Countdown to the 23rd: Gordon Richardson and Tim Soar

Fashion's Big Night Out certainly whetted our appetite for London Fashion Week and we are chomping at the bit to see the menswear showcase. Our countdown to the 23rd continues with two design heavyweights who have become regular fixtures at LFW in recent years, Topman Design's very own Gordon Richardson and Tim Soar.

Tim Blanks commented that “MAN has created a whole new momentum in the London menswear scene. It's growing in profile and importance every season" and for once we agree with him. MAN was set up in a partnership between Topman and Fashion East to support exciting and up and coming menswear design talent. A few years ago there were limited opportunities for budding menswear designers but for the past eight seasons MAN has helped put menswear on the schedule and supported some great talent. A key fixture of the show is of course Topman Design. Headed up by Design Director Gordon Richardson and launched in AW05 the collection is an exclusive range of more individual, design-led pieces for the fashion conscious high street customer.

SS: What were your inspirations for the collection?
Gordon Richardson: A real mixture this time as as a team we have been inspired by quite disparate things. We are really feeling strongly for print and have been influenced by Dune and the recent Radiohead lightshow for colour and dynamics. The collection itself is a mix of the discipline and rigour of early Helmut Lang with a bit of Depeche Mode and an early punk and Buffalo aesthetic thrown in.

SS: What are you most looking forward to showing on the 23rd September?
Gordon Richardson: I guess it would have to be some of the new prints, but I've just seen a bonded raw edge leather mac that looks stunning. It is the first of the jackets to come back from our suppliers which bodes well for the other designs.

SS: Have you got any anecdotes of making the collection that you can share?
Gordon Richardson: Ours is very much a team effort but in terms of advice I'd say things like once you've established the direction of the collection allow enough space to find its soul. Anecdotes wise, a lot of what we like as a team design wise often doesn't make it into the show as its failed to turn up in time from the suppliers.

SS: What item of clothing (if any) do you wish that more men wore?
Gordon Richardson: I'm disappointed that men aren't taking the opportunity to be more elegantly and sartorially dressed. We somehow seem to have lost that along the way with the explosion of sport and casual wear dominating the way men dress. It is somehow more courageous and different to dress more formally. There's so much well cut clothing around particularity this autumn with the likes of coats and blazers. I'd encourage every man who has lived in jeans to build a new wardrobe around a smarter trouser or slim chino and invest in some great updated contemporary pieces to go with them. You can always offset that with something personal in the way of a tee .

SS: Aside from your own, which collections are you looking forward to seeing?
Gordon Richardson: What I'm particularly excited about is more about the whole Menswear day itself than any one particular designer. However bstore, Tim Soar, James Long and Carolyn Massey's collections should all be good and it will be exciting to see what Katie Eary produces for her inaugural MAN show.

With every Tim Soar collection you are guaranteed to be treated to well-made menswear which mixes minimalism, sportswear, tailoring and unusual fabrications. Trendland recently offered a preview of the Spring/Summer 2010 collection. The collection entitled ‘Folding Diagrams for a Spread Squash’ looks to have pushed Soar's silhouettes even further and we are looking forward to seeing it on the catwalk.

SS: What were your inspirations for the collection?
Tim Soar: I do not work by having a 'theme' for my collections. There are always somethings from previous collections that I want to evolve. I spend a lot of time thinking about silhouette and fabrics. Then I will do a lot small toiles of details. The main thing that came out of the process this season was an origami folded/angular feel to may of the pieces.

SS: What are you most looking forward to showing on the 23rd September?
Tim Soar: It being finished, having a glass of Champagne in my hand and having that beautiful brief lull before one has to start thinking about next season.

SS: Have you got any anecdotes of making the collection that you can share?
Tim Soar: So far, its been reasonably uneventful... there are still a couple of weeks to go, though.

SS: What item of clothing (if any) do you wish that more men wore?
Tim Soar: Anything by TIM SOAR

SS: Aside from your own, which collections are you looking forward to seeing?
Tim Soar: I am really looking forwards to seeing all the UK men's shows - mainly in photographic form unfortunately. Of course, I am competitive but that does not mean I do like seeing what everyone else is up to. We are all rivals, but friendly ones.