boundary crushing

MAN: Art School FW18
By Lakeisha Goedluck | Fashion | 9 January 2018
Photography Alin Kovacs

When it comes to subverting the current status quo from a design perspective, Fashion East and MAN have routinely given a platform to some of the most innovative names in menswear.

From Wales Bonner’s visual discussion of numerous diasporas to Craig Green’s emotionally charged shows, it’s historically served as a space where newcomers have utilised the chance to define their sartorial voice. Unveiling their sophomore collection, ART SCHOOL collaborators Eden Loweth and Tom Barratt continued to push their gender-fluid vision for FW18.

Tearing up the runway to the sounds of Pink Floyd’s We Don’t Need No Education, the duo’s legion of trans and non-binary models embodied sensuality and raw confidence in pinstripe skirt suits and asymmetric high-cut bodies. The concept of “soft tailoring” (meaning that garments are designed and constructed on the body rather than a flat surface) which underpins the label’s aesthetic manifested itself most vividly in the form of mesh skintight dresses emblazoned with floral and phallic motifs worn over fluorescent shirts.

Taking inspiration from Chroma, Derek Jarman’s meditation on the colour spectrum, the design duo’s usual vivid colour palette took a darker turn. “In his manifesto on colour, Jarman talks about black leather and jet as the colour of crystals, the black arts or the beauty of black sheep,” read the show notes. For Art School, these tones “speak of hope and iridescence.”

GALLERYBackstage images from MAN: ART SCHOOL FW18

GALLERYCatwalk images from MAN: ART SCHOOL FW18





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