Minimal metamorphosis

As our eyes prepared to focus on the spring/summer 14 catwalks of New York, Converse and Maison Martin Margiela treated us to teasers of their much publicised creative coming together. For their first confident stride forward, Converse Chuck Taylor All Star and Jack Purcell trainers were drenched in Maison Martin Margiela's iconic white paint. Covering all canvas, eyelets, laces and soles, the old favourites are altered simply yet radically. All white everything. A palette and sole cleanser. For me, the French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry best defined minimalist design as being “not when there is nothing more to add, but when there’s nothing left to take away.” This is a makeover from a true minimalist iconoclast. However, what interests me most is that the white washing is just the start. As soon as the paint filled brush leaves the Converse classics, they naturally crack and shed their outer coat to reveal their original selves beneath. So simple and transformative, the hand painted act is the beginning of a unique dialogue between both brands. As they advance with age with each step forward and evolve in the everyday, they reveal their true selves in their own way. Wear and tear is rarely so intriguing and so obvious.

From well loved wallets to beautiful brogues, the gentle ageing of leather is a an ever absorbing process but it takes its time. The blank Converse canvas encourages change. Thankfully, after following fashion's conveyor belt through from London to Milan and Paris, two pairs of ice white Jack Purcells were waiting for me at the office. A few weeks of pacy peddling, puddle plummeting and pavement pounding has seen a rich burgundy hue peek out from beneath the cracks on one pair (black, blue and an exclusive yellow are also hidden behind the white wash) whilst the other is still perfectly wrapped in its thick blanket of white. Minimal metamorphosis. Using a recent paint tin spill in the car park as the ideal backdrop, I couldn't resist documenting their difference.

New new and old new. 
Converse and Maison Martin Margiela
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Details... Miller's Message

"The phrase was theorised in a statistical book on the failures of children in council estate environments back in 1971," Matthew Miller explains. Appropriated for autumn/winter 13, the slogan graces a ribbed jersey crew neck (available at Other and Peggs & son) and feels particularly apt on North London Derby Day. Wrapped up in a red and white scarf and enveloped by nerves, this fan and jumper wait in hope.

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Details... Tanned treats

Artfully aged by the climate of Orange County for a few days, George Esquivel's brogues salute the sunshine of California.

A swoosh and three lions

Two weekends have come and gone without an Arsenal game. Two long, enjoyable and stress free weekends but there's been an undeniable void. Non football fans might think I'm weird to admit to this but weekends just don't feel the same without looking forward to Football Focus, anxiously checking live updates and wincing or celebrating (delete as appropriate) through MOTD. Having waved goodbye to another season of consistent inconsistency before dancing into the top four, I have to wait ten more weekends until it starts all over again. Thankfully, there are a few distractions, the odd sporting appetite whetter and they rarely get any odder than international friendlies. The white noise emitted from the media fanfare, egos ricocheting across the pitch and fans chanting the likes of "I'm England till I die" and "Ingerland, Ingerland, Ingerrrland" to the beat of an ever over enthusiastic band. As England gained two relatively insignificant draws agains Republic of Ireland and Brazil, there was one significant change on show and it was an aesthetic one. Nike had rolled up its socks and effortlessly tackled kit design duties from Umbro. To mark the occassion, the sportswear giant tweaked two of its ow icons to encapsulate the story of one hundred and fifty years of English football heritage. With sartorial nods going back to the birth of the Football Association and the beautiful game itself, Nike unveiled the limited edition England NSW Destroyer and England Nike Air Max 1 iD. Thanks to the generous folk at Nike and Exposure I am one of the lucky few to sport them...

England NSW Destroyer worn with... 

silk shirt by Tim Soar (with a football badge worn as a button) and cropped trousers by Christophe Lemaire.

Since its introduction in 2006, the Destroyer jacket has become one of Nike's most recognised pieces. Staying true to its varsity jacket roots, it is often a beautiful blend of sports heritage with youth cultures from practically every decade since the 50s. With the first letterman jacket being designed for an imaginary team called the Dunk High Destroyers, the latest brings hope to national football's great underachievers and is suitably drunk on detailing. The addition of rich English heritage design cues including sleeves and pocket trims crafted from the finest rainproof British Millerain waxed cotton, subtle embroidery and embellishment, four bespoke gold pin badges – a star, an England Crest, a patch crest and vintage football - that represent the past and present for an additional level of personalisation and play. For a closer look of the gold pin badges I photographed detail shots on my Subbuteo pitch... 

Detail shots of the pin badges. 

Some have already been appropriated in to my everyday wardrobe and have been used to replace missing buttons.

On the subject of everyday wardrobe, the special edition England Nike Air Max 1 iD have confidently stepped in to my uniform.  It is a NIKEiD customisation of one of the most famous footwear styles. Since 1987 the Air Max 1 silhouette has transcended its running origins to become a wardrobe staple for a myriad of subcultures in England and beyond. Designed by Tinker Hatfield, the shoe turned things inside out and blew our minds by making the invisible visible, exposing the world to Nike Air. I've not worn a bubble since I was fourteen years old. It feels right returning to the original. This understated black-on-black version features discreet details that once again reference the history and culture of football in England. Linking to the NSW Destroyer Jacket, a gold star has been embroidered onto the back of the shoe while the eyelet features in bold red, in honour of the St. Georgeʼs Cross. They are perfect...

England Nike Air Max 1 iD worn with cropped trousers by Christophe Lemaire

"Catch me if you can

'Cause I'm the England man

And what you're looking at

Is the master plan"

Details... Kente Kaleidoscope

There might have been a time when Trine Lindegaard's colourful cocktail of a spring/summer 13 collection left me intimidated  No longer. I'm obsessed by its combination of traditionally hand weaved Kente, technical mesh and knits. After a recent trip to Other / Shop I teamed up her Rubino t shirt with a sheer, short sleeved white shirt from U - Handmade in England.

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Details... Fancy pants and battered trainers

I'm becoming increasingly fascinated with whether or not designers wear their designs and if so, how.   Here's Agi (one half of Agi&Sam, Agape Mdumulla) teaming up a colourful pair of AW12 trousers with well loved Nike's.

Mohsin AW13

"Muay Thai is a big part of my life, it keeps my mind focussed and drives that compatitive spirit inside of me," begins Mohsin Ali as we sit in his studio in the heart of East London. "Depending on seasons and work loads, I'll try and train at least four, five times a week. It's weird because I feel like a cheat if I don't! Muay Thai is like a drug. I got addicted to it at sixteen years old and to be honest I'd be lost without it!" Last summer we were offered a glimpse in to the interplay between his two seemingly disparate passions in Santiago Arbelaez's film for Hypebeast. It was a hint of the stunning things to come. For autumn/winter 13, Mohsin looks to the national sport of Thailand and its heritage.

"It is the art of eight limbs. Hands, elbows, knees and legs. It's like a game of chess, each move is as important as the next. The aim is to outwit your opponent intelligently to with the fight. Granted it's a little more lethal than chess but you get the same satisfaction of beating your opponent." As a recent hit of his favourite vice courses through his veins, it should come as little surprise that the design talent's two worlds collide so well for autumn/winter 13. It is a fight winning move that leaves this blogger out for the count. As a focused designer driven by form, fabric and function, the sport acts as the perfect foil to the designer's toil. "Muay Thai makes me think about things more, when you're training you're constantly learning no matter how experienced you are. I absorb everything like a sponge so I have to keep my mind as open as possible. This is the same approach I afford to my design work."

From built in thumb pieces to quilted linings, Mohsin Ali's debut collection for autumn/winter 11 was an exquisite showcase of the true beauty of menswear. Having been inspired by twenty first century explorers, Mohsin obsessed over the concept of integration and protective layering to create multi faceted items that blew us away. The inspiration might be different but the approach is repeated for the latest autumn/winter collection. Fuelled by his love for both traditional and technical fabrics, as well an insatiable fascination with cut and silhouette, we are once again seduced by his approach. Having watched the label grow and slowly evolve in a considered fashion since first encountering his designs, this autumn/winter collection marks a confident step forward.

Exploring sartorial notions of protection with the physical needs and demands of the sport, Mohsin produces a thirty five piece collection that plays with shape, silhouette, fabric and function. These are subtly transformative garments. Oversized quilted coats, detachable capes and belted tailoring all enable the wearer to experiment with feelings of security and presence whilst engineered sleeves with thumb pieces resemble hand wraps and typical Muay Thai shorts are repurposed in wool cashmere and styled with heavy knit leggings. The result is modern day armour. As we've come to expect from the designer, fabrics are of the highest quality whilst cut is key. Mixing both traditional and technical fabrics and by introducing embroidery, Mohsin has created a wonderfully tactile collection. The early promise of the accomplished debut has been more than fulfilled. It has been further refined and honed. Everything comes together in perfect harmony. "More than any other has managed, this collection really encapsulates my design standpoint." For this exciting talent, design should be questioned and challenged at all times and only then can you produce and create something truly special. All appliance should be for a reason. For the interested eye, the cacophony of details incessantly offer intrigue and talking points. From bondage tailoring to judo belt detailing runs subtly through many of the pieces, everything has a reason and a place.

"From Muay Thai I looked at Thai culture, the history of its dress and experimented with aspects from other martial arts disciplines, looking at how we protect and insulate ourselves. There's a wealth of information available out there but most of my research was born out of chats with the guys in the gym who are historians. A lot of the research came from two individuals in particular. Ian, who has a vast history in muay thai and thai culture in general and also Greg Wootton who is the perfect fit model. Greg is also a world and european champion at the ripe old age of 21). It's ideal for me as a lot of the younger fighters have the perfect physique as fit models, so it's great when collection time comes round. Most importantly where I train and the friends I train with are like a extended family it's always good to see them. A happy life in the gym helps me focus and think clearly when researching and designing."

Lookbook photography by David Sessions alongside my own detail shots.

"It has been a learning curve but I'm a lot more confident in everything now," Mohsin declares before taking another sip of his sweet tea. It shows. This is a justifiably confident collection. There's a daring in the design. A courage in the cloth. A certainty in the cut. A spunk in the silhouette. Ultimately it is Mohsin. His two passions stitched perfectly, his two worlds united. The personal made universal.

Palmer//Harding AW13

"The menswear is subtle this season," begins Matthew Harding. "It is very focussed," add Levi Palmer without a moment of silence. Just hours away from unveiling their autumn/winter 13 collection in a Thomas Bird crafted world inside Somerset House, the label’s collective voice could not have been more entwined or clear. From their home and studio base in Rickmansworth the design duo work tirelessly on their quest for intricate perfection to that oft neglected and taken for granted garment, the shirt. Since its accomplished debut in September 2011, palmer//harding have created men’s and women’s collections that encompass the combined aesthetic, passion, skill and international experience of the design duo. Ever learning, tweaking, evolving and improving, there's a real sense of masterful ease with this collection. A quiet confidence weaves throughout wonderfully tactile and perfectly sculpted shirting made from the finest cotton from Cotton USA.

"Going against so many young designers where there's an increasing sense of more, more, more, we have reduced and re-evaluated how many pieces we needed to tell the story of the season. There's a nice romance to the menswear," adds Harding. Less really is more. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe would look on, cigar in hand and fall for the considered cotton charms of this collection.

"It all started with the a single drape which reminded Matthew and I of the pages of a journal. From this concept we moved forward by referencing the memories that one keeps in the pages of their journal. In this method we brought forward the memory of the pattern cutting from the pages of one shirt into a top stitching detail on the next shirt where the previous pages had been placed. In this way a single shirt reflects the entire capsule collection in even just a small way, a subtle hint to the details which came before and which occurs after. " Levi Palmer.

The beauty of palmer//harding's menswear narrative is in the details. "With the womenswear it is all about texture and for the menswear it is all about the details," begins Harding, "there's so much to see on closer inspection this season."  Like any much loved and used journal, this collection is full of secrets that you'll long to discover .

Details... Function and destruction

Upon the unveiling of his Spring/Summer 13 collection entitled Citations, Matthew Miller declared that "to create authenticity, beauty has to be destroyed" and invited the wearer to be part of the process. This morning, I grasped my chance. As part of their support of London Collections: Men, Mr. Porter collaborated with four designers who created four exclusive pieces. Drawn instantly to the shiny silver foil of Miller's creations, I could not resist the sweatshirt. I did however resist on pulling apart the pocket for the first couple of wears. That all changed this morning. Here are a few detail shots of before and after... 

Do I miss the red tab? I do a bit. Thankfully, always thinking, Miller provided a carabiner and key ring to utilise the removed strip to create a key fob. Function and destruction.

Details... Damier Delight

Inspired by a Massaï that he wrapped himself up in as a child, Kim Jones reinvented Louis Vuitton's classic Damier in his dazzling debut menswear collection for the House back in June 2011 - oh, where does the time go and why didn't I buy anything from this collection?! Given that travel was the thread that bound the accomplished collection together, I'm sure Jones would approve of how the luxe cashmere knit has been teamed up with a well loved Ludwig Reiter jacket for an explorative stroll around Venice last weekend.
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