The menu for autumn/winter 15 is yet another mouth watering smorgasbord of design talent that showcases the diversity and depth of London menswear. Fresh from Central Saint Martins, ready-to-wear newcomer Grace Wales Bonner joins jewellery designer Alan Crocetti, textile maverick Edward Crutchley, accessories and jewellery designer Roxanne Farahmand and the award winning duo Marques’Almeida. “I always love the fun energy of our presentations, with designers free to show their work away from the rules and pressure of the runway,” begins Lulu Kennedy, Director of Fashion East. “This season I’m particularly thrilled to introduce radical new talent Grace Wales Bonner to our gang and to host a salon show for the brilliant Shaun Samson. Total talent all packed under one roof – it’s going to be buzzing,” she adds.
Fashion East is often described as an incubator, which of course it is, but it’s also a gang of today’s most exciting prospects and a family that nurtures tomorrow’s talent. It’s maternal nature is confirmed by the return longtime Fashion East-ie, Shaun Samson. To celebrate the return of the California-born and London-trained designer, we asked him a few questions as he applies the finishing touches to his homecoming show.
What does Fashion East mean to you?
To be a bit sappy, Fashion East really is a fashion family. Lulu, Natasha, and the entire team really care for the designers like they’re our older sisters – cool older sisters actually… that are punk as fuck! All the politics in the industry often causes roadblocks, so it’s inspiring to see them bulldoze their own way. I’m sure I can speak for the other designers that I’ve shown with via Fashion East that we share a special kinship with one another, so it’s never a competition. I’ve shared the catwalk with Matthew Miller, Martine Rose, Astrid Andersen, and Agi & Sam, and I’m super excited for all their successes.
How would you say you’ve grown as a designer since your debut with them?
As a designer, I’m still the same and still approach fashion the way I learned with Louise Wilson on the MA at CSM. However since debuting with Fashion East, I’m more aware of the business side of the industry which I’m still learning to roll with.
How did you feel after your last minute return to the installations last season?
Moving to California made me really aware of how lucky and fortunate I was to have received so much support when I started with Fashion East and then with NEWGEN MEN. But because I technically no longer qualified for that kind of support by moving studios to Los Angeles, I didn’t know if I’d ever ride that wave again. So it was humbling to be invited back last season to show at the installations because it showed that Fashion East, being cool as fuck as they are, didn’t care that I wasn’t London-based anymore.
And how it feels to be back fully in the fold this season?
Getting the team back together (Rob Meyers, Matthew Josephs, Eddy Martin) to work on a show again is the best part of presenting with Fashion East. We released the collection via lookbooks the last two seasons, and were bummed that we couldn’t extend the presentation of the collections with shows that included casting boys, sending invites, and especially making show music. We’re all excited to be playing show music again since it’s such a big part of my research for the collections.
Plus a little cheeky hint at what we can expect from the salon show?
Being a slightly autobiographical designer, I take from my surroundings and incorporate that into my work. Living in California after being in London for nine years made me see things differently here than when I was a kid listening to gangster rap and attempting to ride a skateboard at 7-years-old. I think people will be a bit surprised at my research this season; it’s all still very Cali-inspired, but my references are more mature.
Credits
Text Steve Salter