No one could blame the menswear designer Oliver Spencer of being at all misty-eyed about the past, going by his strong debut show on London Fashion Week's closing day.
Individually many of the pieces he showed could be said to hark back to gentler times. Yes, the tweedy, useful tailoring that his legions of fans so love was - thankfully - still there. But it was all teamed with outof place stuff like camouflage combat trousers and sportswear, so that the overall effect was hard-edged, manly and thoroughly don't-mess-with-me modern, rather than poetic or - heaven forbid - fey.
It helped that the models looked like they really meant business, almost to a man. In fact, a few were so muscular and squat they could have just stepped off the fairground or boxing ring.
The standout pieces for me were the herringbone jackets and trousers, cut much closer to the body than Spencer has done to date, along with a fitted tan-colored shearling gilet.
But Spencer is so in tune with how modern men dress that everything he showed will sell and sell well. And I say that because I really mean it, not because his models spooked me.
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