Take A First Look At Daniel w. Fletcher Spring/ Summer 2019

As we count down the hours to the official London Fashion Week Men’s kick-off courtesy of ICEBERG, that same old feeling of excitement starts bubbling up. A mecca for contemporary tailoring and a hub for emerging talent, London is a city where opposites collide, a place where unexpected ingredients mix together and make the coolest fashion pie on the menu. There’s a few names that instantly come to mind when we think of that perfect merging of contemporary ideas and a heritage sensibility. Daniel Fletcher is definitely one of them. A young designer with strong political views and a clearly defined design aesthetic that falls somewhere between 1970’s activewear and contemporary suiting with a twist. It’s been three years since Daniel w. Fletcher emerged onto the London scene and the brand has since  created its own little universe, with new elements coming into play each season. For Spring/ Summer 2019, there’s actually a lot of novelties. After seasons of presentations, tomorrow is Daniel’s first runway show, and in true 10 Magazine style – we’re bringing you the first look at the collection.

“I was thinking a lot about expectations of masculinity, especially in the business world,” Mr.Fletcher tells, us as he explains the starting point for his SS19 collection. Inspired by the ideas of challenging gender stereotypes, the designer reached out to New York-based artist Caitlin Keogh whose unique graphic paintings caught his attention at the “Dreamers Awake” exhibition at the White Cube gallery in Bermondsey last year. “There’s been a print out stuck on my studio wall ever since so I guess that must have really been stuck in my head when I was designing this collection.” For the first time ever, a custom print will play a big role in Daniel’s show – three of Keogh’s colourful artworks were printed on silk shirts and scarves, with imagery of female bodies and organs giving classic menswear shirts a subversive storyline. Speaking of the collaboration, Keogh told us about the pragmatic nature of the process: “We looked through my paintings from the last few years and Daniel could see which paintings would fit, structurally onto the fabric. I asked for the to colour to be changed, as another moment of this translation from one mode to another, but left it up to Daniel to pick the colours. Looking at his last few collections I was really interested in the romantic use of colour, slightly off key, a little faded, quite delicate.” The outcome is as harmonious as they come – a meeting of renaissance and pop-art, it symbolises the meeting of old and new, just like London Fashion Week Men’s does. And yes, we know you should never judge the book by the cover, but we’re already excited for the coming season. Let the games begin!!