In a nod to its new Covent Garden home, Kent & Curwen staged a presentation on Floral Street a few doors away from the brand’s first, new-generation flagship which is set to open in September.
The barn-like venue, with its Tudor-style wooden beams, soaring ceiling and inner courtyard, was an impressive mix of old and new, like the brand.
Models paced around a gym floor that was covered with brightly colored court markings, and then gathered for a team picture at the end. David Beckham, whose company Seven Global has invested in K&C, and Daniel Kearns, the creative director, watched from above.
Looks included a crinkly cotton great coat — a riff on the wool one for winter — a new, slimmer spin on the cricket trouser done in lightweight flannel, knee-length shorts with contrast tape details, and faded rugby shirts with patches that looked as if they’d been attached by hand rather than machine.
Sweaters were artfully distressed — Beckham himself was wearing a green cardigan with moth-eaten edges — while models wore cricket and tennis sweaters that had a similar degree of faux damage at the bottom. Models also wore fluid cotton trousers — some in K&C’s signature carrot shape.
You May Also Like
SEE ALSO: Kent & Curwen Prepares to Take Covent Garden With New Store >>
“This brand is really about modern clothes, the way people dress whether they’re young, old — even girls,” said Kearns. “It’s an attitude of dressing that’s about breaking down traditional codes.”
Those rough edges and hand-sewn patches also took their cue from the concept of clubs, teams and the 1948 London Olympics, known as the Austerity Games because post-war athletes had to wear their own clothes and attach badges to them to show to which team they belonged.
“I think every British man has been part of a team or club at some point, and this collection was about ‘badging with pride,’ the kind of garments that bring people together,” said Kearns.
See More From the London 2018 Men’s Spring Collections:
Stella McCartney Screens Men’s Wear Short Film at 16th-century Pub: Steven Tyler, Steve Coogan were among the guests at the Tudor-era watering hole.
Charles Jeffrey Men’s Spring 2018: A riotous cast of characters, unified in their theatricality and Jeffrey’s joyous treatment of his theme: debauchery.
Cottweiler feat. Reebok Men’s Spring 2018: Dainty and Cottrell looked to the optimism and escapism of off-grid desert communities for spring.
What We Wear Men’s Spring 2018: Tinie Tempah fused the brand’s minimalist aesthetic with a sportier one for spring.
Wales Bonner Men’s Spring 2018: This focused yet subdued collection saw Grace Wales Bonner musing on a “blue mood.”
Christopher Raeburn Men’s Spring 2018: There was a lightness and transparency to Christopher Raeburn’s signature practical silhouettes.