In efforts to support young designers through what has been a substantially difficult year, MATCHESFASHION recently announced the upcoming launch of The Innovators Programme. Scheduled to launch in September the project was created with the objective of championing young talent , and will include 12 menswear & womenswear designers from across the world to participate in mentorship projects, as well as partnerships with preferential business terms and marketing.
“I am delighted that we have formalised our support for emerging talent, developing The Innovators into a programme that actually helps futureproof their businesses in what has been a tough year for the creative industry. I have work with many of these designer for a long time and I am so happy that we are committing to their visionary collections in a practical , material way,” explained MATCHESFASHION Buying Director Natalie Kingham
The names included in the program are Art School, Ahluwalia, Chopova Lowena, Stefan Cooke, Germanier, Halpern, Harris Reed, Charles Jeffrey LOVERBOY, Thebe Magugu, Ludovic de Saint Sernin, Bianca Saunders & Wales Bonner, who all worked closely with the MATCHESFASHION team during the pandemic after the need for practical support and ongoing commitment was expressed.
“Emerging talent has always been at the heart of our business but often these businesses exist outside of traditional production cycles and need additional help and support to grow. This programme solidifies what we have always done, recognising talent and promoting their inspiring collections. We’ve worked closely with many of these designers already and I’m excited to continue our journey together,” commented MATCHESFASHION Head of Menswear Damien Paul . The Innovators Programme will officially take shape in September with original content and amplification of each talent that will continue throughout the year.
Last weekend British designer Charles Jeffrey revealed his SS2020 men’s collection during London Fashion Week. Within the past few seasons Jeffrey has established himself to be not just a designer but a showman, a thespian, a poet who doesn’t just put needle to thread without there being deep intention manifested behind it. Each season the designer has delivered full on productions that leaves his audience in wonder of the world around them about matters that are often so blatantly obvious, repackaged and re-presented by the designer in a way that manifests itself within the viewer. Last season Jeffrey presented an exhilarating and immersive Weimar Republic club performance with nods to Peter Pan and sexuality. However this season the designer opted for a rather more sober tone as he drew inspiration from the concept of punk culture and the idea of how it was created as a default to the times in which we lived.
This collection as he said, was “an eruption beneath violent pressure, as a diamond under the heat,” in reference to the political, social and natural climates in which we currently live. His show began with the designer himself walking down the runway of The British Library reading a passage from “In the Beginning,” by Dylan Thomas. Followed by a collection of seersucker suiting, featherweight jacquards referencing armour and civil service uniforms in reference to the need for both freedom and protection; opal blue silk column dresses styled with contradictory military jackets and some pieces containing intricately layered rips and tears representative as sorts of fault lines.
Some models sported full face paintings done and extravagant head pieces and fishnet stockings which reinforced the collection’s punk influence. The collection was acted almost like a map, like a polaroid of this generation’s pain and demise, a prediction maybe, of what such a movement like the punk subculture would have looked like in the year 2019.
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