Saturday 10 January 2015

Saturday 10th January 2015: London Collections Men AW15 - Christopher Shannon















Christopher Shannon combined lots of my favourite things this season in his collection coming out of the raves of Acid House.  This democratic movement which has just struck its 25th Anniversary from the 80's "Second Summer Of Love" transcended geography, class, race and culture........... needing no explanation as a source of fascination for Shannon.  He converted the curved scoop of the runway as a backdrop lit up with original footage from the raves, turning London's Old Sorting Office into the perfect factory "Hacienda" setting for the show.  Boys doused with a dewy wet sheen of an all night dance had plastic bags blown onto either their face by Issamaya French or woven into their accessories by Judy Blame.  The concept for this motif came from photographs Chris has collected by photographers such as Nigel Shafran (see over on his Instagram of research imagery).  Chris's invitations are always the best and this season he used a photo from his inspiration archive which once appeared on my blog back in 2008.  My favourite two facets of his latest designs are deconstructed tracksuits reminiscent of Kappa popper down seams and his interpretation of the Ikea bag.  It's when you see something new and question why it hasn't been done before, that you know its going to be a star of the season.

Thanks to Fudge for backstage entrance to see their work up close with John Vial on the tools - a long standing collaboration with Chris over his career via Louise Wilson.  Head over to their site to see more.

                                       

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