Your ticket to LCM 2015: E. Tautz.

This week has seen the return of London's top fashion event, known to the world as LCM; London Collection Mens sees the likes of top couture and high street Giants rub shoulders in this awe inspiring spectacle, designed to encapsulate the world in the forthcoming trends of next season.

A favourite of mine at this show is most certainly: E. Tautz. With head designer Patrick Grant at the forefront of the collection we see the reinvention of the Saville a Row cut, expressing a combination of elegant shoulders and a suppressed waistline. From a visual aesthetic standpoint this seems well balance, well proportioned and not fussy when sporting military tradition.

The slightly odd presence of nostalgia in the collection is complimented in generous notation with the usage of models throughout the show. Most looking gaunt and ill with an essence malnutrition and prepubescence. Needless to say this is a choice which works a very sharp advantage, with the cuts complimenting those who haven't over indulged on chocolate over the month. With extra volumes of material on both the torso and thighs, this allows the tapering on the legs and cut of the shoulder to be eccentuated, leaving us not only with a model that looks although his mother has been a little optimistic on his growing potential at school, but what seems to be a new wavelength of trend emerging.

My favourite portion of the collection is the intricate balance between dark tones and ligh hues, with the prominence of the colour palette paying particular attention to the contrast between light and dark. A notion that is continuously recited, and quite often shamelessly, within the fashion industry. However this time, working to the advantage of the designer. Simple cutting a bold accents of colour pattern are at the forefront of the collection, making this overall a visually stunning, hot new look for AW15.

My mind wonders slightly with brands who like to 'experiment' with the daring and bold side of tailoring, quite often having refracting some Frankenstein-esque visualisation of what the designer had originally intended. Brands like Margiela, McQueen, Givenchy and Dsquared are still in need of some serious manufacturing and design skills when it comes to this area. My advice... Don't drop out of class just yet, a little knowledge goes s long way!

Living the life of a Russian dandy.

The world of fashion has been imprinted with the lasting effect of London Fashion week. Two weeks of runway shows, pre collection looks and long parties have left those in the industry, feeling slightly be-lingered. Most of those not in the industry seem to find it hard to distinguish between a solid AW14 outfit, and a pile of crap that just so happened to be clean for the day ahead - so here is a breakdown.

Maison Martin Margiela has been at the forefront of men's couture for decades, and although unbranded and anonymous... Season after season they're the dark horse in idealistic pret a porter. The theme behind the AW14 mainline collection was an ambiguous twist combining the dark side of coal mining in Eastern Europe and the aesthetic of a casual dandy.

The colour palette is representative of the newly introduced 'blue story' inclusive of midnight, bright blue, navy and petrol. Along with this story combines dark Browns and blacks which tie into the classic deconstruction look of the brand.

 

             

Another prominent look has been the combination of traditional  English herringbone tweed, mink and gunner jackets. All ready to wear pieces in the collection are designed to be combined with one another, in order the replicate a layered and deconstructed outfit, representative of the theme behind the collection.

All in all the collection seems bland, boring and overpriced for what you see on the rail, never the less, let us just forget that a true sense of fashion comes from the ability to formulate and style an outfit, not the critique an off the rail piece.

A personal infusion of aesthetic.

A great British designer with a true sense of timeless, English style is often hard to come acros. However Margaret Howell not only proves that British style is still in its prime - she also seamlessly transitions her lines year on year, collection to collection.

After having my personal style compared to her vision of an ever graceful, stylish and just plain gorgeous English gentleman, I was of course feeling good about myself - so decided to do a little segment on her latest campaign, just to air my thoughts on her contemporary pieces.

1976 saw the true birth of the brand as Howell opened her first menswear store in London - followed by a store containing her complete collection in 1980. A true dark horse in the British fashion industry - Howell has seen ups and and downs in the game but always prevails victorious. Her minimalistic style; combining smart tailoring with casual knitwear and essentials was the must have look of the decade, even now men flock to her store in hope of grabbing an identity with the captivating style she so effortlessly churns out.

It has only been recently that the brand has started to adopt more trendy additions to current seasons. Obviously for me this isn't a positive, and as much as I love the brand and the image perceptive of that - I don't see a 70's gentleman walking around in a dock jacket. Hopefully the label doesn't fall into consumer righteousness and stoop to a high street level.

For now let's all appreciate and hope the style will forever remain, as a traditional empathy of the British industry.

Fabulous in human form.

True to her word, 'Trip the Light Fantastic' is a fantastic album, so after accompanying me on my daily morning commute through London, I decided this bitch is just too fabulous. Not only is she known for her eclectic music career, but she is also known throughout the fashion industry, be either for her unique sense of style, her perfect advertising complexion or just a look that would even turn Kate Moss into a green eyed monster.

Asides from her music, Bextor has truly adopted a unique sense of style, (remember this was a decade ago, so those of you dressing like this now, you're not trendy, you're old). Designers love her, photographers love her and so we do, but it's not just because she's drop dead gorgeous, or multi talented... It's because clothes love her. Behind the camera she is dressed in anything, from boxy shapes to low cut and loose vee dresses, she makes the cut. On the other hand, her day to day life suggest that she doesn't spend all of her money in designers boutiques. Broke bitch? I think not, she just knows how to dress amazing on a budget... On second thoughts, maybe she is broke. Hope those album sales are raking in!

No matter what you think of her music or attitude you can certainly agree that clothes love her, perhaps a modelling career? You heard it here first! No matter what I can safely say this girl is fabulous in human form. I mean for fuck sake she even looks amazing getting off a bus, snap a candid of myself and you'll see a sweetly mess, dropping coins and spilling coffee all over people...