#tom grace

‘Homies’, Hermes, ‘Ballin’, Balmain, ‘Benzo’, Kenzo are just some of the ridiculous tops that can be seen bobbing down London’s high streets. This is an almost exhaustive list of tat. If I see another ‘There ain’t no Laurent without Yves’ top I might cry. Add to this the plethora of awful streetwear brands currently enjoying the limelight, such as ‘Dope Chef’ and ‘Trill’ ,  well… they are pretty dire. The question to be asked here is why and how have these brands persisted?

Finance accounts for another reason for this staying power. While the actual Hermes tee might set you back £200, you can pick up the Homies equivalent for sixty-odd. This is flawed, however, as the whole point is satirical; they poke fun at high fashion. I feel this ironiy is lost on the common consumer, and that people buy into the fad because it’s allegedly hot right now.

My father recently shocked me.  I’ve always thought that he has a great eye for style, but have chuckled at his recent interest in my favourite store, Mr Porter, LN-CC or Dover Street Market.  I never thought he would invade my life in such a manner.

Recently browsing the Acne store in New York’s Broome Street, I was showing my sister a pair of sweatpants I’ve been coveting for a while.  As a very slim guy, any trouser I wear has to match this.  Her response: ‘Dad has those.’  Excuse me?  What would a 52-year-old cardiologist want with a pair of tapered sweatpants?  This seems to be a reflection of how the luxury menswear market has exponentially grown lately; it is no longer considered narcissistic or ‘effeminate’ to have a strong interest in fashion and one’s appearance.

Accounting for 40% of global sales, men’s luxury spending grew almost twice as fast as women’s in 2011, 14% to 8% respectively.  While the vast majority of this growth can be credited to the luxury boom in the Far East, driven by vast prosperity increase, the Western man has not been left behind.  Happily, it is not just the household name advertisers – Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton  - that are in demand.

My two favourite fashion houses of the moment are helmed by the coolest men on the scene: Hedi Slimane with his rockabilly Saint Laurent and Riccardo Tisci’s Givenchy, for cool street wear.  I may occasionally play fast and loose when juggling my finances (and my thirst for high-end clobber) but £405 for a Tisci t-shirt… really?  But what is fascinating about these two designers is the aesthetic: it’s young – no ‘Dad clobber’.  There are no Jeremy Clarkson jeans, or zipped up jeans.  My father is not alone in his adoption of these labels – I’ve seen university professors with an exposed ‘mankle’.  It’s the dandy plague, the renaissance of the debonair.

I see no real explanation for this boom.  Sure, the rise of ‘well-dressed’ male celebrities – Kanye and Becks – share the credit.  But these are no spring chickens, how could they influence my father’s dress code?  Factor in our clawing out of the double-dip recession, and the scene seems more puzzling; there are hardly pots of change lying around.  But yet the modern man – or coteries of – can still blow £3,500 on a Slimane biker.

There are many questions to be answered.  Are men on track to becoming the fairer sex; is this sign of gender-neutrality, the ultimate demonstration of the modern, groomed man?  Or perhaps it is a reflection on how the morals of society are dissipating so ferociously as the future looked at a bunch of wannabe celebrity, asexual blobs glued to our iPhones, looking for the next ‘night’ on Blendr.

Monday afternoon's show, a collaboration between Chinese designer Ji Cheng and Sheme, a trio of designers, was an arguably predictable but lovely collection.  Think a classic ensemble: dresses, playsuits and jackets all with Asian overtones, particularly floral.

The show began with a short introductory video, picturing what can only be described as a Geisha being soothed by a long haired Asian fellow. This created a sense of drama that was strengthened by a strong DJ mix which sounded like it had ben lifted straight out of Thom Yorke’s head.

Then entered the models. Their make-up aped that of the video, with bold printed-on eyebrows, and an almost Chinese-Dorothy feel about them. Reflecting the concept that this is an ‘East meets West’ collection, all bar two of the models were Caucasian. I feel this is relevant to note, as it was the first and last models who were Asian, which gave an unnecessary kind of bookend, as to almost lend some kind of genuineness to the feel of the show.

Whilst my knowledge of womenswear is maybe not the strongest, I loved the flowing, fitted silhouettes and the airy, easy look of the clothes. Think dressed up nighties, done in an incredibly elegant way. The  safe colour palette worked well; there was a large use of white dresses and sheer shirts, punctuated with red floral prints, and the standard black and greys.