Matthew Miller has been creeping closer and closer to the top of my favourite designers list for some time now. His aesthetic is always coherent but never repetitive. Having perfected the biker jacket he continues to refine it season after season – using it for layering, crafting it from shearling or experimenting with different fabrics. It’s a luxury that few designers can afford, to be able to rest easy knowing that something you have designed is already perfect, a modern classic. Having created this iconic piece so early in his career is quite the feat. Many designers work for years before they hit upon something so well realised or so instantly recognisable as their own work.
Miller’s obsession with hardware repurposed as adornment continues into AW17. Carabiners become flourishes of detail, almost opulent against the constricted palette of black and white. Not everything was monochromatic though, splashes of florals were spread across mens and womenswear. The make-up added a touch of theatrics, after all the show was entitled “Fear Itself” but anything overtly political was kept to a minimum, Miller prefers to allow the clothes to do the talking.
