Christopher Raeburn is renowned for breathing life back into
surplus military fabrics by creating new modern clothing. For his SS14
collection he also turned to the military for inspiration.
Titled Sandstorm, Raeburn looked at the desert uniforms and camouflage
colours of the Long Range Desert Group, a British Army reconnaissance and
raiding unit in North Africa during WWII.
Surplus military fabrics used included a camouflage bivouac sheet made
from 1950’s original rubberised cotton. Here
shown on a Field jacket with draw cord waist and the sleeves of a bomber jacket.
Camouflage print army mesh lines
and peeps through the lightweight sand coloured parachute jacket.
Whilst a diaphanous camouflage print covers mint coloured army mesh to
create a double layered boxy t-shirt.
Blending old and new, Raeburn also used the high Tec Schoeller fabric -
a four way stretch material which offers thermal insulation but is also
lightweight, soft and highly breathable. The design of the print is a stark
interpretation of satellite desert imagery.
As a Cool Wool regulating the body temperature by releasing excess heat
through its fibres Raeburn chose Merino wool for the softer side to his summer collection.
Main colour palette is neutral shades
of sand and khaki with accents of bright blues and pinks.
The pinks represent the colour
once used on the unit’s Land Rovers and reveal how broad the colour palette had
to be for effective desert camouflage.
Each season Raeburn includes an animal and this season it of course had
to be the desert lizard.
You really have to look closely to realise that the lizard has cleverly
camouflaged itself to form the geometric mosaic pattern on the t-shirts, sweatshirts,
shorts and jackets.
A key look in the tailored range of the collection is the gabardine Mac
coat with the geometric lizard print.
Shoes are the Earthkeepers Adventure Cupsole Chukka by Timberland
Available soon from http://shop.christopherraeburn.co.uk/
Harvey Nichols in London and Hervia Bazaar in Manchester.
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