10 posts tagged "Dominic Jones"
Britain’s Boys Are Back in Town
It’s been a big week for the London Collections: Men, with Rag & Bone and Pringle of Scotland announcing that they would join the likes of Tom Ford, Alexander McQueen, and Burberry in presenting during the city’s third menswear showcase this June. “I think London is pretty much the home of menswear. Look at Savile Row and the great heritage we have. We invented the suit!” said Dylan Jones—the editor in chief of British GQ and the chair of London’s men’s collections—at an event at the British Residence in New York last night. The occasion, which drew the likes of BFC chief executive Caroline Rush, Dominic Jones, Nasir Mazhar, Sibling’s Cozette McCreery, Lou Dalton, and more, marked the announcement of London’s Spring 2014 menswear schedule. The lineup includes the above-mentioned international brands, as well as talents like Christopher Kane, Richard Nicoll, and James Long. Long, fresh out of the London Showrooms, which visited New York this week, offered, “When I started menswear in London, we had to struggle to have a voice. It was very behind womenswear. Now, all these supportive people have made [London menswear] happen, and it’s so funny being in New York and having menswear be the focus.” Caroline Rush concurred. “The womenswear designers have great recognition, but to put that spotlight on these incredible menswear brands is really important,” she said.
One might wonder why the British Fashion Council chose to reveal the London menswear roster in Manhattan rather than on its home turf. “We’re here tonight…because so many New York designers have supported us since we launched 18 months ago,” said Jones in his speech, noting that Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Tom Ford, and more had all lent a hand. He added that Tommy Hilfiger, David Furnish, Tracey Emin, and Details magazine will all be throwing “amazing” parties during the upcoming shows, which will run from June 16 to 18. “When [everyone] goes over to Milan, they’re going to have one hell of a hangover,” he laughed. The complete Spring 2014 London Collections: Men schedule is available at www.londoncollections.co.uk.
Color, Texture and Print Reigned at the London Showrooms
“I like a lot of embellishment and I like a lot of print,” said Holly Fulton. She might have been speaking for all her fellow English designers at the London Showrooms, the traveling, British Fashion Council-sponsored showcase which arrived in New York this week, following a stint in L.A. It’s almost a cliché that London designers trend bright and buzzy, but it’s become something of a calling card for the young talents nurtured by the BFC. To tweak the old saw, go big or stay home.
Fulton served up her groupie-inspired Fall collection, which featured lava-rock embellishments, hand-drawn prints, and a rather impressive dress constructed entirely of feathers. Others, like Simone Rocha (above), who’s currently selling stateside in Jeffrey and Opening Ceremony, offered less print but more color. Her key pieces were voluminous waffle-knitted neoprene looks in what she laughingly referred to as “Pepto pink.” Thomas Tait also played on unexpected fusion of spongy, bonded leather and quilted nylon in Day-Glo oranges and lime greens. “I feel like I’ve been shouting,” said Tait, whose line is also carried at Jeffrey. “I’ll be doing something mellower next season.”
Meanwhile, Fyodor Golan, designed by Fyodor Podgorny and Golan Frydman, balanced elegant, elaborately embellished print dresses with more playful leather pieces embossed with smiley faces. Turns out Smiley—the company that owns the rights to the icon—approached the duo for a collaboration, and they jumped at the chance to create, as Frydman put it, a “sexual smiley.” Another duo, Teatum Jones (that is to say, Catherine Teatum and Rob Jones) showed bright, seemingly tie-dyed dresses in perforated bonded jersey, as well as a few particularly interesting coats in latex-coated alpaca wool. Yet a third duo, Palmer//Harding, also in attendance, used a similarly clever technique on their wools to make them look like leather.
Men’s designers were on display, too, and they came with news to share. James Long whispered that half the designers showing on the Paris calendar had called to personal-order his sweater knitted with a giant picture of Divine. Agi Mdumulla and Sam Cotton of Agi & Sam had news of an offbeat football (read: soccer) and owl-inspired capsule collection they’ll launch at Topman next month. And jeweler Dominic Jones revealed he’ll show his first-ever men’s collection during June’s London Collections: Men. In the meantime, he was showing his mainline collection as well as his recently-launched lower priced range, DJ by Dominic Jones. “I wanted to make something that all my friends could afford,” he said when asked about the gold-plated and bright enamel collection of baubles, which average about $100 apiece.
Dominic Jones’ Intergalactic Fall ’13
After producing a particularly ornate Spring ’13 range—filled with intricate, scale-like gilded wares and extended razor-sharp claw rings—jewelry designer Dominic Jones kept it clean for Fall. “I felt it should be a reaction to the previous collection,” he explained. The result was a fusion of tribal adornments and stark futurism realized in white gold. “I wanted this season to be minimalist, almost Scandinavian,” said the designer, noting that the disk shapes of his earrings and necklaces, as well as his Fall talon motifs, came from traditional African jewelry. “I think it actually looks quite sci-fi, though,” he mused.
Indeed, his geometric cuff and jointed, slatted ring have a punk-tinged intergalactic edge, and Jones chose to emphasize this space-age feel in his Fall ’13 film. Styled by Victoria Young (Jones says he appreciates her brutal honesty) and lensed by Alex Sainsbury, the raw short lets Jones’ slick wares shine. But the video, which debuts exclusively below, isn’t the designer’s only cinematic triumph this week—those killer claws from last season are worn by Andrej Pejic in David Bowie’s new music vid, “The Stars (Are Out Tonight),” which was released yesterday. “It was a dream that I never even could have dreamed, come true,” said Jones. “I’ve been a fan of his since I was a baby.”
Dominic Jones is available at Barneys, The Webster, and on Net-a-Porter.com.
Seeing a Pattern
On February 15, Phaidon Press will release Pattern, a book that highlights one hundred compelling fashion designers on the rise. Phaidon handed over the book’s curatorial duties to a group of ten designers and industry insiders (including stylist Keegan Singh, Preen’s Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi, the SHOWstudio team, and Business of Fashion‘s founder Imran Amed, just to name a few), each of whom chose ten talents to fill Pattern‘s pages.
The book (which is a follow-up to the 2005 fashion tome SAMPLE) features established designers (Phillip Lim, Alexander Wang, Christopher Kane, Sarah Burton), well-known emerging labels (Eddie Borgo, Thomas Tait, Creatures of the Wind, Mary Katrantzou, whose work is pictured above), and proper newbies (Simone Rocha, Marques’ Almeida, Phoebe English, Maarten van der Horst). The designers’ diverse aesthetics, techniques and outlooks are presented via detailed introductions, backstage, campaign and editorial photographs, and never-before-seen sketches, all of which serve to give readers an in-depth understanding of their work. “For me, seeing that the designers had a consistent point of view that’s true to their style was important,” said Singh, whose picks include Cushnie et Ochs (left), Olivier Rousteing of Balmain, Tabitha Simmons, Dominic Jones, and Gianvito Rossi, among others. “You know, it’s like Azzedine Alaïa. He has his thing, and he always sticks to it,” he added. So does Singh think the next Alaïa is somewhere between Pattern‘s covers? “It’s a possibility!” he laughed. At the very least, he notes, “the book gives the young designers a chance to reach broader audiences; it exposes them to a whole new group of people.”
Pattern: 100 Fashion Designers, 10 Curators will be available on February 15, on phaidon.com.
A McQueen Homecoming On Savile Row
Yesterday’s headlines screamed that the U.K. was finally out of a double-dip recession, and, as if on cue, Alexander McQueen opened up its flagship menswear shop on Savile Row, offering the largest selection of RTW and menswear from within the brand. It was a poignant return to the street. As Alexander McQueen’s creative director, Sarah Burton (pictured, right), pointed out, “Lee used to apprentice here on Savile Row, so it is a bit of a homecoming, and since tailoring is part of our backbone, it makes sense to be in an area that is steeped in the codes of the house.”
Guests taking it all in included Dominic Cooper, Kristen McMenamy (pictured, left), Luke Evans, and of course Sarah Burton, who all respectfully looked through the shop with the gravitas required of the occasion. Not that fun wasn’t on the menu—as Kristen McMenamy told Style.com, “I had a lovely evening—the pretty boys finally outnumbered the girls!” But one of those girls especially deserved some praise. As she stood in a room that mimicked a banquet hall, but surrounded by gold skulls, the model added, “Sarah is so humble and brilliant—I just love what she is doing at the moment.”