London Men’s Fashion Week pregnant with possibilities

Left: Chinese designer Xander Zhou sent a male model with a fake baby bump down the runway. Right: Designer Liam Hodges’ most striking work was a black T-shirt bearing the image of a Roman breastplate worn by a model in a Praetorian Guard helmet. PHOTOS: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

LONDON • London Men's Fashion Week has given birth to ideas such as an imagined male pregnancy, flower necklaces and melting ice caps.

At the event, which wrapped up on Monday, Chinese designer Xander Zhou's collection featured a male model with a fake bump on show, wearing jeans and a white T-shirt reading New World Baby.

"We're prepared to welcome a future of male pregnancy," the designer said in an Instagram post.

His show also featured one of the more improbable-looking designs of all the collections - an elaborate raincoat with six sleeves arranged in a star formation.

The spring-summer 2019 collection was, perhaps unsurprisingly, entitled Supernatural, Extraterrestrial & Co.

Edward Crutchley's collection was inspired by "contemporary mythology", featuring prints by French artist Lucien Murat of a post-apocalyptic world of deformed creatures.

The collection also had a strong Japanese theme, including a partnership with a kimono printing company from Kyoto.

Christopher Raeburn, a specialist in environmentally conscious fashion, used National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) images showing melting ice caps to create a modern and socially engaged collection titled React Now.

Liam Hodges took his inspiration from the natural world with designs carrying vegetable and leopard-skin motifs.

Perhaps his most striking work was a black T-shirt bearing the image of a Roman breastplate worn by a model in a Praetorian Guard helmet.

The highly anticipated show by Man - a kind of fashion incubator which has helped many of the current generation of British designers - presented a gender-fluid collection.

Male models wearing evening dresses, mini-skirts or opting to go bare-chested featured heavily.

A heavily applauded design saw transsexual model Munroe Bergdorf strut the catwalk dressed only in a pair of black boots and a long, torn T-shirt with the words "High concept character".

But London Men's Fashion Week, which is particularly oriented towards streetwear, did not forget to include a bit of old-school British chic.

The refined elegance of a City gent came courtesy of Oliver Spencer, whose collection featured linens and organic cottons, mineral colours and a touch of hippie sensibility - jackets worn with shorts and flower chains.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on June 13, 2018, with the headline London Men’s Fashion Week pregnant with possibilities. Subscribe