Last week saw the debut of CSM grads DANSHAN’s first menswear collection in London. As ever, this season of menswear has looked to gender as a major theme, or rather a disregard for it’s archetypes, with the inclusion of womenswear in the shows of many designers we’ve come to think of as strictly menswear only.

DANSHAN honed in on masculinity as their starting point, analysing why the male concept is still the cause of modern strain. One of the designers behind the collection, Dan, was born female but brought up as boy until the age of 12 by her father, clinging onto the preference of males in China. Incidentally, DANSHAN’s collection looks to showcase masculine qualities they believe are ignored but instead, should be celebrated.

Central to the collection is fluid washed silk satins, draped generously over the models bodies forming robes and used as oversized dressing gowns and two-piece pyjama sets, all paired with flesh-toned ballet pumps. The lack of harsh structures and bold lines highlights DANSHAN’s belief that male vulnerability should not only be openly exhibited but praised. The palette of the collection hints further at this intensity of emotion, running through black to white, with rust, burgundy and forest green all sitting between with the light shimmer of satin lifting the earthy tones.