Set in a extensively industrial looking warehouse building crowds of people gather in and around it; a tide of fur jackets, slicked backed hair and shined shoes - a low hum of discussions and murmurs of what tricks YMC (You Must Create) may have up their sleeves this season. After nearly 20 years of developing and evolving a signature look of functional and practical clothing, designer Fraser Moss has slowly added modern twists into his designs, this season creating a state-of-the-art dapper look which still involves YMC’s trademark wardrobe versatility.
The fluorescent lights flick upwards and the voices die down, and we are faced with an array of boys, all with endearing frowns, cheekbones that could cut and immaculately styled hair. Amidst the pack we spot Elliott Vulliod (SUPA Model Management), our Issue 7 cover boy – how nice to see a familiar face! The show begins with minimal colours and clean classic cuts. They experiment with materials; matching leather bomber jackets and joggers being a personal favourite of ours, clearly Moss has been getting wonderfully creative. As the show goes on YMC push the contemporary side of the brand further, including an amazing combination of hoods and hats (and lots of them!), which appear to be a favourite, as iphones are raised and social media starts buzzing.
As the nominal colours de-saturate from the collection, the boys march down the runway in bolder colours and as the music gets just a little bit more psychedelic, they are wearing bright yellow fisherman’s jackets and dusty pink loafers, giving the brand a more youthful feel; another side to this accomplished collection. Of course this boyish look is teamed with smart looking waistcoats and controlled shirts keeping the contrast alive.
It is clear that YMC are continuing to impress with their clothing and slowly creating more ‘out-there’ designs; they are re-designing the practical man's wardrobe and adding a little bit of spice to it. We concur.