Fashion East A/W '19

January 09, 2019

Pioneering talent incubator Fashion East has been a launching pad for some of the world's most popular designers, each season creating a spsace for young brands to debut their work. Over the years, the organization has brought global attention to a number of notable labels from JW Anderson and Roksanda, to Marques'Almeida and Gareth Pugh.

This year, the non-profit championed three designers with different perspectives whose approach to menswear ranges from the subtle, to the avant-garde. Mowalola, Robyn Lynch and Stefan Cooke took over London Fashion Week Men's, delivering three unique collections that have only one thing in common: they're all pushing fashion forward. Mowalola focused on gender fluidity and sex positivity; Robyn Lynch offered up a monochrome take on classic looks; and Stefan Cooke leaned more towards the conceptual—but all three ranges were subversive and exciting.

Text by Charles Caesar

Check our rundown of this year’s creatives and view some highlights from each of their collections, below.

MOWALOLA

Designer Mowalola Ogunlesi showed her first collection at Fashion Week with a theme of exposure—and exposure there certainly was. Ogunlesi’s boys and girls from Planet X walked confidently in looks that would be at home in any classic Hype Williams video or Barbarella remake. We were thrilled about the pieces that signaled the return of bumsters, this time sported by male models, which perfectly complemented the barely-there patent leather skirts and shiny-heeled Louboutin footwear worn by the girls.

The collection was entirely sex-positive and radiated freedom—bolstered further by a collaboration with artist Lea Colombo on several key pieces. The beauty direction was also over the top with spray-paint inspired glamour. With Mowalola, raves will never be the same.

ROBYN LYNCH

As part of Fashion East's platform for emerging talent, Irish-born designer Robyn Lynch made her London Fashion Week debut with a monochrome collection of lad looks with precise proportions. The pieces were part normcore, part Cape Cod—a range of all-day staples like wool sweaters and high-waisted nylon shorts.

Lynch also debuted a line of accessories that wonderfully complimented her collection through a series of backpacks, cross-body bags, and Aran knit hats and scarves pulling each ensemble together. Unlike a lot of designers who keep their looks very much in season, we would wear any piece of the Robyn Lynch A/W '19 collection during the high-energy days of Spring or crisp nights of Fall.

STEFAN COOKE

Designer Stefan Cooke showed their A/W '19 collection in collaboration with Fashion East—and unlike the other two designers who made their London Fashion Week Men's debut, this was Cooke's third range. The collection, which was simultaneously conceptual yet literal, gave viewers a look at the designer's ability to successfully subvert classic silhouettes, featuring cable-knit jumpers decorated with actual leather cables, and chainmail draped over zipped-up collared shirts. Craft was truly at the forefront of the Stefan Cooke A/W '19 collection—it was very clear how much attention he gave to each garment.

Photos courtesy of Fashion East.

Fashion

TEMET: If Skims Met Skins

November 04, 2024

I often wonder where the first “afters” happened — whether it was right here in New York or somewhere else. The afters: that hazy, half-lit party that stretches into the morning, more intimate than dancing skin-to-skin with someone you just met, where the crowd thins to only those willing to let the night bleed into morning. Here, you get to watch the sunrise together too.

But today, no matter where you go in the world, if you're at a rave or DIY party, there's probably an afters. If you've never been to one, or don’t care to be, you’ve probably scrolled through your feed and seen that one story: morning sun flooding a cluttered living room, hot people still dancing, bodies tangled on a worn couch — lost in the aftermath of a night that refuses to end.

Creative Director Kiernan Francis
Designer TEMET
Photographer (Still) Alejandro Yullo
Director of Photography & Editor (Moving) Ava Papunen
Stylist Abby Bencie
Makeup Rory Alvarez
Casting Director Kiernan Francis
Lighting Director & Retoucher Lida Ramsay
Executive Producer Kiernan Francis
Associate Producer Ava Perman
Brand Producer Juanita
Soundtrack: "Revolution," Billy Doll (EXCLUSIVE RELEASE)
Makeup Assistant Kandi Milk
Fashion Assistant Jackson Prus
Production Assistant Peyton Nguyen
Production Assistant Emmanuel Delator
Production Assistant Axl Checho

This editorial for Chilean-based TEMET, a brand deeply woven into the underground music and nightlife scene, captures that noctural alchemy. Creative directed by New York’s own Kiernan Francis, the shoot draws inspiration from the afters’ electric liminality. Francis sought to celebrate the paradox of private and public life — where our truest selves might emerge within nightlife and fade into the versions of ourselves we show the world by daylight.

The cast was a mix of DJs, artists, and street-scouted creatives — some known to Francis from the scene, others discovered through social media. The styling leaned into shapewear as an experience, framed by a backdrop that evokes the afters: crowded couches, messy rooms, and the chaos of a night extending into morning. The result? A series that feels like SKIMS meeting Skins UK.

Watch the video below.

Fashion

Nikolaj Hansson Joins Diadora Legacy as Creative Director

October 31, 2024

Diadora's appointment of Danish designer Nikolaj Hansson as Creative Director for its Legacy line signals a fresh chapter for the brand. Known for his Copenhagen-based label Palmes, Hansson’s connection to Diadora began in childhood, admiring the brand’s iconic boots on Premier League defenders. Now, his deep respect for Diadora’s heritage and his vision for merging craftsmanship with progressive design will shape the brand’s premium Legacy line.

His first collection launching in Fall/Winter 2025, will blend his design ethos with Diadora’s storied history, tapping into both the brand’s past and a modern sensibility. Diadora’s CEO, Claudio Bora, shares Nikolaj Hansson's vision of sport as an emotional, daily experience, aiming to create apparel that resonates with the spirit of sport itself. As Hansson says, "the falling in love was mutual," and together, they aim to reignite that spark in a new generation of fans.