For spring/summer ’17, Fashion East Men’s show was very entertaining. Styles were shown every which way. The company’s designers, Luke Brooks and James Theseus Buck, showed a cool yet functional side to men’s fashions. Their use of prints and details were often blurred away from the traditional cuts. Jackets were longer. Pants were more shapely with cinched hems and wide or skinny legs. Prints varied. In this collection, it’s often a matter of what goes with what. They showed their collection along with two other menswear brands, Rory Parnell-Moony and Luke Stevens, the latter of whom reintroduced his collection created for the 2016 Royal College of Art MA collection as part of Fashion East’s Men’s Presentation for spring/summer ’17.
Buck is a recent graduate of Central St. Martin’s MA fashion course. He also works as a stylist and art director for media, including Man About Town and Marfa Journal. Brooks, from London, is also a graduate from Central St. Martin’s MA fashion course. He has created small, nonseasonal collections and pop-up shops, and has been exhibited internationally. Buck and Brooks have been working well together since 2015. Their collection, shown recently at the Rottingdean Bazaar, was a wonderful showcase for their clothes, accessories, home goods, art works, installations and editorials.
Lulu Kennedy and The Old Truman Brewery established Fashion East, a non-profit initiative, in 2000. The goal is to nurture and showcase emerging designers through the early stages of their careers. Fashion East has kicked-started the careers of some of the UK’s top talent.
At DKNY, the menswear details influence their women’s clothing collection. Walking the runway in closed shoes, the ladies wore man-style nylon socks. Their styles included smoking jacket-like dresses that were short and often draped, if they were long, to show the legs. Two-toned gray dress features double-breasted buttons in front. Pin-striped dresses were long in classic cuts. A black straight-shaped jumpsuit comes off like a uniform with a white shirt.
Founded by Donna Karan in 1984, DKNY has a new creative direction. Young designers Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne, an African-American designer, were both born in New York City. They breathe inspiration and restless energy from the city they live and work in. This duo founded the acclaimed Public School label and are happy to see their company expanded with their new appointment as creative directors at DKNY. The look is fresh, comfortable and young.