There was a whimsical undercurrent at several of the LCM shows this season, with Matthew Miller and Craig Green leading the way in sombre romanticism. Miller is no stranger to collections with a political agenda, but this season the designer’s “Anti War”, “Anti Social” and “Anti You” collection departed from the angry skinheads we saw at AW14 and channeled a subtler message to his audience.
The theme for SS15 was the sentiments of the war veteran who after serving his country must integrate back into society and return to work. Miller explored this theme by means of the “one size fits all” demob three piece suit, that was given to demobilized troops when returning to work. Miller explained that he “bought a lot of demob suits, which were crumbling and just looked at them and how badly they were all made and really thought about them. I did a lot of testing with shredding them and putting them back together and how they would look and all the different textures.”
A uniform of blue and grey pinstripe took to the catwalk, with patchwork re-workings of the fabric showcasing Miller’s signature approach to intricate textile decoration. Once again Miller featured several womenswear looks amongst his androgynous cast members. Memorial wreaths were slung around wrists and necks and velcro patches reading “anti”, “you”, “social” and “war” reiterated Miller’s message upon deconstructed tailoring.
Miller graduated in 2009 from The Royal College of Art, a relative “newbie” on the international design stage, “Introversion” places him as one-to-watch in British menswear.
