“I prefer to call myself pube-king.” That’s one missive from John Waters, the king of bad taste, and official inspiration source for John Long‘s AW13 collection. We review the schlock factor here.

When a show counts gross-out film maestro John Waters as one of its source inspirations, you know you’re in for something special. Like Waters, James Long is one of those designers who isn’t afraid of the unusual – if you needed any doubt, just check out his collection of rubberised pleated trousers.

If you’re a knitwear fan like us, you’ll probably be keeping a lust list of LCM jumpers (Richard Nicoll’s aqua pullover, for instance). So all hail the new king of our list: Long’s flamingo appliqué jumper, its Tiki Tiki Lounge ridiculousness kept in check by the muted military green. For those less willing to wear a full-on caricature of drag icon Divine on their chest, there’s the cropped bombers with their densely woven tapestry knit. Like John Waters, it might all be a little too out there for some – but there’s plenty of pickings for the more discerning fan here.

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 Christopher Shannon
Backstage at JW Anderson
Backstage at Jonathan Saunders
Backstage at Shaun Samson

Text: Zing Tsjeng
Images: Hatnim Lee and Mark Rabadan