Plug in, switch on

Alex Mullins SS17
By Alex James Taylor | Fashion | 12 June 2016
Photography Ben Parks

“Im obsessed with discovering the gap between our real life and the Internet,” Alex Mullins told us before his SS17 show. “I’ve been imagining if the Internet was a person and how such knowledge could be so pure.” Plugging in, switching on and immersing yourself in the www, for his debut catwalk format show, the London designer – who cut his teeth at Alexander McQueen – explored the mass internet culture that has leaked out of our screens and into mainstream culture.

FW16 saw Mullins romanticising the notion of boredom, however this season saw him tap into the ultimate boredom killer: scrolling endless scrolling through memes – in all their weird and wonderful glory. As internet memes repeat and warp ideas, slicing, cutting, changing, copying and pasting, Mullins’ latest offering mimics these repetitive and formulaic traits of internet culture via self-referencing and a cut and paste aesthetic. “Technology deletes details. Melted knots and liquefied graphics wither in the sun. Romanticised rose petals become machines, in this oxymoron of industrialised romanticism,” as described in the show notes.

Set to an ochre palette of earthy browns, whites and yellows, silhouettes came loose and baggy in a mix of denim and thick cotton and paired with exclusive Timberland collaboration footwear. Representing digital art, the designer’s signature graphics appeared in the form of flowers, bricks and goldfish imagery – referencing the unique medium bridging the gap between human creativity and the technological sphere. And it’s this self-awareness of the here and now that Mullins articulates so well.

GALLERYBackstage images from Alex Mullins SS17

GALLERYCatwalk images from Alex Mullins SS17





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