t.lipop – AmeliasMagazine

Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week S/S 2012 Menswear Catwalk Review: Asger Juel Larsen Vs t.lipop

t.lipop LFW SS12 menswear by Faye West

t.lipop S/S 2012 by Faye West

Asger Juel Larsen versus t.lipop – not the first time to appear together – showed at Vauxhall Fashion Scout on the last day of London Fashion Week and gave me my most interesting queueing experience during this season. Upon arriving there was a multitude of cool young things waiting to go in – to my delight a lot of them were boys wearing big chunky jewellery! – while a little later the marvellously coiffured Prince Cassius joined the queue behind me, nurse quickly to be noticed and taken inside by the Blow PR girls. While I felt a little saddened that my co-queueing with Prince Cassius was so brief, approved I overheard a girl saying ‘oh, there is Kate Moss!’, which quickly distracted me from my loss. Immediately the whole queue, as if choreographed, leaned to the right to take a peak and of course a few cameras pointed towards her and husband Jamie Hince.

Asger Juel Larsen LFW SS12 menswear by Gemma Sheldrake
Asger Juel Larsen SS12 by Gemma Sheldrake

Asger Juel Larsen LFW SS12 menswear by Matt Bramford

After being seated in the packed space inside, Asger Juel Larsen‘s models started coming out fast and aggressively. I really enjoyed elements such as the slightly twisted animal prints or the spiked prosthetic beards – reminding me of Bearded Dragons under threat – both of which impressively spelt out ‘wildness’. One of those spiked beards worn by a girl as well as a glorious chain mail army style headpiece with bull horns added the notion of the ‘beast’ to the collection. I am all for a little bit of bearded ladies and mythological creatures such as the Minotaur!

Asger Juel Larsen LFW SS12 menswear by Gareth A Hopkins
Asger Juel Larsen S/S 2012 by Gareth A Hopkins

Asger Juel Larsen LFW SS12 menswear by Matt Bramford

Asger Juel Larsen LFW SS12 menswear by Maria Papadimitriou aka Slowly The Eggs
Asger Juel Larsen S/S 2012 by Maria Papadimitriou aka Slowly The Eggs

I thought the themes of wilderness, fighting and survival suggested by the symbolism described above were brilliantly complimented by a number of woolly hats with different metal letters stitched onto them spelling out the phrase ‘we live’. Further allusions to survival through sexual expression were added by a round stitched logo at the back of a jacket reading ‘happiness is a warm pussy’ and the brothel creepers some models wore – shoes originally worn by ex-soldiers visiting nightspots in London.

Asger Juel Larsen LFW SS12 menswear by Matt Bramford

Asger Juel Larsen LFW SS12 menswear by Claire Kearns

Asger Juel Larsen S/S 2012 by Claire Kearns

Asger Juel Larsen LFW SS12 menswear by Matt Bramford

Asger Juel Larsen LFW SS12 menswear by The Pern

Asger Juel Larsen S/S 2012 by The Pern

Asger Juel Larsen LFW SS12 menswear by Jess Sharville

Asger Juel Larsen S/S 2012 by Jessica Sharville

Asger Juel Larsen LFW SS12 menswear by Matt Bramford

Asger Juel Larsen LFW SS12 menswear portrait by Maria Papadimitriou

The contrast between Asger Juel Larsen and the designer that followed, t.lipop, was seemingly like war and peace. t.lipop favoured a palette of pale blues, camel, white and stone, with a splash of bright orange. It was an array of generally relaxed and flowing pieces that calmed us a little after what came earlier. We saw tailored smart jackets and trousers, minimal tops and long untucked shirts that were far less aggressive, even with feminine touches such as fringed adornments and embroidery.

t.lipop LFW SS12 menswear by Celine Eliott
t.lipop S/S 2012 by Celine Eliott

t.lipop LFW SS12 menswear by Matt Bramford

t.lipop LFW SS12 menswear by Vasare Nar
t.lipop S/S 2012 by Vasare Nar

Looking closer, however, I thought there were similarities in the underlying themes of the two collections. T.lipop’s gentlemanly clothes reminded me of movies starring wealthy imperialists in warm exotic countries – suggesting aggression and war – while the long hair and full beards on the models evoked images of castaways striving for survival. Some of the monochrome outfits with their collarless round necklines looked similar to uniforms seen in hospitals’ operating theatres or emergency units, whilst wide brimmed hats alluded perhaps to field workers, both adding to the – admittedly subtle this time – undertones of struggle and self-preservation.

t.lipop LFW SS12 menswear by Celine Elliott
t.lipop S/S 2012 by Celine Elliott

t.lipop LFW SS12 menswear by Matt Bramford

t.lipop portrait LFW SS12 menswear by Maria Papadimitriou

With so many interesting references and inspirations in both collections, when Prince Cassius tweeted me to say he really enjoyed the show I could only tweet back in agreement!

All photography by Matt Bramford.
Photo portraits of designers by Maria Papadimitriou.

Written by Maria Papadimitriou on Friday September 30th, 2011 3:54 pm

Categories ,Aggressive, ,Army, ,Asger Juel Larsen, ,Bearded Dragons, ,Bearded Ladies, ,Blow PR, ,Brothel Creepers, ,Castaways, ,Celine Elliott, ,Chain Mail, ,Claire Kearns, ,designer, ,embroidery, ,fashion, ,Faye West, ,Fighting, ,Freemasons’ Hall, ,Fringing, ,Gareth A Hopkins, ,Gemma Sheldrake, ,hats, ,Headpiece, ,Jackets, ,Jamie Hince, ,Jessica Sharville, ,jewellery, ,Kate Moss, ,london, ,London Fashion Week, ,Long hair, ,Maria Papadimitriou, ,menswear, ,minimalist, ,Minotaur, ,Mythological Creatures, ,Prince Cassius, ,Prosthetic Beards, ,Slowly the Eggs, ,Suits, ,Survivalist, ,t.lipop, ,tailored, ,The Pern, ,Tweeting, ,Uniforms, ,Vasare Nar, ,Vauxhall Fashion Scout, ,Wilderness

Amelia’s Magazine | Fashion East and NEWGEN Menswear Installations: London Fashion Week A/W Presentation Review

Sibling A/W 2012 by Gabriel Ayala

The Fashion East and NEWGEN installations were a riot of colour, innovation and design again this season. I always have the best intentions on menswear day to see everything – the schedule is quite thin in a morning and leads you into a false sense of security that you can casually amble around taking in every designer in your stride. Serenity soon turns to chaos about 1pm though – the installations open, they’re rammed, and all of a sudden there are back-to-back catwalk shows dotted around town.

So in typical Matt stylee I raced around the installations in between shows, juggling my camera, a glass of plonk and a bunch of handouts in unison. Here’s my whistle-stop tour of both the Fashion East and Newgen designers:

Christopher O’Brien
Christopher O’Brien‘s name wasn’t one I’d heard of before, but I was captivated by his devilishly good looks and, more importantly, his A/W 2012 collection. His innovative crinkled cotton in white, navy and aqua across jackets and shirts really stood out.

Kit Neale

Kit Neale A/W 2012 by Krister Selin

In a separate room, Kit Neale‘s presentation was one of the highlights. A mixture of models stood and sat across wooden platforms, wearing Kit’s weird and wonderful digital-print fabrics. Matching jackets and trousers came in garish patterns, styled with scarves and backpacks. Across the room, a video of models performing karaoke to Elvis hits in front of a sparkly curtain played – one of my favourite digital presentations of this season.

Dr Noki’s NHS
In typical Noki fashion, his two models were adorned in all sorts of recycled materials: back-to-front New Era caps (a Noki staple), faces covered with t-shirts and comic book illustrations, which had my pal Gareth A Hopkins – Amelia’s Magazine contributor and comic perv – proclaiming that he was on trend long before Noki was; a fact I wholeheartedly agree with.

Sebastian Tarek
Lovely, lovely shoes.

Sibling

Sibling A/W 2012 by Gabriel Ayala

On menswear day I find myself desperate to see what Sibling will present each season. Last year’s fairground-inspired collection bowled me over. This ‘Marked Man‘ collection drew inspiration from ‘the relationship between a protective matriarch and her beloved – but wayward – son’. Queue glittery knits, tattoo imagery, a bleeding heart motif – this design trio certainly know how to interpret a theme. My favourite pieces were those that carried the leopard print knits – just incredible. To accompany their presentation, Sibling produced a stunning video installation that featured three models behind bars. Three screens acted as contemporary prison windows, where guests could sit opposite, listen to white noise down phone lines, and generally absorb the atmosphere. It was pretty affecting stuff. The three screens worked as a whole, with models moving between windows and animations occurring at the same time. Even visiting children enjoyed it.

T.Lipop
I’m a big fan of T.Lipop‘s contemporary sartorial splendour and this season was no exception. A fashion expedition – models wore contemporary tailoring and were styled with ice-cold beards and eyebrows. There’s a full review of the T.Lipop catwalk show to come soon…

William Richard Green
Last but not least, William Richard Green gave the modern man more ways to mix up his wardrobe. Jackets displayed expert craftsmanship, adorned with large white buttons, reworking classic staple items into statements for A/W 2012. An inimitable mix of wearable pieces and conceptual items (overcoats teamed with polkadot trousers and New Balance trainers), garments in this collection are sure to become future classics and I’d gladly wear any of it.

It was pretty exhausting – not least because one had to manoeuvre around Champagne gluggers like an assassin just to take a photograph – but it’s always worth it.

Written by Matt Bramford on Tuesday February 28th, 2012 9:58 am

Categories ,A/W 2012, ,AW12, ,Christopher O’Brien, ,Dr Noki, ,Fashion East, ,Gaarte, ,Gabriel Ayala, ,Gareth A Hopkins, ,Kit Neale, ,Krister Selin, ,London Fashion Week, ,Marked Man, ,Matt Bramford, ,menswear, ,Newgen, ,NHS, ,Sebastian Tarek, ,Sibling, ,Somerset House, ,t.lipop, ,William Richard Green

Amelia’s Magazine | Ashish: London Fashion Week A/W 2012 Catwalk Review

Ashish A/W 2012 by Catherine Meadows.

This season Ashish turned to his roots for Bollywouldn’t, a collection which married the iconography of hippy India with late 80s rave culture, both style eras that have been repeatedly plundered by successive generations – one need only think of New Rave, that short lived phenomenon of just a few years ago. However, in the inimitable hands of Ashish, these styles have been reinvented once more, in a dusty meets fluoro palette of clashing logos and decorative decals.

Ashish AW 2012 - photo by Amelia Gregory

Ashish A/W 2012 by Catherine Meadows.

Models wore elaborate beaded face jewellery based on traditional Indian jewellery, with the addition of the odd cut out CND logo. High crepe soled rainbow platforms riffed on Ashish‘s usual love of DM boots. Shapes were mainly slouchy, with relaxed cardigans and hoods piled on top of baggy pants. The omnipresent sequins were of course in effect, creating smiley face repeat patterns, garish paisleys or giant body hugging pink buddhas.

Ashish AW 2012 - photo by Amelia Gregory

Ashish A/W 2012 by Vicky Ink aka Vicky Fallon.

A clever two fingered slogan was repeated front and back, transferring its meaning in the event. Even a rainbow tie-dye design got the intricate sequinned treatment with Ashish. Hare Krishna style influenced ochre shirts were printed with deep red slogans: worn by boys hiding in cowl necked scarves. For women the same scarves came in dusky pinks and dove grey.

Ashish AW 2012 - photo by Amelia Gregory

Ashish A/W 2012 by Antonia Parker.

Ashish always accompanies his collections with an evocative piece of prose that describes his muse. This season ‘She travels light, but shops heavy… Some say she’s a hippie, but she denies it: her shopping chakra dictates otherwise.’ It seems that for A/W 2012 Ashish has his designer tongue wedged ever more firmly in his cheek, and, as ever, I love him for it. Predictably, there were so many pieces that I loved in this imaginative and witty collection.

Ashish AW 2012 - photo by Amelia Gregory

Ashish A/W 2012 by Sarah Jayne Draws.