Hussein Chalayan is a designer whose process runs deep, deep, deep: His clothes are visceral reactions cut in cloth to his wider concerns and preoccupations. This season, he played petri dish to a spore of thought that encompassed Grecian ethnic attire, “corporate personalities,” and “a generation of individuals who are beginning to create their own realities.” Once percolated in the Chalayan crucible, these conceptual elements bloomed forth into the clothes within this first collection of Chalayan menswear to be shown on the London schedule.
Wide three-quarter length trousers with cut-outs at the back of each leg’s hem, sometimes in black, white, gray, or a grid of monochrome triangles, came with wide belts looped at each hip that looked vaguely Grecian. Oversize, loose-weave knits—sometimes with kangaroo pockets—were thoughtfully easy. A double-faced revereless topcoat with a built-in three-button waistcoat was attractive. Collarless double-breasted shirts, undone by three buttons to create detail at the neck, looked like a new and interesting masculine option. For footwear, Chalayan remade the great Czech army monkey boot. This “jewel box show,” as Chalayan called it—held in his store, it was very small indeed—was dense with good things whether you cared about the source material or not.
