GREETED by the sound of a grand piano playing in a dimly lit archaic ballroom, for AW20, Yorkshire-born fashion designer Edward Crutchley held his London Fashion Week Mens runway show in Skinners Hall. Yet again showing womenswear alongside menswear, this season Crutchley’s collection was titled Glam Epoch.
The show opened with a model dressed in gathered plaid tailoring, worn with a psychedelic Hawaiian printed shirt. Crutchley’s now renowned emblem appeared gilded and dangled from the models septum. The same logo embossed onto the back of the shows opulent invitation. Styled in Louis XIV-inspired wigs, aptly working in harmony with the 17th century setting, each look with an identity of its own.
A clash of colour, print, texture and silhouette the collection drew inspiration from across the globe. Graphic silk shirts and cable knits plaited in Scotland, British merino wool and mohair tailoring, Barong Tagalog shirts derived from the Philippines and Namibian Swakara crafted into coats and jackets.
Models wore Fez hats, designed by Stephen Jones and adorned with intricate Japanese inspired embroidery, further adding to the overall sense of artistic exchange. Others wore cow-horn shaped headpieces, swathed in layers of multi-coloured ribbon, drawn from the hats worn by the Herero people of Namibia.
Crutchley’s AW20 runway show at London Fashion Weeks Mens yet again proved his ability to defy the boundaries of taste and amplified his continued attention to material excess. Proposing a convincing pitch for fashion without borders at a time of global uncertainly.
by Augustine Hammond