It’s official: the seasonal fashion game is now afoot! Over the following several weeks, I’ll be sharing with you the best collections from each fashion capital, and the first one up is London Fashion Week Men’s (formerly known as London Collections: Men). During my days in London, where I spent most of my time hopping from one show to the next, I had the chance to watch the latest collections being sent down the runway at 180 The Strand. Whether you favor Craig Green’s Byzantine prints or Al Qasimi’s dusty hues, each of the collections mentioned on this list offer a unique vision for the new season ahead; it’s now Autumn/Winter 2017, and here are the best collections from London Fashion Week Men’s.
1. SONGZIO
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This collection ticked all the boxes for me. With its dark armour-like outerwear and well-placed art prints, as well as sharply tailored suits and romantic volumes, this season was unmistakably dramatic, bold and yet balanced at the same time. The creative child of South Korean designer Zio Song, SONGZIO strived to represent the young misanthrope’s free and light conscience within every look this season, while managing to never stray too far from Song’s own distinctive aesthetics—and what they achieved was much more than my pre-show expectations. If you’ve never heard of this label before, now is the chance to fall head over heels.
2. Ximonlee
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If you ever run into me on the streets talking about London fashion, it’s likely the name Ximon Lee will pop up somewhere in that discussion. By far one of my more favorite designers (and a most promising talent celebrating his second show in London with this particular collection), this Berlin-based Chinese-Korean designer became a hit last season with his creative silhouettes, but this season has seen a return to that very limelight with engineered cutaways, high slits, pearl-adorned menswear and a slew of covetable top coats. This was a collection certainly worth the six-month wait between men’s fashion weeks—just take a look through and you’ll see why.
3. Qasimi
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Complete with the world’s best duvet coat (worn by the striking model Ernest Klimko), Central Saint Martins graduate Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi’s new fall collection was an easy standout from the week. His colors, ranging from mossy green tones to dusty pink hues, complimented a comforting collection of relaxed shapes, including coats, sweaters and buttery-soft leather jackets. Inspired by John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Bed-In for Peace” in 1969, this collection has the words “soft rebellion” written all over it.
4. Christopher Raeburn
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If you’re a follower of our fashion coverage here at Paste, you’ll probably have read this name several times by now. Christopher Raeburn, the British men and women’s designer celebrated for his expertise in sustainable fashion and pioneering the ethos of “Remade, Reduced, Recycled,” has presented his new fall collection filled with rugged, outdoorsy outfits for the modern man and women bent on a weekend in the mystic woods. Inspired by the late Ellsworth Kelly and the Ghost Army—a World War II initiative to draft artists into the U.S. army to fashion all new types of camo—this collection includes a series of utility looks in camo, fluorescent yellow and light blue. Every season, I love how he continues to repurpose fabrics into new garments, and this season, he didn’t let us down. Refashioning old military fabrics, parachutes became tracksuits and old bomb-disposal suits became khaki parkas – just two of our favorite looks.
5. Craig Green
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Named “British Menswear Designer of the Year” at The Fashion Awards 2016, Craig Green and his eponymous label presented a collection well worth this new fancy title. What started with drawstring parkas, hoods and hats (sure, that’s all fine and well), became boxy silhouettes, asymmetrical tailored armor-like Byzantine-printed jackets, paneled numbers and more (and that’s exactly when I fell in love with this one). In a subdued color palette of navy, dusty lilac, khaki and black, Green’s fall lineup was a hit through and through—an instant contender for one of the best collections from LFWM.
6. J.W. Anderson
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Typically I’d only include five collections in my fashion week recaps, but I just had to mention J.W. Anderson’s crafty fall lineup in this list. Filled with layered crochet and ultra-chunky knits, this latest outing by one of London’s most favorite designers will have you wanting to stay home on a winter’s day, curled up in one of Anderson’s many homespun sweaters. Sure, there were bomber jackets, slouchy pants and an overall Seventies vibe to love, but I couldn’t get beyond the jiving jumpers. Perhaps you’ll have the restraint to find more than one obsession from this collection (but let’s be honest, the sweaters really are great).
Brent Taalur Ramsey is an American writer living in Paris.