Menswear day: A girl’s eye view by Disneyrollergirl.net
Why would a womenswear stylist-journalist-whatever religiously attend the menswear day season after season? I ask myself this every time. By day four I’m deadbeat, by day five, I’m barely coherent but still I haul my show-weary self to Somerset House – and never do I regret it. Menswear day is about seeing London Fashion Week from a different perspective – namely seeing what ideas I can steal for myself.
A firm convert to the smart, button-up shirt, I’m ready to go to the next level with ambitious mixes of colour and print. Christopher Shannon’s jazzy patchwork checks, MAN designer Shaun Samson’s Mexicana stripes and Agi & Sam’s riotous patterns would all look just as appealing on a girl, “We’re not against women wearing our stuff at all, in fact I love the idea of girls wearing it,” says designer Agi Mdumulla who partnered exuberant patterned shirts with mismatched yet harmonious jackets and trousers to great effect at his installation [pictured].
Accessories are also rich pickings for girls on the prowl – especially if you’re a stickler for comfort and functionality. Take backpacks. My classic Kanken has served me well this week, toting the omnipresent iPad, but snazzier options come in the guise of woven raffia from J W Anderson and silk foulard-print from Topman Design. On the shoe front, classic brogues and lace-ups dominated the front row all week, from The Sartorialist Scott Shuman’s brogues-and-bare-ankles combo to Liberty’s managing director Ed Burstell who teamed his brown Zegna brogues with a pinstripe suit, “There’s very much an androgynous thing going on at street level,” he told me while we waited for Christopher Kane to start earlier this week, “and it’s happening in the store too.” (Don’t I know it Ed, I’m always in your men’s dept.) Topman Design continued the enduring love for a loafer, teaming vibrant blue and raspberry numbers with shorts and suits alike, while Sebastian Tarek’s lattice-effect lace-ups grabbed my attention with their beautiful, rose-pink tint. Sigh… don’t suppose they come in a size five?
Navaz Batliwalla of Disneyrollergirl is one of the UK’s top fashion bloggers. A fashion stylist by trade, her blog is the fashion insider’s daily must-read
