
If you’re a regular reader you’ll know how much I love James Long. The jumper I purchased from his Topman collaboration late last year quickly became one of my favourite items of clothing, and who could forget the collection with Buffy style red leather trousers?
Needless to say I was excited to see what the AW13 collection would look like – for a designer who excels at knitwear, Autumn/Winter collections are usually stronger than the Spring/Summer ones. I would never have guessed the inspiration for the collection he presented at LCM would have come all the way from Baltimore. Yep, you guessed it, James Long’s AW13 collection was a John Waters fan’s fashionable wet dream, complete with pink flamingoes tops and Divine jumpers. Insane.
You already know how I much I love John Waters, in fact I consider Mink Stole one of my style icons. The first clue to the collections inspiration came with the runway music, The Avalanches ‘Since I left You‘ played as the models traversed the runway, a song which features dialogue from Divine’s role in the 1981 John Waters film Polyester (the one and only film to be made in Odorama). Divine’s extraordinary face from 1972’s seminal Pink Flamingoes adorns some of the AW13 jumpers, realised in Long’s trademark knitwear style, as do the eponymous flamingoes. James Long’s influences aren’t usually so apparent, nor are his designs usually so graphic, but the collection does stay true to his aesthetic. Leather trousers were abundant, albeit in a looser more athletic silhouette (we saw similar trousers at Topman Design), cuffed at the bottom like a tracksuit pant they were worn high and pleated at the waist. In combination with the wide shouldered, oversized coats these looks were reminiscent of zoot suits from the 1940’s. Clashing patterns in sombre, understated autumnal shades were paired with quilted leather jackets, contrast sleeve jumpers and 3/4 length chunky cardigans filled out the rest of the collection. Divine, as ever, stole the show. Well, she would wouldn’t she?
Traduction – La collection Automne-Hiver de James Long est inspirée par les films de John Waters.