London Fashion Week

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London fashion week LONDON in f ’s fnt LFASHION Got a story? Email [e-mail] w te dai Ly o Le: 18-23 FEBRUARY 2011 www.lfwdaily.com PRINCIPAL SPONSOR o ssue 4, L n f n wk / r 2011 y 23 y 2011 in association with e n t A quiet moment backstage yesterday at the Mary Katrantzou A/W 11 catwalk show (see page 5 for catwalk review). Photography by Anna Bauer The biggest trend of them Granny The Chanel effect all? The no-trend trend knows best R Rt by h h b R who thinks hijacking such a style is R R b j R obon any age, anywhere. I welcome it. d by d d h “A Chanel cardigan is all I’ve ever ultimately subversive. The memorial-like installation with Designers may not all be doing the You might have caught sight of wanted to wear,” said Edward The Topshop-venue catwalk was its wilting fowers at Meadham same story, but there’s still enough them out of the corner of your Meadham, backstage at Meadham strewn with car-crash memorials Kirchhof said it all: RIP trends. The to fll pages of magazines, women’s eye, with their prim, buttoned-up Kirchhof. Design partner Benjamin tied to fallen fences, in remembrance days of judging a season by its wardrobes and stores.” layers, fngerless gloves, long dresses Kirchhof is also a fan. “Her clothes of the duo’s past collection. But as identikit, box-ticking “looks” are Central Saint Martins’ Professor and sensible boots, and for a second were revolutionary,” he told us. “The soon as the the army of models came over.

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• Publié par: anna-mode
• Publié le: 04 février 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 267
• Langue: English
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LONDON FASHION WEEK 1823 FEBRUARY 2011

PRINCIPAL SPONSOR

L o n d o n f a s h i o n w e e k

issue n 4, London fashion week autumn/ winter 2011 o

in association with

reporting from fashion’s front Line Got a story? Email [e-mail]

view the daiLy onLine: www.lfwdaily.com

the fashion moment A quiet moment backstage yesterday at the Mary Katrantzou A/W 11 catwalk show (see page 5 for catwalk review). Photography by Anna Bauer THE bIggESt trEND OF tHEm THE CHàNEl EFFEct àll? THE NO-trEND trEND RepoRt by he ath bRown who thinks hijacking such a style is RepoRt by julia Robson any age, anywhere. I welcome it. “A Chanel cardigan is all I’ve ever ultimately subversive. The memorial-like installation with Designers may not all be doing the wanted to wear,” said Edward The Topshop-venue catwalk was its wilting flowers at Meadham same story, but there’s still enough Meadham, backstage at Meadham strewn with car-crash memorials Kirchhoff said it all: RIP trends. The to fill pages of magazines, women’s Kirchhoff. Design partner Benjamin tied to fallen fences, in remembrance days of judging a season by its wardrobes and stores.” Kirchhoff is also a fan. “Her clothes of the duo’s past collection. But as identikit, box-ticking “looks” are Central Saint Martins’ Professor were revolutionary,” he told us. “The soon as the the army of models came over. “I don’t give a s**t about Louise Wilson has the last word. whole look became the bourgeoisie’s marching out, a whole new mood trends,” rasped Benjamin Kirchhoff “Where is fashion heading? If uniform for a while, but now they was set. Cue lace beneath wool skirts post-show, which was yet another I knew that I’d be extremely rich just want a piece of subculture.” and coats (in boyish Coco-esque that demanded to be viewed as a and very thin. The pressures on With an aim to reclaim the true silhouettes). A classy collection that separate entity orbiting Planet young designers today are so spirit of their fashion idol, the design was just that little bit more Fashion. “Trends are invented to intense, it’s a miracle they are still duo hope to re-invent the Coco look Shoreditch than Sloane Square. make women feel bad about this driven and creative.” of old in a fresh London way. “It’s themselves, created solely for the not about trends,” said Meadham,Photography by catwalking.compurpose of business,” he ranted.Photography by catwalking.com Last year, when global-trends forecaster David Wolfe predicted YOur HàNDy àt-à-glàNcE rOuND-up a style “standstill”, it was barely reported. Now it appears to be true. RepoRt by he ath bRown “Trends are exhausted,” said designer Darks are always an A/W staple, dark coLours So many ideas, so many trends and but this season they were sludgy in Christian Blanken, following a not a glaringly obvious theme in tone, which contrasted with flashes collection he explained, was “more are aLways sight. But hey, that’s London for you, of electric colour and accents of of an attitude than one look”. an a /w stapLe, always brimming with creativity. So neon to uplift any outfit. Sportswear “I’d say currently fashion is what were the key looks this week? met haute in a new take on luxe, about maximal minimalism,” said but this season Fabrics were intended to jar with while other dress-down themes were fashion journalist Elizabeth they were one another: rich, shiny velvet given a makeover, with arts-and-crafts Saltzman. “London has always been combined with fine gossamer techniques reworked with finesse. divided about trends. Look at the sLudgy in tone chiffon and heavy leather did not If one overall feel can be found, many villages in this city, east with fLashes look amiss worn with soft knits. It’s it’s refinement. London has finally London being one town, one all about mixed media – and sleeves grown up and realised wacky ideas country, even. My favourite shows of eLectric in contrasting material, which alone cannot a successful business of the week are Erdem, Mary coLour and looked like another garment was make. True creativity reigns. Katrantzou and David Koma. Not being worn beneath. Textured fur one has a similar thing going on and accents of neon next to fine felted wool? No problem. See pics at lfwdaily.com yet all three would suit any person,

wednesday 23 february 2011

GràNNy KNOWS bESt

noted by david hayes You might have caught sight of them out of the corner of your eye, with their prim, buttoned-up layers, fingerless gloves, long dresses and sensible boots, and for a second perhaps thought a coach-load of OAPs had hit fashion week. But if you look a little closer, those loveable-looking “grannies” turn out to be awholelot younger. “For me it’s about anti-sexiness, a backlash against the Wag look,” said 24-year-old Fashion Junior-at- Large George Langford of the emerging little-old-lady trend. “I’m a platinum blonde and don’t want to be obviously sexy, so wearing a grannyish dress makes the perfect contradiction.” The trend has even taken doddery steps on the catwalk this week. “It was all about my granny’s favourite things,” said Henry Holland of his budgies, bingo and crochet collection. Even Christopher Kane opened with crochet, though was quick to quash any thoughts of “old lady” inspiration. If really old is starting to look really new just now, perhaps it’s because the over-60s rarely dress that way any more – and as we all know, rarity in fashionland is always a plus point.

lFw the daily cRedits

Editor cat callendeR Deputy Editor & Chief Sub Editor MaRion jones Art Director & Designer bianca wendt Managing Editor jane Money Deputy Chief Sub Editor Fiona Russell Sub Editors Michelle MaRgheRita, kiRsty hislop, Robin wilks Designers catheRine nippe, eMMa williaMs, jake dow-sMith Reporters david hayes, julia Robson, heath bRown, MaRion huMe, susanna lau Beauty Correspondents annabel Meggeson, jess hogan Guest Contributors linda gRant, eMMa loFstRoM, philippa williaMs Staff Photographers anna baueR, MaRcus dawes, shaniqwa jaRvis Distribution Manager FRan webeR-newth Production Manager caRolyn Mott Blog Reporter eMily FleuRiot Blog Commissioning Editor yasMin coke Editorial Assistants alison potteR, bRooke RutheRFoRd Runners aMy Maloney, giveRney edwaRds Website Designer wolFRaM wiedneR BFC Marketing Manager claRa MeRceR Printed by the guaRdian pRint centRe Published by jenny dyson & cat callendeR at jenny & the cat ltd Thanks to the bRitish Fashion council soMeRset house h&M FoR the stylish suppoRt M&s FoR the Fashionable Food MeRcedes-benz FoR the wit-woo wheels

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Live catwaLk iLLustration at mary katrantzou By Julie Verhoeven

congRats to chRis!

LFW The Daily salutes ane,christopher k winner of the bfc/vogue designer fashion fund 2011

hOW NOt tO màKE à FàSH pràt OF yOurSElF vIà lIvE StrEàm

RepoRt by MaRion huMe There is no such thing as “fashionably late” in the world of live streaming. In ye olde days, the bigger the designer, the later the show (Marc Jacobs was once two hours late in New York). Today, designers flex their muscles by being bang on time. And so, some newly minted catwalk etiquette for the iPad era. Rule 1: Be there (that you are stuck in traffic en route to Burberry means

nothing to those in Dubai or Taipei who have logged on to shop the show). Rule 2: Dress appropriately. If you are wearing an LED- illuminated jacket, either disconnect the power source or turn the thing inside out. Designers don’t want Christmas-tree sparkle distracting from their clothes. Rule 3: If in doubt as to how to behave, copy Julia Restoin Roitfeld, who gets top marks for her immaculate front-row demeanourandher serious shoes.

hIp tO bE DIppED

RepoRt by julia Robson Hoxton and Dalston are being represented in the smarter environs of London’s West End by means of dip-dyed “crusty” hair. Creative crusties sporting the latest fashion prerequisite, a barnet in dip-dyed shades of rinsed-out pink, smudgy lilac or tattoo blue, with dark roots – obviously – include designer Louise Gray, illustrator Julie Verhoeven, stylist Richard Sloan, PR guru Mandi Lennard and, of course, fashion students. “John Vial dyed my hair pink/indigo about six months ago,”

says Verhoeven, adding that her transformation occurred (shock horror!) not East but in Chelsea, at go-to salon Real Hair, whose clients include Alexandra Shulman. Nura Khan, stylist atThe Sunday Times Style, reveals her purple-dyed ends were tended by Dalston dip- dyer-to-the-stars and inventor of the latest crazy colour hairdo, Alex Brownsell. Colourist and session stylist Brownsell is co-founder of Dalston salon, Bleach. Converts are known as “Bleachenders”.

See pics at lfwdaily.com

a càSE OF tHE cObblE WObblES

RepoRt by eMily FleuRiot As London Fashion Week closes, style medics have issued a warning that endemic fashion ailments can no longer be contained, with fashionistas advised to focus on mitigating the symptoms. With catwalk venues favouring ringside benches over chairs, there has been a marked increase in Dowager’s Hump, as the fash pack stoops to note the Autumn/Winter 2011 collections. There are concerns that some are taking the trend for granny chic a little too literally. Crowded venues, due to the

increasing popularity of London shows, have made for sardine- like front rows at catwalk shows, causing thigh-chafing numb pins, and teeth-grinding. Additional staff have been drafted in to assist vertiginous heel wearers afflicted with Cobble Hoof, a seasonal disorder that strikes around the time of fashion week. Symptoms range from the mild “cobble wobble” to the more serious twisted ankle, and are often accompanied by inflamed toes. Those wearing sporting brogues should be unaffected.

the daily shop His ’n’ hers has never been such fun. victoria bain Compiled by , Junior Style Editor, The Daily Telegraph

his

cuffLinks, £36 Brink (farfetch.com)

t-shirt, £40 Bstore (asos.com)

rucksack, £32 Topman (topman.com)

“festivaL waLLabee” shoes, £75 Clarks Originals Pop-Up Store (0844 477 7744)

heRs

shopper, £140 Natthakur London (notonthehighstreet.com)

cardigan, £29.90 Mango (mango.com)

beLt, £49 Toast (toast.co.uk)

trench, £275 Aquascutum (brandalley.co.uk)

sandaLs, £29.99 River Island (020 8991 4904)

4 news

the beauty spot

The search for imperfection

RepoRt by annabel Meggeson Create a perfect look. Now undo it, but just a little. That’s the latest mood to emerge backstage this week. It was a counterpoint to the couture- effect polish of the collections. Raw, deconstructed and imperfect were the watchwords of this approach, with make-up artists and hair stylists faux-sabotaging done-up looks. At Julien Macdonald, make-up artist James Kaliardos was inspired by supermodel Abbey Lee Kershaw, who came in to the test with half her make-up scrubbed off from an earlier show. Kaliardos painstakingly

applied layers of lipstick and lip liner, only to smudge it afterwards. “Normally, we’re polishing and blending,” he said. “This time, we wanted the make-up to have a looser feel. It’s easier, fresher and sexier.” If you prefer, you could stop before you finish. “I was going to apply the finishing touches during the line-up,” said Florrie White, of the etched-on lips and imprecise, multicoloured dots she painted on models’ faces at Meadham Kirchhoff (above). “But then I realised I didn’t want them to be perfect. I let the models go and eat, so the make-up

wasn’t so precise. It’s difficult, because we’re trained to do things perfectly,” she added. It was a similar story with hair backstage at Emilio de la Morena, as undone ponytails portrayed a dishevelled romance that injected modernity to the Edwardian-inspired collection. Panos Papandrianos, hair stylist at the show, released wisps of hair from the ponytail band for a mussed-up look. “We wanted to reference the clothes, while also projecting an edge.”

Photography by Anna Bauer

a gOOD làSHINg

RepoRt by jessica hogan After two seasons on the back burner, defined lashes have made a storming comeback for Autumn/ Winter 2011. And about time, too. At Julien Macdonald, make-up maestro James Kaliardos insisted, “No girl is complete without mascara; eyes look naked without it.” So how has it been updated? Lower lashes are being left clean while the top row is loaded to the max for a modern effect. At Holly Fulton, Andrew Gallimore even used a small make-up brush to backcomb lashes and shove

London fashion week the daiLy Wednesday 23 February 2011

mascara into the roots, while Lucia Pieroni coated “every single lash” at Aquascutum for a voluminous, fanned-out style (right). Amanda Wakeley’s make-up artist Sharon Dowsett actually let each girl apply her mascara herself because, as she said, “you get more on that way.” After all, she added, “We switch our outfits seasonally and it’s important to do the same thing with your face. Now that lashes have made a comeback, I have a whole wardrobe of mascara.” Load up now.

Photography by Anna Bauer

www.lfwdaily.com

MaRios schwab Fashion’s fearlessness has passed across every known frontier. Is there anything it won’t appropriate from the street? We are long used to bondage and fetish, and now… the puffa jacket, that garment beloved by people who say they never pay any attention to fashion. Marios Schwab had elements of all of them. His high-necked, long-sleeved austere wool dresses, banded or sleeved in leather, discreet studs and outsize pearls, were the epitome of pared-down elegance, worn with wrist-length gloves. There is a mood in fashion at the moment that suits our times of economic uncertainty. It’s the exact opposite of vulnerability and fragility; it’s toughness and strength. Schwab’s colours were strong (mulberry, acid green) and his puffa jackets – also seen in New York last week and at Aquascutum later in the day – may be a response to two very cold winters, or a need for protection. The utilitarian nature of the puffa was offset with chiffon scarves, belts and even a belted puffa coat with a skater skirt. Next, the fashion slanket.

suSIE StylES It

dàrK StàrS, SHININg brIgHt

RepoRt by susanna l au As the womenswear shows wind down, it was time to take a breather today by wandering round the eerily lit Freemasons Hall to see Maria Francesca Pepe’s new collection, themed around amulets and sacred objects. Continuing to focus on statement accessories, she has come up with studded headpieces and masks encrusted with crystals and pearls. I particularly love the rings and safety pins hung with alphabet

CàtWàlK HIgHlIgHtS Report by Linda grant , Novelist; lindagrant.co.uk Photography by catwalking.com

MaRy katRantzou If you are on your third or fourth Mary Katrantzou show, you might have forgotten the impact of seeing her for the first time, as I did yesterday morning. Trends, wearable, sculptural, draped – none of the usual fashion words apply to an experience more like spending 15 intense minutes exposed to lavish beauty. Everything was on those fabrics: florals, goldfish, lotus buds. These were dresses as Fabergé eggs – decorative three- dimensional objects that stood away from the body in peplums, cocoon-shapes or a skirt as an open vase delicately holding the abdomen. A sequined skirt was covered with roses, as if the contents of the room had flown to attach themselves to the body. Looking at great beauty on the catwalk, you inevitably have to ask the perennial “wearable” question. But when a woman walks into a room in a Mary Katrantzou dress, she is making a present to everyone in that room, for fashion is a gift not just to the wearer but the visual aesthetic of our surroundings.

charms for people to spell out whatever they wish. Would “M F P ROX” hanging off my shirt lapel be an overkill? Nah… I also stopped by Alex Noble’s debut presentation in the crypt at St-Martin-in-the-fields, where anatomy-inspired couture pieces were suspended on rails for all to see clearly the intricate lacework and corsetry that the set/costume designer and artist has created. The best comes to those who wait, and Thomas Tait’s eagerly anticipated sophomore collection concluded a stellar week of LFW womenswear. Sponsored by NEWGEN this season, Tait chose a fairly low-key presentation for his

RepoRt FRoM the e xhibition by susanna l au Irwin & Jordan does the sort of clothes that fashion people love to airily declare as “effortless” and “easy”. What this dress is, though, is simple with something special radiating from the shimmery nude lamé front. I decided to mess it up a bit with some texture underneath, courtesy of Bebaroque’s ribbon- embroidered mesh dress – part of the Scottish label’s bodywear line, which is burgeoning alongside its well-known hosiery collection. Mawi keeps growing its jewellery range, and this rose-gold-plated cuff encrusted with jewels is just the thing to add weight to the grey jersey sleeves of the Irwin & Jordan dress. I don’t need to tell anyone that Linda Farrow does good sunnies, and these snakeskin-effect shades are just the ticket to add yet more texture to this outfit.

Irwin & Jordan dress, L2 BFC/Elle Talent Launch Pad; Bebaroque dress, L1; Mawi cuff, Ground Floor; Linda Farrow sunglasses, Ground Floor, all at the Exhibition, Embankment Galleries, Somerset House. Shoes, Susanna’s own Photography by Shaniqwa Jarvis

collection, which had no particular theme but focused on superbly crafted coats, trousers, skirts and shirts in a palette of cream and navy. There was a majestic fluidity to pieces such as the long skirt split up the front, with volume created by two arched peaks at the hips, like origami folds. It’s an assured collection from Tait, who made his debut last season, and on the back of him winning the Dorchester Collection Fashion Prize, we’re sure to see more of him. In the meantime, I’m already in A/W 11, picturing myself wrapped up in one of his inky navy cashmere coats – the perfect winter cocoon.

Stylebubble.co.uk

eMilio de la MoRena As a woman of a certain age, my heart leaps when I see a sleeve. For years they have been out of fashion, as a generation of gym-toned triceps were shown off. Which is a shame, because the whole of fashion history has been that of changing sleeve trends: the floor-sweeping medieval trains you could hide a lapdog in; the leg-o’- mutton sleeves of the Victorian era. Emilio de la Morena’s lean, normally body-con silhouette was transformed into a modern-day version of Edwardian dress using crochet, high-necked pin-tucked blouses and knee-length pencil skirts. But the most exciting aspect of his look was his attention to sleeves. They appeared quilted on a Lurex wool skirt suit, on dresses with flattering panelling, and the message was that of the modern adult. The effect might have been too demure had it not been for the red satin high heels by Charlotte Olympia, which seemed to be a reference to the underwear that might lie beneath – showing that what you cover up can be the sexiest thing of all.

 news 5

siMone Rocha For young designers, mash-up is not a state of mind but the state of how you live. There’s no longer such a thing as purity of form, we live in a world where everything is available simultaneously to be mixed. It’s no longer a matter of borrowing, copying or even a homage. Everything is equal – what you made, what someone else made. The effect can sometimes be incoherence, or it can show how things that don’t obviously belong together can, in a new juxtaposition, say something original. Simone Rocha’s collection for Fashion East aims for the biggest mash-up of all, between masculinity and femininity, with mixed fabrics and surfaces, cable knit, pony skin, shearling, gingham and tulle. Severe tailoring in black wool sat above tulle shorts and panels of teddy-bear faux fur and even fur sleeves. At a couple of points she sent out dresses that looked as if they had been designed for Ms Flintstone. The shoes were Perspex-heeled brogues, both masculine and feminine at the same time, odd and interesting.

with tiffany & co.

tiffany.co.uk

bespoke feature

Mood board for Patrick Grant’s E Tautz salon show, which is at 1.45pm in WC2

Dr Noki’s NHS is showing as part of NEWGEN MEN

Lou Dalton is showing as part of NEWGEN MEN

bespoke feature

Words by gLenn waLdron

ell, I think men are fed up with looking schleppy,” declares Philip Start, co- owner of Shoreditch’s ever-popular Start boutique. “It’s definitely time to get rid of all that grubby old casualwear and smarten up.” Making his London Fashion Week presentation debut today (11am, WC2) with Mr Start, a collection of modern, architecturally inspired tailoring, perhaps it’s no surprise that Start is urging British males to ditch the denim in favour of a more refined look. However, he is hardly alone in his endeavours – this season’s Menswear Day is dominated by designers offering a more grown-up approach to man style. To kick off the proceedings, last night saw one of the week’s big homecomings, with the Dunhill label returning to London Fashion Week (sansCreative Director Kim Jones) and showing an intimate, salon-style presentation at Bourdon House, its 18th-century Mayfair home. Maintaining an emphasis on old-school luxury, the gentlemen’s- club mood certainly extended to the clothes, which included cashmere overcoats and mohair blazers. Among the 30-odd brands presenting today, the grown-up theme continues: Topman Design has its second standalone show (10.15am, WC2), while Patrick Grant’s award-winning E Tautz

Mood board and look by Agi&Sam, whose collection is showing from 1 to 5pm in WC2

A look from the new Rake collection, which will be presented at 6.30pm in W1

Horace’s presentation is at 1.30pm in WC2

Illustrations for Hardy Amies, whose salon show is at 6.30pm in W1

“it’s definiteLy time to get rid of aLL that grubby oLd casuaLwear and smarten up” phiLip start based designer Martine Rose, whose own grown-up take on streetwear was a big hit last season. “I admire Martine’s refined aesthetic and attention to detail,” says Fashion East’s Lulu Kennedy. “Her stunning installation at the last Fashion Week was put together with sensitivity and intelligence.” Craig Green is yet another sophisticated streetwear talent to watch. Following a collaboration between Bally and Central Saint Martins (3pm, W1), the BA student

“i made sure that everything in here is a piece of cLothing that i wouLd want to wear”

it’S ok tO bE fiNE àND DàNDy

set about reversing the Norton & Sons fortunes with impressive gusto. It was only when summer hit that his confidence began to ebb somewhat. “Summer on Savile Row is always a strange time, because all your core customers are away,” he explains. “So you make all this stuff and nobody comes to collect it and nobody comes to order. You think, ‘Christ, when’s the money coming in?’ and the bank account goes down to nothing. The first few summers were really, really hairy for us and there were quite a few nail- biting moments when I thought we were done for.” It was also around this period that the financial downturn really began to take hold, but in many ways

was selected to create a capsule collection for the Swiss brand, to be rolled out across Bally stores this Autumn/Winter. Showing alongside Louise Gray and this season’s NEWGEN MEN designer Christopher Raeburn (1 to 5pm, WC2), today also sees the return of the conceptual Noki (Dr Noki’s NHS), launching his new menswear line, Pour Dandy. Famed for his radical, cut-up approach to fashion (expect a mask or two), surely his style hasn’t grown up at all? “Actually, it has,” he says. “It’s for all those young protesters you see in the streets. These are clothes for smartening up the new anarchist.” If all this sounds a little too mature for your liking, there’s always Carri Mundane’s Cassette Playa label. Making her first standalone show at London Fashion Week today (3.15pm, WC2), after many MAN appearances, Mundane’s collection will be “quite gory and showy,” says the designer. “It’s called Carnie Cannibal Palace and is based on Coney Island freak shows and modern-day theme parks.” Alongside a collaboration with British heritage label Lavenham, Mundane says she has tried to introduce more tailoring this time. “Has my style matured a little? I suppose it has,” she says, before pausing. “Actually, what am I saying? It’s more delinquent than ever!”

www.lfwdaily.com

Designers have one clear message for men this Man Day: grow up! Bin the trackpants and don a dapper cloth and sporty tailored cut. There’s even a smart look for all the new young anarchists out there. Join the revolution

Words by gLenn waLdron

“i wouLdn’t be surprised if you see more british brands bringing their stuff back to the uk soon”

of them this season and, hopefully, four next season.” For his part, Grant makes a distinction between his work at Norton’s and at Tautz. “Down the road [at Norton’s], I’m the salesman,” he says, sitting in the Savile Row basement studio of E Tautz. “Here, I set the creative direction for the season. I decide all the cloth choices. I don’t design all the pieces, but I make sure everything is a piece of clothing I would want to wear.” With a stress on reinterpreted classics, E Tautz shuns radical style gestures in favour of solid, wearable men’s staples, all sourced from the most prestigious British suppliers. “We want people to return to these clothes for 10, 20 years,” he says. “There’s something lovely about wearing a piece of clothing that’s been passed down through a family.” Grant himself is unapologetic over the brand’s higher price points (suits start at £1,500, cashmere jumpers at £495). “Everything is made using the most painstaking processes and that has a cost,” he says. “Our knitwear yarn, for example, comes from Todd & Duncan in Kinross, who have been making yarn in the same way on the same site for centuries. We’re not big fans of fast fashion.” Indeed, while many of Tautz’s contemporaries

are now looking abroad for the manufacture of their “quintessentially British” brands, Grant is sticking to his guns. “At this point, we feel no pressure,” he says. “If we were greedy, we could move our shirt- making to Italy or Portugal or wherever. But we are proud that every single piece in the collection is made in the UK. And actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if you see a lot more British brands bringing their stuff back into the UK soon, because their customers are increasingly asking questions about where things come from.” With a distinctly mid-Seventies vibe coming through in the layered polo-neck-and-shirt combinations, short blouson jackets and – as one might expect – impeccably cut trousers, the Autumn/ Winter 2011 collection Grant will unveil today at his Royal Opera House presentation also takes inspiration from an emphatically British source. “The colour palette is informed by an amazing trip I took in the autumn to the Isle of Mull in the Inner Hebrides,” he says. “All these incredibly rich colours of burnt seaweed and lichen, Atlantic oaks and old trawlers…” Alongside rainwear made exclusively by Macintosh, the collection also sees the resurrection of the hand- applied heraldic crests used in the debut Tautz collection. “We’ve created simple pieces you should be able to go back to for years and years,” he says. So what of the future? Having worked “something like 100 hours” over the past week, there’s no rest for E Tautz’s Creative Director or his staff. With the brand recently expanding its team of designers, Grant has big ambitions. “In its heyday, E Tautz had its own store on Oxford Street, and in 10 years’ time we’d love to have our own House of Tautz, with workshops, where we do all our own tailoring and shirt-making in-house.” There won’t be an E Tautz denim line coming any time soon, but things are clearly heading in the right direction. “I want everything I’m doing to be successful, but I’m content with where I am right now,” Grant says. “We’ve come a long way in a short space of time and if we carry on doing what we’re doing, we should be all right. Fingers crossed.”

label (see interview to your right!) unveils a Scottish island-influenced salon show (1.45pm, WC2), and the NEWGEN-sponsored JW Anderson’s collection (9am, WC2) is inspired – along with “Smiths fans andLost in Translation” – by country estates. Over at MAN (12.30pm, WC2), and showing alongside Central Saint Martins graduate Felipé Rojas Llanos and Thom Murphy’s New Power Studio, will be east London-

MàN àt WOrK Patrick Grant is the sharp-suited brains behind the revival of Savile Row tailor Norton & Sons’ sporty little brother, E Tautz. And the all-British heritage brand is fast finding favour with modern gentlemen everywhere

James Long is showing as part of NEWGEN MEN

Illustration for a Bally shoe, designed in collaboration with Central Saint Martins student Craig Green

 designer profiLe 7

Photography by shaniqwa jarvis

Astrid Andersen is showing with Fashion East Men

fter an hour or so in his company, I finally discover Patrick Grant’s dirty little secret. “Actually, I do own a pair of jeans,” he says, sheepishly. “Maybe even a couple.” Coming from anyone else, such a statement would hardly register. But coming from the sharpest guv’nor on Savile Row and the 14th Most Stylish Man In Britain (according toGQ), it feels like something of a confession. Sensing this, the dapper 39 year old embarks on a spot of damage limitation (“I only wear them for gardening, honest!”), but it’s all too little, too late. The cat’s out of the bag: Patrick Grant is a closet jeans wearer. Denim-based revelations notwithstanding, today Grant is on fine form – and with good reason. Norton & Sons, the bespoke Savile Row tailor’s he bought and set about reviving six years ago, is now turning a healthy profit, while its sportier ready-to-wear line, E Tautz, is in expansion mode. In December, Grant was also nominated for Menswear Designer 2010 at the British Fashion Awards, alongside the hallowed likes of Paul Smith, Christopher Bailey and Margaret Howell. To his great astonishment, he won. Oh, and then there’s the not-insignificant matter of being namedGrazia’s new Fashion Crush. “You should have seen the smile on his face that day,” says his PR, Emma, making him blush even more. “Obviously I don’t mind the attention when it’s so complimentary,” Grant says, chuckling. “But only when it helps the business. We’ve always been really motivated, but the [Menswear] award has brought us opportunities we’d never considered before.” The whirlwind of press coverage following the award also saw Grant ruffling a few Middle England feathers, after declaring in one newspaper that British men should smarten up their act. “I do have a strong opinion on things and don’t mind expressing it,” he says. “We’re gonna be out there saying, ‘Buy more tailoring,’ and might do it in a way that is a bit polemical and could wind people up. But anyone who looks at what we do should understand where we’re coming from.” How he came to be one of the key figures of Savile Row’s recent renaissance surely deserves a recap. Raised in Edinburgh, Grant took a degree in Material Science at Leeds University before working in a series of lucrative marketing jobs throughout his twenties and early thirties. In spring 2004, while studying for an MBA at Oxford, Grant famously saw an ad posted in theFinancial Timesfor the sale of Norton & Sons, an esteemed yet ailing 19th-century tailoring house, formerly beloved of Emperor Wilhelm of Prussia and Winston Churchill. With no direct experience of tailoring or indeed the fashion industry (“but an enormous love of old British brands”), Grant decided to attempt to buy the house. To most people, such a move would seem like an act of serious bravery (or indeed lunacy). The unflappable Mr Grant seems to have taken it all in his stride. “Actually, it didn’t feel brave or crazy at all,” says the designer, who currently lives on an island on the River Lea in east London. “Although my mother did think it was a stupid idea, and why was I not leaving Oxford and taking a job that would pay me a quarter of a million pounds a year, etc etc, it felt entirely natural at the time.” Having a long-time passion for all things sartorial (he confesses he used to think nothing of spending a couple of thousand pounds a month on his wardrobe), Grant decided to analyse the successful reinvention of English brands, such as Burberry and Barbour, for his degree dissertation and apply that knowledge to relaunch Norton & Sons. “The business was on its last legs and it seemed to me terribly sad,” he says. “But it also seemed that, despite my having no knowledge of tailoring, what it needed was a bit of energy and refocus. It didn’t feel like a huge stretch.” Having bought the Savile Row tailors for an undisclosed, yet not especially exorbitant, figure (“You could pay more for a car,” he observes), Grant

E Tautz’s A/W 11 salon show starts at 1.45pm today in WC2. Stockists: etautz.com, Harrods, Matches, mrporter.com, Selfridges

Grant’s timing was spot on – his arrival in Savile Row chimed perfectly with a renewed interested in the tradition and craft of tailoring and with an all-round sharpening up of menswear. “It took two years to get Norton’s moving again,” says Grant. “Then the business grew rapidly, even through the recession.” As well as collaborating with London design talent (Kim Jones, Giles Deacon, Richard Nicoll and Christopher Kane), 2009 saw Grant turning his hand to ready-to-wear with the relaunch of the E Tautz line. A long-forgotten English brand famed for its hunting breeches, the Norton’s-owned subsidiary had lain dormant for years and was ripe for renewal. For Grant, a self-confessed “sports obsessive” who once represented Scotland at junior-level rugby, this sportier brand also had a strong appeal. “We started it on a tailor’s board at the back of Norton’s,” he recalls. “I had a very simple plan when we started. I wanted to sell to the best stores in a dozen cities in the world. I had a target list of six stores and we will be in three

Marwood’s man accessories, showing as part of NEWGEN MEN & Fashion East Men, 1 to 5pm in WC2

Katie Eary’s presentation is from 2 to 4pm in WC2

Omar Kashoura’s presentation is at 11.45am in WC2