Step Into My Office

If man of the moment, Jeremy Corbyn’s look is all very Vetements – as Vogue recently proclaimed – the Xander Zhou man is somewhere north of this, repping “security chic”, if you will, for SS18. From the show notes labelled “Xander Zhou Office Guidelines and Updates” (think subheadings such as “Personal Appearance Protocol” and “Posture and Timed Breaks”) to the physical show setting (masterminded by production designer Thomas Petherick) and the clothes themselves – in-ear headsets too – yesterday’s display was a lesson in how to stick to a theme and excel.

Space On The Mind

Inhabiting no ordinary office, naturally, Zhou’s boys found themselves in the Supernatural, Extraterrestrial & Co, meaning the uniform presented was no traditional shirt and tie vibe, despite the latter being a prominent fixture throughout. Instead, shirts had abstract cut outs highlighting bare flesh, black rubber pouch like sections were fixed to outerwear, and full glitter looks made a strong but subtle mark towards the line-up’s end. Elsewhere batik dyed pieces neighboured bold block shades of blue and green, while the core silhouette championed cropped jackets, tight waists and skinny flared legs.

Tale of Two

South of said belted waists – and further below even the white museum vibe gloves that accompanied several sleeve ends – the designer showcased two key footwear styles that both, on their own terms, contributed to a clean form. First up, Zhou referenced the infamous Jeans and Sheux aesthetic, emphasising the point of the loafer’s toe with extra sole; while what followed had a hint of Prada Sport, with black, grey and cream leather boots of a curved nature featuring a soft rubber sole. Slightly futuristic, a bit hospital worker, very fashion.