Tailoring is not a word heard much this London men’s season, tilted toward elegant, retro-tinged casual wear. Patrick Grant is definitely of this leisure-minded school, recalling the optimism of Britain in the early Fifties, when holiday camps sprouted and the gravity-defying Skylon tower in London symbolized a buoyant economy.
Grant excels at this period, and every exit hinged on his signature high-waist pants — wide-leg when paired with boxy camp shirts, skinny and cropped for fine knits — or slim Bermudas with sewn-in pleats. These played a supporting role to a host of slouchy raincoats, parkas and anoraks in a filmy, rainproof fabric — or toppers with more of a period feeling, including zippered barbershop shirts and four-button safari jackets.
While such plain clothes can be ho-hum on a runway, unusual colors for the outerwear — rose, mustard, aquamarine — and shots of gingham prints occasionally livened things up.
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Backstage, Grant talked up the return of luxury sportswear. “People are buying into this idea of an easy wear,” he said.