This evening we saw b Store's presentation of its A/W 2011 Collection at a grand townhouse on Portland Place. Based on the teenage wistfulness of 'My Own Private Idaho', the collection reached its aim in presenting a refined and crystallised vision of adolescent 'so what' and 'I am', and accessed many recognised first steps to grown-up dressing. Mixing bouclé jackets, shapeless hats reminiscent of Stephen Jones' A/W 06 creations for Louis Vuitton, plaid, wool and boxy masculine tailoring for boys and girls, the collection was a defined expression of relaxed confidence in early man- and womanhood.

Ben Knight Evans