Remain!

Patrick Grant may have taken his bow in a vast t-shirt proclaiming “IN” (Brexit chat manages to infiltrate fashion week queue too, you know), but generally speaking weaving the political or the ideological into his designs just isn’t really part of his ethos. He’s more in the business of making good clothes of a vintage flavour and a certain billowy ease. And that’s exactly what he did this time around. But if Grant’s Saville Row credentials have you expecting fusty, conservative clothing, you might be pleasantly surprised by the gently experimental streak at play here.

Timeless Evolution

Don’t get me wrong, those time worn summer classics were well accounted for: a sharply collared polo shirt with a pleasingly long sleeve; collarless pullover shirts with half plackets in colonial khaki; and, of course, this being a collection by Patrick Grant, high waisted and generously pleated trousers. Not to mention a clutch of tailoring in Tautz’s ever evolving cut – this time jackets were double breasted and short, with low slung buttons and slightly dropped lapels: like one of Armani’s drape suits reinvigorated for our times.`

Tweaking Convention

Among those stalwarts, however, were a few curios. Every model stomped down the catwalk in the white clogs of some Brighton holidaymaker in the 1930s. Then there were the shorts (deeply pleated, duh), which came cheekily abbreviated in length and occasionally in a chambray with contrast stitching or – gasp – in a technical sportswear fabric complete with trackpant toggles and side piping. An over-the-head jacket, meanwhile, with a spread collar and polished poppers along the placket, was probably one of the most attractive blousons of the season with its calm and handsome originality. Rather like the man himself: long may he be a fixture on London’s classic menswear scene.