JAMES LONG SS12

I’ve seen James Long every season for the last 3 years and every time there is a real evolution of ideas; season by season he refines his ideas into spectacular key pieces that you would kill to own. This year it was quite obvious at LFW that designers were having to rethink their ideas and shift their full attention to selling. I think James got this spot on, and we were left with a S/S 12 collection that had all the excitement of earlier collections but with refinement and total wearability. My eyes were firmly on a plush brown leather jacket in snakeskin print with matching shorts, metallic unravelling knits, a leather foil patchwork jacket and metallic snake print jumpers. Insanely good.

BACKSTAGE AT JAMES LONG

James Long AW 11

James Long is always without a doubt my favourite London menswear designer. Sumptuous knits, delicate mohair, textured leathers and some seriously good casting, his A/W collection was a feast for the eyes. 

JAMES LONG SS 2011

James Long SS 2011 London

Paint splatters, pastel knits, loose weaves, hairy leather, sharp tailoring against comfy slouchy was all on show at James Long on the final menswear day at London Fashion Week.

James Long is always my favourite show on the menswear day. The leather, knits and accessories always accompany each other with such harmony and seriously satisfy my texture cravings.

I’m excited to see a ‘Shop’ section on his website too. Fingers crossed!

James Long

James Long was my favourite show of fashion week. We were so lucky to not only be able to see the show but to be sat in prime position in the front row too! The pictures really don’t do the collection justice. The colours were so intense on the runway and the use of leather was insane. The green leather shorts in pic 12 were incredible, I wish the picture had come out better. I don’t know how he he made those shorts! I read his inspiration was Andy Warhol’s oxidation paintings, in which he used to urinate on copper and that in turn gave a bit of a camouflage pattern. I certainly hope James didn’t urinate on those shorts…. Haha! Other favourites of mine were the holey knitted jumpers (with that green underneath, wow!) and THE MAN BAGS! I became slightly obsessed with man bags over London fashion week. Men look so good with handbags! It definately needs to become a bigger thing.
Anyway onto delish…

I have to say, James Long completely blew me away. The colour placement in this collection was spot on; the beautiful beetle greens that shone out of black, the texture of the mohair contrasting against the metallic leather. I have fallen in love!

After the James Long show, Carolyn Massey was to follow. A beautifully tailored collection with futuristic survival action-man styling!

The styling in this collection brought it all together wonderfully, the futuristic sunglasses and metal shoulders reminded me of jet-pack holders.
The one thing I learnt this summer over anything else is the importance of styling in a collection. Styling is becoming a much bigger role in fashion, I don’t think this is a bad thing at all, if you can find a partner that truly understands your goal and you bring the best out in one another then the collection can only come out better.