Streetwear gets tougher at London men's fashion week

Christopher Shannon’s show featuresr shredded flags on faces, boxy denim jackets and downbeat brand parodies

Backstage after his show at men’s fashion week in London on Saturday, Christopher Shannon did not mince his words. “I wanted it to feel inclusive,” he said of his collection, “but also a tiny bit aggressive, and a bit pissed off.”

Shannon is a highlight of London’s men’s shows. He has a renowned ability to channel the zeitgeist’s chatter into wearable streetwear staples, and this time the seismic shifts of the last six months – Brexit, specifically – led to a tougher mood.

Models wore shredded flags on their faces, including that of the European Union. The clothes were harder than usual: boxy denim jackets, tracksuits with poppers, neon hoodies and combat trousers. Shannon is known as a master of brand parodies, and these were downbeat this season. A version of Timberland’s logo read “Tumbleweed”, while Boss International became “Loss International”.

“I’m not in the mood to be a fantasist,” said Shannon. “All I have seen is builders and couriers, so the clothes I see are hoodies and trackies and worn-out neons. Everything is a staple … I’m interested in clothes and not drama.”

This gritty take on streetwear is a wider trend across the collections at fashion week. Designers including Astrid Andersen, Cottweiler and Craig Green are exploring similar territory. Rob Nowill, senior menswear editor at Style.com, said authenticity was what made it work.

“Designers like Astrid Andersen and Cottweiler are delving into very specific memories of the clubs, music videos and subcultures,” he said. “It comes from a real understanding of that world – a lot more nuanced than just chucking a puffa jacket and a hoodie down the catwalk and inflating the price.”

Shayne Oliver is also a big name in this movement with authentic experience at its heart. The New York-based designer is behind Hood By Air, the label worn by Rihanna, Drake and Kendrick Lamar. In an interview with the New Yorker published in September, he talked about the idea of the “thug silhouette” with an exaggeratedly long T-shirt worn with oversized trousers.

It’s a look partly based on men Oliver saw on the street and the subway as a young teenager in New York, when men wore classic streetwear labels such as Fubu. Oliver spoke of his distaste for brands adapting streetwear into a high-fashion context, saying the interpretation was typically “disconnected from the real masculinity” of street culture.

Oliver contrasts the tough aesthetic with a gender fluidity inspired by his involvement in the gay clubbing scene in the city. Models in the Hood By Air show might wear tracksuits, but they combine them with high heels and veils over faces.

Andersen said this was crucial to the new take on streetwear. She said: “It only works if it is juxtaposed with something. My take has always been about softer things; feminine fabrics, like lace.”

Ultimately, streetwear, as it is still known, is no longer a niche category only worn by those in their teens and twenties. ‘’It is becoming a redundant term, which a lot of these designers are rejecting,” said Nowill. “It can be quite a reductive way of categorising a very broad spectrum of brands and styles.”

Accordingly, London’s fashion awards launched an “international urban luxury brand” category in 2016 to address this growing sector. Tough streetwear will arguably be the aesthetic that more and more men want to wear in 2017.

“In the old days it was rock’n’roll that was super-chic and a guy could be grungy but might be rich,” said Andersen. “Now you can have a guy in a tracksuit who is very successful.”

• This article was amended on 8 January 2017. In it, we used “he” for Astrid Andersen. She is of course a woman. This has been corrected.

Contributor

Lauren Cochrane

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
Vivienne Westwood gets political at London fashion week men's
Army hues, structured jackets and camouflage print take centre stage in Westwood and Craig Green’s collections

Morwenna Ferrier

08, Jan, 2018 @8:13 PM

Article image
London fashion week men's makes a grab for the zeitgeist
Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, A-Cold-Wall* and David Beckham star, as interest in menswear booms

Scarlett Conlon

04, Jan, 2019 @2:53 PM

Article image
Watch London men's fashion week live

The second London Collections: Men has kicked off in London. Watch shows from rising stars Lou Dalton, Sibling and more live on the Guardian website

Guardian fashion

07, Jan, 2013 @10:28 AM

Article image
Men's street style at London fashion week

To celebrate menswear day at London fashion week, Jo Jones and Helen Seamons hit the streets to find the nattiest male dressers in the capital

Jo Jones and Helen Seamons

23, Sep, 2009 @12:07 PM

Article image
London men's fashion week: the best looks - in pictures

From E Tautz through to Jonathan Saunders and Sibling, Simon Chilvers rounds up the very best from London Collections: Men

Simon Chilvers

10, Jan, 2013 @4:53 PM

Article image
Ahluwalia's cultural patchwork lights up London fashion week
Designer leads fashion’s new diverse charge with looks inspired by multicultural Britain

Priya Elan

05, Jan, 2020 @7:51 PM

Article image
Topman Design goes back to the future at London men's fashion week
Creative chief aims to coax men out of skinny jeans and into wide-legged trousers with gender-fluid, 80s-inspired collection

Lauren Cochrane

09, Jun, 2017 @9:12 PM

Article image
The fashion briefing: London fashion week

It's London fashion week, so Simon Chilvers shows you how to get the look

Simon Chilvers

20, Feb, 2011 @10:00 PM

Article image
David Beckham brings brand of grit to London fashion week men’s
Ex-footballer helps his Kent & Curwen label step out from Savile Row as others push at ideas of menswear and even clothes

Lauren Cochrane

07, Jan, 2018 @6:26 PM

Article image
Menswear at London fashion week

London fashion week finishes on a high with a day dedicated to menswear, from suits to fetishwear

24, Sep, 2009 @12:18 PM