Top image: Vanessa Beecroft ‘VB 39 US NAVY SEALS’, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, 1999

“Energy, open-mindedness, possibility, rebelliousness.” That’s designer Todd Lynn describing the characteristics that draw him to youth culture – but you could just as easily attribute these electric channels to his own output.

His music infused career trajectory informs his distinctly rock ‘n’ roll aesthetic, his earlier years spent crafting bespoke stagewear for the likes of The Rolling Stones, Marilyn Manson, PJ Harvey, Marc Almond and Courtney Love.

After easing back into menswear with SS15, this season we will see the Toronto born, London based designer return to LC:M with his FW15 men’s and women’s collection (shown as one – together – as is his creed), a wholeheartedly vivacious, anti-traditionalist, future centric approach to fashion.

This is an event not to switch off to – sure to be an experience in itself, it will officially mark the return to the limelight of one of menswear’s most provocative talents.

Todd Lynn FW15

“I was thinking about my customer and how clothes impact their lives,” says Lynn. “Recently, I’ve been working on a lot of reversible elements and transformation. The collection has a lot of protection elements in it. Guess you can’t help think about it, in this world we live in today. The collection has elements of the future – the deep anxiety of what the future of the world holds, the regular cheery stuff that usually inspires me! And the show will be my protective army: Vanessa Beecroft meets Village of the Damned!”

“I wanted to show my collection the way that I see it. That’s why I’ve decided to show my men’s and women’s together during men’s fashion week. That’s where I started and it makes so much sense to drive that. I know that it’s not going to be everyone thing, but as one journalist friend said to me, regarding showing pre-fall with men’s that it’s a brilliant idea: “There is too much stress, too many collections, too much merch, too much crap, too much confusion for buyers, designers, retailers alike.”

I approached this collection wholeheartedly with what I wanted to show. I am always thinking future. I love a bit of sci-fi especially when it has attachments to the world we live in today. I was tired of presenting collections in tired runway shows and wanted to create an environment that was related to the way I see my work.

I have had a live band play a previous show and felt that this completely transformed the experience. I think that live music has a real-ness to it that I want the clothes to have. It may be a stylised version of the collection, but the clothes are ‘real’ and not just about ‘show’. I want to show what I sell.

For this show I have found a new band that I am super excited about.

Energy, open-mindedness, possibility, rebelliousness. I think these are characteristics of youth, but are important for the future of everything. We must all think and live like this, so although they are inherent in youth, there is no reason we can’t all operate this way. This is how the world moves forward. It’s not just about style and design aesthetic, it’s about how we approach everything we do, and benefits us on a daily basis and future generations.

There is one thing that I never do, and that’s think about the clichés of the type of product that I do. If my clothing fits a rock ‘n’ roll DNA, that happens naturally, not because it’s forced. The clothes I design are what I would want to wear. Everyone wants what they wear to make them feel great, and that’s the power of fashion.

I am happy to be back showing menswear, but this show comes with a few twists… I’m somewhat going back to my roots, as it were. The first collection I showed at London Fashion Week consisted of about 75 per cent menswear so it feels right to tip back the balance.

The show…. No matter what happens, it’s the first time in a while that I am looking forward to a show. I’m doing it in a different way and it feels right to me. I guess at some point you start to not care what everyone else thinks and remain true to yourself, otherwise it ain’t worth it.”

Todd Lynn presents his FW15 collection at London Collections: Men on Friday 9th January. Stay tuned to HERO for full fashion week coverage, from London, Florence, Milan and Paris