Every year, the London College of Fashion puts on its BA fashion show featuring the crème de la crème of its graduating class. Directed by Rob Phillips, the LCF Creative Director of Fashion and Design, the show showcases a diversified interpretation of menswear, signalling the future wave of emerging designers.

Judged by a distinguished panel, the event’s annual ‘Collection of the Year’ prize was awarded to design duo Sam Thompson and George Oxby. Taking inspiration from the concept of layered anonymity, the pair presented their man as a “hunter-gatherer of garments” clad in draped textures, oversized pieces and hooded masks.

We sat down with the winners — George Oxby and Sam Thompson — to discuss their design aesthetic, inspirations, and their unique collaborative process.

Omar Nasir: What inspired you to design this menswear collection?
George Oxby: My initial research for my part in this collection came from “vagabond”, a Germanic word that means wanderer. We wanted to create something that looked worn, slightly mismatched and almost ill fitting, as if the person were picking up these garments as they went. I was struck by one particular image that started off the design process for this collection. ‘Vagabond à Ouagadougou’ by Roman Bonnefoy has a genderless, layered beauty that tells a story of survival, pride, and human resilience. It depicts a man walking down a dirt road in Ouagadougou, with two bomber jackets on, one draped off his head, a car tire worn as a sash and skins of leather draped over shoulder. On his legs he wears knee-length wide shorts and denim jeans.

Sam Thompson: This collection really comes from experiences. There are times when I’ve been listening to something, and I pull my hood low over my eyes and walk sort of aggressively; in the tube, people jump aside to let you through, or at at a lonely bus stop, the only other person keeps moving away from you. I was intrigued by the feeling of power derived from creating fear or unease or shock in the people around you. An outward expression of menace and intimidation can hide an inner feeling of fragility, and I wanted to express this contradiction through making clothes that would make the wearer feel dangerous, allowing them to hide their frailties and experience that same sense of power.

ON: And did this translate to the actual collection?
ST: Once I had fleshed out what I wanted the attitude of the collection to be, I approached the design and pattern cutting of the collection from a more visual angle. Many of the garments in the collection are somewhat sinister recompositions of quite everyday items. I wanted to twist them: reshape the archetypes so that they became a ready-made expression of the attitude.

The wearer could be standing completely straight, but would look like they were hunched over, as is the case with the oversized bomber jacket. I was watching how people’s clothes conform to their attitudes, fitting and reflecting the position of their bodies. I wanted to reverse this – to have the wearer’s body loosely conform to the shape of the garment, and thereby take on the garment’s attitude for themselves.

“I was intrigued by the feeling of power derived from creating fear or unease or shock in the people around you.”

ON: What is the story behind your final piece of work?
GO: He tells a story about endurance and tenacity – a hunter-gatherer of garments. From an aesthetic point of view, the layers and textures created by this pile of jackets and bags creates such a strong but unexpected silhouette. Areas that aren’t totally distinguishable converse with recognisable western sportswear brands. For me, he’s wearing clothes not for fashion but for need, and therefore perhaps his choices aren’t governed by a code of dress, as we know it. I imagined someone who collects pieces that over time become stained or dyed down to the same muted or dark tones. We used hand dying techniques over blue denim and spinning heavily topstitched pieces with dye such as the utility jacket until they wore in.  We also used raw knitted pieces that we brushed after they were made to further portray that story.

ON: The collection is very much about layering and textured depth. How did you come up with this design aesthetic?
ST: It was really a natural growth that developed though the styling. To some extent the silhouette we wanted to achieve required that there be multiple layers, but there was also this sense of wanting to cover up the whole body. Where you do see skin, it is only in small hints — kinks in the armour! The technique to create the textile that we used in one of the hoodies and one of the face masks, also largely reflects the concept. Its incredibly delicate, but the making process is actually really quite aggressive. I was listening to heavy metal and Eminem to get me in the mood!

ON: Talk us through the masks and hoods which were prevalent throughout.
GO: Masks and hoods have become an almost defining feature of this collection. They create a disconnection that is often seen as intimidating and an icon of crime. The focus is drawn away from the face, to the look as a whole, highlighting the volume of the silhouette. Developing from an original textile mask, into using tight fitting fabric masks for look two and five using what we called the ‘binbag’ fabric, almost started to add to a dark military look that we both pushed. The hoods were also a way to bring in new styling elements. We were using lacing, shock cord, and webbing tape that made up part of the mask to drape around the body and finishing up in bellow pockets on the outerwear pieces.

ST: They have a dual purpose. In covering up the face I feel that you lose the ability to relate to the person. The figure becomes ‘other’, different, apart, things which induce in us, a subconscious element of fear.  Moreover from a visual point of view, the veils especially help to alienate and dehumanise the silhouette. Alongside, there is this contrasting element of fragility and shyness about people who hide their face: you wonder why they are afraid to be seen; why their anonymity is so important to them. At its heart I think it’s a study of the power of anonymity — the power to observe without being observed.

ON: Can you tell us about the collaborative design process?
GO: Sam was able to positively counter me in many ways and opened my eyes to new ways of cutting garments and approaching design. Because Sam and I both came in with a strong design identity and philosophy behind those, it was challenging, but ultimately gratifying to see how an idea could start in the same place as mine, but move to such a different place whilst still making sense in that story. Sam often favours stand work and I often favour flat work which as a means to a similar end, was applicable to some pieces that I cut for this collection whilst continuing to work flat for the ‘tech’ outerwear pieces. I think most of all our collaboration worked because we both have an undying love for the creative side of this work – it’s about always pushing it further, and having somebody to constructively criticise me and visa versa took the collection where it went.

ST: We both approached the design of the collection from quite different perspectives; my approach was quite emotionally driven, in that I was attempting to achieve a feeling and an attitude in the work. George’s approach was much more routed in the physicality. Coming from a sportswear background, he brought an element of functionality to the collection that helped to rationalise a lot of my ideas, and route them into a more workable joint concept.

ON: Can you tell us about some of your influences in the industry?
GO: Juun.J has been a huge influence on my recent work. I find that his use of outerwear and minimal colour pallet is outstanding. And that he retains a cachet design identity that hits that commercial/creative nail on the head. It feels accessible but not too easy.

Since foundation I’ve followed the work of Aitor Throup, I think that he is a master pattern cutter and that has always been a side of the industry that garners respect of other creative people, based on the skill and hours put into creating new pieces.

I have always followed the Japanese designers, particularly Kawakubo, Watanabe and Yamamoto. Since I can remember being interested in fashion, I was interested in this group of designers for their dedication to their aesthetic, being able to make something so complex appear so effortless and their use of proportion, such as Comme’s stuffed shapes interrupting the natural contours of the body, challenging body norms and stereotypes.

ST: I find Cristobal Balenciaga massively inspiring. He was one of the last great couturiers who had the skill and knowledge to have sewn anyone of his dresses himself. He actually made his first couture dress (all be it a copy) at the age of 14, so I have a lot of catching up to do but I would really like to look into the couture process in the future. At the moment it is such a transcendent other worldly thing with in the industry but I feel there is a growing sense of the appeal of wearing couture to the supermarket, or out clubbing. Just an idea at the moment, but wouldn’t it be wonderful. Affordable couture for men!!

ON: What does winning LCF collection of the year mean to you?
GO: Winning this award an incredible and unexpected experience for Sam and I. To get that kind of feedback when you’ve put in so many sleepless nights sewing the garments, and spent so long over those tiny decisions that to us meant everything, was worth it. When you stare at the same work for so long, agonising over it, its easy to lose touch with. While you created it in the first place, or maybe your eyes just get tired of it, but seeing it coming down that runway on Monday 6th June affirmed my pride in it. Winning this was not really on our radar, and that’s made it so much more valuable to us.

ST: More than anything, its validation. There were some wonderful, wonderful collections this year, and to be honest, we really didn’t expect to win the award. One of the things that is hard about University is learning to value your own work. There are so many critiques at different stages that you get to a point where its like “is it amazing or is it just shit” (there’s a fine line). I think winning has, in this sense, given me the confidence to continue to produce my own work and see if it takes me anywhere. Hopefully it does and hopefully you’ll be seeing me again in the future.