings: what would you do for one of those? I would actually go camping in the highlands if that was my reward!

JW Anderson has established his name through his dramatic collections, ecclectic silhouettes and fearless flamboyancy, his interpretation of AW10 was no disapointment: perhaps punk has already been done, but the fusion of galic culture and the punk movement was genius.. it all lay in the flowers.

All images are by James Pinkie Terry

Mensday LFW

The official mensday of LFW was kicked off today with spectacular shows by Carolyn Massey and JW Anderson respectively.

The two could not have contrasted more greatly: Massey's smooth palette of soft greys, tantalising mauves and dramatic blacks gave way to a more sophisticated take on the Gentlemen of AW10.

Crop trousers revelaed chunky fishnet tights disappearing into fabulously heavy, brogue - and work - ankle boots. The nake-up transformed the models into gothic ballerina's and the draped tops and gorgeous fabrics gave a liquidity to the collection that you made you wish it could go on forever.

JW Anderson's offering of what can only be described as Highland Punk was an exquisitely crafted collection, with chunky Arran knits shrouding the boys skinny frame: some left as raw wool others covered with gauze: creating a pillowed effect.

The boots resembled that of a 1930's deep sea diver, but with the weighty additions of studs, studded belts and - in some romantic cases - mauve roses (which gave the backstage area a divine aroma). These boots are serious hardware: could crush a mouse in one step type of hard wear.

Details Included: Jackets and bags made from tartan picnic baskets, raw edges, rolled up trousers, belts [everywhere].

The highland theme was so strong you could almost imagine the bagpipes blaring out as the boys were being dressed: but that would have been too obvious of course.

Camel was used for outerwear: firmly establishing it's essential presence for next A/W which i personally cannot wait for...



Tomorow our location photographer: James Terry will upload all of his fantastic images of backstage Mensday, and we shall take it from there.