It’s only Richard Nicoll‘s second ever menswear outing – not that it shows. Backstage, the designer’s slick and cool simplicity was on full display, making it one of our standout shows of the day.

Some designers struggle to keep their voice in the transition between womenswear to menswear (and vice versa). Richard Nicoll, thankfully, is not one of those designers. The precision and firm grasp of technique that he brings to womenswear was fully applied to his AW13 menswear show to effortlessly slick effect.

The show notes  promised a “post-punk no-wave rebellion” with “a mix of industrial, classical essentials inspired by Brutalist architecture”. In translation, that meant tone-on-tone wool suiting, neutral blues and industrial greys, super-soft knits and abstract splatter prints – you could imagine all of it flying off the shelves. There were subtle nods to streetwear: fishermen beanies sat high on models’ heads, while discreet skater chains adorned trouser pockets. Never overlaboured and never extravagant: Nicoll down to a tee.

MORE LONDON COLLECTIONS: MEN COVERAGE
Backstage at MAN: Astrid Anderson, Craig Green and Agi & Sam
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: Hatnim Lee