Showing his debut menswear collection at the inaugural London Collections: Men last summer, Richard Nicoll was already a hot ticket for AW13. And his show didn’t disappoint. Although inspired by brutalist architecture and industrial essentials, a building site would be the last place you’d find his hard-wearing leather trousers or block-coloured buttonless boilersuits. Seeming like it was going to be a full blend of ash greys and dusky blues, paint-splattered slacks looked like they were covered in smart-phone barcodes making a new age digital camo. Zip-down bombers were pared with thick skater boy belt chains and skull cap beanies, giving the slick tailoring a street edge. But the real treat came with a space-age silver oversized parka that mirrored the cool concrete vastness of the Old Sorting Office to futuristic perfection, followed by Nicoll’s part in the tangerine trend sweeping #LCM, with pops of safety orange crashing the calm of the so far classic palette and highlighting the no wave/new wave post-punk backlash.
Text: Felicity Kinsella
