Innovation and a few eyebrow-raising concepts were on display at the MAN show yesterday. The collaboration between Topshop and Lulu Kennedy’s Fashion East saw Craig Green’s debut and the final collections by Astrid Andersen and Agi & Sam.
Astrid Andersen warmed crowds up with a little Kendrick Lamar before sending out her feminine, new-wave take on old-school sportswear. Girly lilac, black and gold were seen on her tough-guy models, all of whom sported metallic gold lippie on their lower lip. Fila provided the obligatory white trainers – though that didn’t stop Andersen from emblazoning her name across the super-luxe sportswear.
Recent Central Saint Martins graduate Craig Green might have raised the anti-fashion hackles of the Daily Mail brigade with his ‘plank hats’, but his use of cuffed trousers, super-crinkled fabric and oversized layering was inspired. With models dipped in black paint and stalking the runway to a pounding soundtrack from HEALTH, he didn’t win any points for cute – but then again, it’s not like he was trying. London at its rebellious, bonkers best.
Agi & Sam took things back to boarding school with their good-humoured take on British country aristocracy – complete with basset hounds, flat caps and super-rouged cheeks (red from the bracing English country air, presumably). The Jack Wills crowd got a look in with smartened-up gilets and tweed, but smart twists kept things interesting – brogues with a bright Wellington boot casing, for instance, or micro-printed silk suits. E. Tautz’s Patrick Grant even made a catwalk appearance – although he was somewhat overshadowed by Agi & Sam’s final model, Dumbledore.
MORE LONDON COLLECTIONS: MEN COVERAGE:
Backstage at MAN: Astrid Anderson, Craig Green and Agi & Sam
Backstage at Richard Nicoll
Backstage at Topman Design
Backstage at James Long
Backstage at Christopher Shannon
Backstage at JW Anderson
Backstage at Jonathan Saunders
Backstage at Shaun Samson
Words: Zing Tsjeng
Images: Harry Carr