The tailors of Savile Row meet the pony kids of Ireland at the house’s British male-inspired A/W18 show
- TextTed Stansfield
For her A/W18 collection, Sarah Burton looked to the British male. While he’s perhaps not immediately synonymous with style, she drew inspiration from his varying expressions of masculinity. She looked to a wide range of expressions, in fact – from the tailors of Savile Row, to the pony kids of Ireland captured in Perry Ogden’s book of the same name, published in 1999.
What this translated to was a classic British wardrobe, that was distorted. Trench coats were deconstructed and worn as skirts for example, while tuxedo jackets were paired with tracksuit bottoms (which is where the pony kids came in, presumably), dressing gowns were tied with leather belts and tartan numbers looked like they’d slightly eaten away.
“It was taking this very classic British wardrobe and subverting it, turning it on its head,” the designer explained backstage, shortly after the show. “It was almost like making each garment of the wardrobe very, very McQueen, so it wasn’t so much about a fantasy journey, it was more about something very grounded in reality.”
While it wasn’t so much about a fantasy this season, there was still a sense of romanticism to the collection, as there always is with Alexander McQueen: tailoring featured paisley jacquard, floral silk jacquard, hand-painted English roses and in some cases, embellishments. And there was a slight sense of androgyny, too, in the jewellery: earrings and pendants set with precious stones.
Overall, it was a very elegant picture of the British male.
