Matalan Autumn Winter 2010 Menswear Collection

Matalan celebrates their 25th anniversary this year and the AW10 collections show that their growth has not just been in the number of stores, but also in design ideas. Read on and make up your own mind:

The main accent colour covering the whole brands this season is purple.

With Wolsey, Matalan’s premium casual collection, purple is joined with pinks and teals. Tops include wool mix rugby tops, cotton check shirts and polo shirts. This line is aimed at the older man who prefers smart casual. The key jacket is a black wool mix pea coat.

The “Easy” brand concentrates on layered basics mixed with fashion pieces of the season. This season sees the trendy buffalo check in their casual shirts, camouflage print cargo trousers as well as utility fit jeans, chunky knits and the navy wool military jacket.

Lee Cooper goes for the hooded parka, skull hoody cardigan and hooded faux leather jacket whilst keeping the college boy feel with appliqué t-shirts, short sleeve badge check shirts and rip and repair jeans.

D73 (Denim73) has a more quirky style and bolder colours of blue and red. Here we see buffalo check shirts, printed t-shirts and hoodies, with key pieces of hooded padded gilet and crinkle faux leather jacket. Jeans are loose utility, cargo pocket or rip and repair styles.

24:7 by Jeff Banks is a smart casual urban look with a colour palette of black, red and dark grey along with the purple. Shirts are floral print, knits are either long chunky cable or fine cardigans and outerwear includes a faux leather bomber jacket and a long grey wool duffle coat. Jeans are leather trim.

And for the city gent, Taylor & Wright give a selection of plums and pinks bold stripe, irregular stripe and flocked patterned shirts to team with their slim fitting shiny charcoal, brown tweed and navy wool blend suits. 3 piece suits are introduced for the “dapper” look.

Matalan combine very affordable price tags with well made fashionable clothes – a combination that hopefully will not go out of style.

Prophetik at London Fashion Week

Tennessee based Prophetik kicked off the LFW catwalk shows at Vauxhall Fashion Scout, Freemason’s Hall, Covent Garden. And what a kick off!!!

At the beginning we are lulled in to thinking of a carefree southern country theme when violinist Anna Cwad starts playing toe tapping music, with ex-Paramore Jason Bynum joining her on guitar. Then the band Man Raze shatters this illusion with their fusion of punk and pop rock. Not surprising as their drummer is ex-Sex Pistols Paul Cook and their vocals/lead guitar is ex-Def Leppard Phil Collen. And let’s not forget their bass guitarist Simon Laffy from Brit glam rock act band Girl.

With Man Raze raising the tempo, the show began for ethical designer Jeff Garner’s Autumn winter 2010 collection titled “Southern Shores”. His inspiration came from the American Civil War and sees hope and romance alongside strife and uncertainty.

Main colour palette in true Civil War colours were blues, greys with a touch of red.

The menswear saw layering and serious looking ¾ length coats, waistcoats, vintage buttons, riding boots and peace silk neckties.
Garner’s collection is proof that no fashion look has to be harmed in the making of ethical clothing.

Prophetik is a sustainable men’s and womenswear label using environmentally friendly materials such as organic cottons, hemp, flax, Greenspun (recycled bottles) and organic pigment dyes. One of their signature dresses “the Elle” is made from silk and organic cotton that elephants have painted in collaboration with the AEACP (Asian Elephant Art Conservation Project), which helps to raise funds for an elephant sanctuary in Thailand.”

Written by www.frumpytofunky.com

Hand-Crafted Menswear by Brian Clarke

Brian Clarke admits fashion is in his blood. As a teenager he loved to interpret street fashion and create his own style. The next obvious step was to take this creativity and learn how to make his own designs. So Brian registered at the London College of Fashion to study how to design light clothing and pattern cutting. After completing his studies, Brian worked at Berman’s & Nathan’s theatrical costumiers, honing his bespoke tailoring skills. Here he worked on costumes for Colditz, Superman and all the BBC series, but promises his own collections will not include wearing underpants over tights! However, it was when he worked as assistant designer/pattern cutter for Katherine Hamnett that a passion for fashion really got to him.

After several years of hands-on experience, Brian eventually decided to go it alone. His first independent forays found him styling and designing clothes for pop videos for numerous bands- Jackie Graham, David Grant, Imagination and Spandau ballet to name a few. He also set up a pattern cutting, sample making and small production service for emerging designer labels which included Stephen Linard, Duffer of St. George, John Giuliano, Joe Casely Hayford and Nigel Hall. But an eye for a strong commercial presence was to reveal bigger ambitions. Brian soon had his own flourishing line, stocking many of the capital’s trendier boutiques. It was then he decided to open his eponymous store in London’s Soho stocking his own name label.

The store was more than just a shop; it rapidly became a social institution for slick dressers from the worlds of film, music, art and the city of all whom were looking for the inimitable BC style. It was an instant winner and encouraged others to tap into Brian’s design talents. Deals from Japan notably Dep International - soon followed. This is when Brian had to make an agonising choice of keeping his store open or go to Japan and accept the deal to work for one of the leading young fashion companies there. Brian decided to take the offer in Japan where he could accrue more experience in fashion design. But he never gave up the idea of continuing with a London store and now he’s back after five years ready to open his new store in the West End early in the New Year. In some ways he’s come full circle, employing the artistry of the bespoke skills he learnt at the beginning in his stylish and subtle tailoring. It’s what he does best, and his return to fashion is not a moment too soon

For his spring/summer 2010 collection, Brian has used mainly crisp cotton and linen in cool blues, stone and white. For his dark dinner suit he has used a blend of wool and silk, and for the guys who don’t do plain – a broqueted jacket in black.

Brian has applied to show his new collection at next year’s London Fashion Week in February, so don’t forget to visit him there. Until his store opens, you can buy by contacting Brian via his website: www.brianclarkeclothing.com

Written by www.frumpytofunky.com