Arguably one of the most conceptual thinkers in fashion right now, Hed Mayner has, in recent seasons, explored shape, proportion, and contrast as a sculptor might, stripping away concerns like status to get to the essence of clothes, material and cut. He takes a certain pride, rightly, in using a small vocabulary to make a big statement.
That process lets him make interesting points in places others tend to overlook. This season, the space is what he affectionately calls “boring clothes”—a dad’s shirt, a brother’s V-neck, a grandfather’s pinstripe trousers, a boyfriend’s pajamas. Taking something utterly familiar and coaxing out a new personality is the whole point.
“It’s a different kind of manipulation,” the designer said in an interview. “The clothes are linked to a technique that’s not high tech, but rather, humble.”
His research resulted in some striking pieces, like a shirt in a wrinkled, crunchy memory fabric that lets it fly out in the back. That was not a show trick: Mayner explained that he structured the material with Lurex and metallic netting to give the shirt the wearability of a jacket, and to give the wearer the freedom to shape it as they wish. Another shirt was, in fact, two stitched together and cut so that it has no front or back.
Mayner loves toying with oversized cuts and proportions, so he can always be counted on to offer up architectural coats with sweep and swagger. A crisp gray trench was shown with trousers as light as gum wrapping, in silver Tyvek; a winning safari-style windbreaker paired with pajama-like trousers with shirt-cuff ankles, and a chocolate leather overcoat that whispered stealth luxury was grounded by a pressed slipper that, like the ankle boots and moccasins, was made in partnership with Quoddy, the Maine heritage footwear company.
Within a lineup of strong statement pieces, Mayner’s biggest hits were the utility jackets he likened to both “a home” and “luggage.” “It’s a part of the body, in a functional way. There’s something about having the garment as your only possession—you don’t need to carry any other accessories,” he offered, explaining how their oversized proportions and big pockets reflect how he relates to sportswear: They are, simply, “a life jacket.”
That idea will no doubt spawn countless imitations, but in Mayner’s hands, it delivers something new even before it is put on a moving body and goes somewhere else entirely.
