LFW AW12 Menswear Day - NEWGEN MEN & Fashion East Installations

GIEVES AND HAWKES

Far from being the stuff old master of Savile Row, the famed London street of tailors, the Gieves and Hawkes AW12 offering was the right side of retro. With the 1960s seen as the decade that saw the rise of menswear and the over all development of good taste, Gives has also added David Hicks as a major inspiration for this coming season. Hicks, a British interior designer, was known for his use of bright colour and juxtaposing antique with modern furniture. 

With all this in mind, British made canvas suits, with widened lapels - a reference to Tommy Nutter, Savile Row tailor to the Swinging Sixties influencers, and the pea coat feature heavily. Cashmere mixed jackets with hoods, sumptuous knits and a host of brightly coloured pocket squares and ties were in abundance. 

Overall. Vibrant, opulent but all round accessable although the cashmere and mink jacketing cloth may take some getting used to on The Row. 

WILLIAM RICHARD GREEN 

William Richard Green is not new to LSoD, having been featured in the focus on the Bright Young Things platform at Selfridges this year. A small but well formed offering for AW12, his inspiration is Millwall football hooligans, Acid House and British military apparel.

CHRISTOPHER O'BRIEN

Christopher O'Brien is a Nottingham born designer who's textured collection is inspired by Francis Bacon, the photography of Tibor & Maira Kalman and experimenting with textiles leading to the crinkle effect. At a retail cost of an average £200-1000, he is not cheap but with an MA from Central St Martins and experience at E. Tautz, you know he cuts the right side of the cloth. 

SEBASTIAN TAREK

Shoe designers do not often make an appearance at LFW exhibitions - I counted 4 this season - but when they are done, they are exceptional. Sebastian Tarek has been making shoes since 2003 and has the skill of any luxury brand. He has worked for two of the last remaining members of the West End Master Boot Makers Society, who have been making shoes for the Royal Court since the 19th century, proving that he is no one trick pony. Citing the inspiration for the AW12 collection as going away to far away places, the journey home and Soviet modernist architecture, I see a sense of the Edwardian in this collection. 

KIT NEALE

Known for his prints, Kit Neale has worked under Gareth Pugh, New York based label Duckie Brown and Tom Scott, plus a long stint at Wonderland Magazine. Giving him great exposure to the creative (UK) and commercial (USA) this capsule offering is vibrant, enjoyable and visionary. Citing the American surrealist painter Ray Smith, Derek Jarman’s Dungeness Garden and his dad’s allotment as influences for AW12, this collection has a lot of traction. 

KIDDA BY CHRISTOPHER SHANNON 

The highly commercial and successful darling of the London Fashion Week Menswear Day is Christopher Shannon. Boasting a host of International stockists, including 10 Corso Como in Korea and Opening Ceremony in Los Angeles and New York, bringing a capsule offering to the masses seemed the next step. Stocked exclusively as ASOS and launched only a few days before Wednesday's installations, the price point is exceptional with t-shits about £50 and sweaters £90. Harking back to previous urban tribe references, these well dressed lads in a bus stop may not be your average trouble makers on a Saturday night.

Overall? Memorable, accessible and just, simply, brilliant. I am logging on to ASOS now.