Craig Green goes from strength to strength. Just weeks before showing his confident A/W 17 collection he was crowned British Menswear Designer of the Year at the 2016 British Fashion Awards. No pressure, then. And, what with Burberry departing the London Menswear schedule for the womenswear week, there’s more focus than ever on younger labels like Green. Good. He deserves the attention, even if all the flap and fuss is probably sometimes intimidating for a designer like Green who prefers to let his clothes, rather than his high jinks, do the talking. That sense of a difficult journey - the rewarding uphill struggle that comes with building a brand in today’s climes - ran throughout the collection. It was intended as a 'procession of anonymous travellers' - hence the hoods, the liferaft-esque bags, the padding and panelling that swaddled and protected the wearer.
Green’s become synonymous with navy, but those epic prints that emerged in the middle of the collection - somewhere between an exotic tile and a worn-out-carpet - reminded me of the brilliant tie-dyes and hand painted finishes from his early collections. Those tones and swirls looked warm, crafty, touched-by-hand, strangely humble - all the things we know and love Green for. His take on attention-grabbing was a happy alternative to the silliness that can crop up on other London runways.
When explaining the collection, Green described his men as 'tethered one another, a procession' - that made me think of his collections and how they build on each other, morphing rather than contradicting. Some critics argue Green prioritises consistency over innovation. I say, never change.
