THE JOURNAL
All photographs by The Urban Spotter
All the best looks from the AW17 shows in the capital.
The atmospheric conditions in the United Kingdom in January are rather miserable, to make a rather extravagant understatement. Not everyone’s natural reaction to these adverse conditions is to throw on all their finest designer pieces and parade around in the damp and the rain – but then again, the capricious, spendthrift folk who comprise the style industry are not everyone. In fact, for such men, the events of this weekend just passed, formerly known as London Fashion Week Men’s, marked merely the first phase of a whole month of trudging along various pavements worldwide to see the latest menswear collections for AW17. And they seemed rather chirpy about the whole thing, despite the rain, which they managed to style out admirably. Scroll down for our five favourite street-style outfits from this weekend (and try not to think about the dry-cleaning bills).
1. SHARP CONTRAST
Style is so often a matter of creating judicious contrasts in what you wear – a case in point being the above outfit, in which a distressed denim jacket vies with a pristine, almost business-like camel coat, with appealing results. The simple colour palette (black, white and brown) plus the sharp, tapered cut of the trousers lend an air of precision, but the clean white sneakers ensure it’s still perfectly suitable for city strolling.
2. TRUE BLUE
You’ve heard of double denim, but what about triple denim? If you count the indigo-dyed tote bag in this picture, you might even call this quadruple denim. Some would say this is a denim too far, but we think this outfit works because of all the subtle different shades of the blue stuff that comprise the jacket (a Junya Watanabe MAN x Levi’s collaboration, if we’re not mistaken) and the jeans, shirt and bag they’re worn with. It’s a symphony in blue, which worked particularly well with the rather cold, dingy tones of the London streets this weekend.
3. THE DRAWN ULTIMATUM
There was a time when drawstring trousers were very much the reserve of toddlers and the elderly. You certainly wouldn’t have caught a svelte twenty-something gentleman wearing them while strolling along The Strand at one in the afternoon. How things have changed. The new breed of drawstring trouser, denoted by its fine wool fabric, has more in common with a pair of suit trousers than the kind of thing you order from the Home Shopping Network (along with that slow-cooker and magnifying glass), and thank goodness for that. In a sleek grey tone, worn with a navy overcoat, T-shirt, shirt and pristine white sneakers, these trousers look impeccable but nonchalant, as if it’s all perfectly easy and natural.
4. SHEAR GENIUS
Look, it’s not just MR PORTER that’s always going on about shearling jackets – people are wearing them, too. We particularly like how this show-goer has contrasted this camel-coloured variation with accessories in charcoal and black, which makes the whole thing feel a little less Top Gun and a little more Brunello Cucinelli. The loosely tied scarf adds a touch of that unfinished, sprezzatura feel that fans of Italian style will be very much aware of.
5. STAND TO ATTENTION
Surprisingly, though fashion designers are often happy to issue style dictates via the clothes they create, they’re often rather lax when it comes to applying such rules to themselves. Yes, you’re more likely to see many of the industry’s finest creatives stepping out from backstage in a pair of black jeans and a T-shirt, or some other humble, understated combination, than the outre designs they promote. Not so with Mr Nigel Cabourn, who it is clear does not produce any clothing that he himself would not wear – meaning he always looks rather marvellous, even when off-duty. Here he is, walking along Covent Garden’s Floral Street, masterfully demonstrating how an older man can wear vintage-inspired tailoring and a camouflage coat to boot. Mr Cabourn, we salute you.
The men featured in this story are not associated with and do not endorse MR PORTER or the products shown
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