New men's designer Am Golhar's Autumn/Winter 2010 Collection

Specialising in knitwear, Am Golhar gained her expertise of high quality yarns such as alpaca and cashmere from Central St. Martins where she achieved an honours degree in Textiles.
Here she decided to blend her love of creating art through textures with her passion for fashion and created her own menswear range.

When asked why she decided to design knitwear for men instead of women, Am replied:
“Everybody always asks why menswear” (ooops) “But then why do men design for women? I really love men’s knitwear, it’s so fun and exciting and I have so many ideas. It’s a challenge to always create a textured menswear fabric that does not look feminine. I’ve always fallen in to menswear throughout everything I did, if I was creating a swatch it always seemed so masculine, whether in the colours or textures.”

Knitwear is not only restricted to the tops but knitted cable joggers as well, not the usual pair of trousers a guy wears you might say, but Am is aiming for the guy who loves fashion and knitwear and does not mind being quirky.
In her spring/summer 2011 (more details later) she has designed cooler three quarter length knitted bottoms and states “No one does this so why not? I had to”.

On some of her tops the length is long: “I wanted to produce something oversized. All the vest tops are long and oversized – they are just fun and just comfy”

For her autumn/winter 2010 collection, Am took inspiration from body armour and focused on texture.
The shoulders of the tops are round and large to give a body armoured feel................

...........and the hoods and oversized knits resemble chain mail. Chunky and fine gauges are created by both hand and machine knitting, whilst the ladders and hole stitches were hand knitted.
Yarns used were alpacas/wools and cashmere giving a luxurious feel to these edgy designs.
Colours are muted in greys, browns, green, camel and taupes.

A few leather pieces – jogging pants (with a subtle diamond embossed pattern) and jackets complement the collection.

Am recently showcased her collection at Stitch, London’s dedicated trade show and for more details you can contact Am herself on info@am-golhar.com

Stitch the London menswear trade show looks at Denim

Stitch held the only dedicated menswear trade show in the UK, bringing together an eclectic mix of designers (new and established) under one roof. This year Stitch divided the brands in to 4 key categories:

The first category being DENIM- Jeans brands and those in tune with the spirit of denim.

One of the brands showing denim targeting the fashion conscious man was the British label Full Circle

Launched in 1996 this menswear label offers an extensive ready to wear collection. In 2000 denim was introduced focussing on washes, fabrics and fits. Trousers include the drop crotch look with bulky side pockets and faded denims. Shirts include the classic denim, checks ranging from the bold and large buffalo in red or blue to the more tonal tartan in muted blues and greys.

Not forgetting the hand sketched illustrations of cheetahs, zebras,panthers and monkeys on t-shirts to bring humour when wearing your serious denims.

Ranging from casual to smart, Full Circle is now well established and can be seen in Selfridges, Fenwick, House of Fraser and ASOS.com

Liam Gallagher's label Pretty Green at Stitch

Liam Gallagher's menswear label Pretty Green reflects his own sense of style. Every design is subject to his final approval.

His autumn/winter 2010 collection was displayed at the menswear only trade show Stitch held at Old Billingsgate Market, London.

The label includes 2 collections, the more tailored black label and the more casual green label.

For the black label :Shirts are either granddad style or narrow button down collars, the signature pattern is paisley with the words “pretty” and “green” incorporated in to the design, colours include greens and purples. The jackets are lined with a monochrome paisley pattern. Polo shirt are light weight and T-shirts have tone on tone pretty green logos

The Green label is more colourful with contrasting logos on t-shirts.

The signature colour for the logo is black and green; sometimes the green appears in minute detailing if another colour is used such as in the stitching or a tiny decorative button on one cuff.

More subtle logos can be seen engraved on a few of the coats’ buttons.

Pretty Green have collaborated with Clarkes for a desert boot range in four colours: black, brown. stone and their signature green.

If you like how Liam dresses then you'll love Pretty Green

Men's socks autumn/winter 2010 trend

For autumn/winter 2010, the trend for men's socks is to go bright.

Falke have designed multi coloured wide striped socks in pinks, greens, oranges and purples.
But don’t worry guys, for office attire these stripes also come in light greys and blues.

Burlington have stuck to their classic diamond pattern but have added bright blues and oranges.

Under a sombre suit, a flash of colour will be your little secret.

FatFace autumn/winter 2010 collection

FatFace's AW10 is titled “The Long Way Home” and had two inspirations:

1. A fusion of city and escapism: Here it is all about shedding the 9 to 5 skin.
There is a mix of sport with rugby style long sleeved tops, check shirts ranging from the trendy large buffalo to the tiny gingham check, and quilted gilets.

2. A montage of stylised eccentricity, mix and match of patterns with a hippy spirit.
Here we see worn out vintage look denim jackets, rugged chunky knitwear and t-shirts sporting the Fat Face heritage logo

Main colour palette is red, blues and greys.

This season Fat Face has concentrated on the little details such as leather buttons on their knitwear and feather down in their padded gilets. Because it's the little touches that matter.

Written by www.frumpytofunky.com

John Varvatos autumn/winter 2010 collection

For his AW10 collection, designer John Varvatos was thinking of the man who lives fast, travels intensively and wants to look smart but never uptight. The feel was urban with romance underneath still burning bright.

Main colours : slate grey, concrete grey, pearl grey, wine red, purple and steel blue.
Fabrics : washed and soft in cashmere, velvet and moleskin
Knitwear : from chunky and thick to gauzy and thin and include long cardigan jackets, crewnecks, vests and fingerless gloves.
Leathers : worn in and beaten up suede trenches, lambskin blousons and shearling jackets.

Loving the moleskin dinner jacket with satin lapels and a zip edged fabric rose, matched with a longer length zipped waistcoat with unfinished hem.

Mihrara Yasuhiro autumn/winter 2010 collection

Titled BE ATtitude, the inspiration for the Autumn/Winter 2010 menswear collection came from the 1950’s Beatnik generation (get it BE ATnik??). Mihrara Yasuhiro took the super cool laid back Beatnik iconic styles and symbols and re-created them through sharp precise tailoring, textures and fabrics.

Jacquard woven photographic prints (using a technique developed by Mihara himself) were fantastic to see: showing a creased virtual denim short coat on top of the actual coats; and patched jeans which were actually made of wool but you would swear were denim.

Suits were patched up or the colour unevenly faded creating a well worn look.
Patterns used included narrow vertical stripes, broad horizontal stripes, bold checks and tapestry prints- sometimes all worn together.
Layer on layer mixed waistcoats, long shirts, jumpers, chunky knitted cardigans and jackets

Badges and pins on jacket lapels were created from the interior of typewriters by long term collaborator Husam el Odeh. These embellishments make reference to Alan Ginsberg’s (a leading figure of the Beat generations) obsessive relationship with typewriters and the iconic Beatnik novel “The Naked Lunch”.

Happily this collection managed to look "hip" without the stereotype black turtleneck sweaters and berets which represented the uniform of the beatnik era.

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