Kit Neale AW15 at London Collections: Men
'NO TEDDY BEARS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS COAT'
Bright colours and bright prints naturally put Kit Neale on the other side of the LC:M spectrum. The use of all-over prints is not the first for the London born designer, after establishing his brand in 2012, as he uses these prints to incorporate 'British life, culture and craft'.
When there's so much childhood references, especially when inspired by the circus, it's hard to avoid the fact that the collection is very boyish. The colour and fun illustrations make it very difficult for Neale to argue that the brand is not for the young; but naturally age and gender is not really an issue - it's whether you're fun enough to try and have the right sense of humour. And so the alphabet t-shirts, over-the-knee length shorts, the teddy coats in burnt orange and berry blue go back to one source - Schiaparelli's 1938 'The Circus' collection. It's playful but certainly not a joke; Neale has communicated his ideas well enough to his audience, brining him where he is today, and his personality shines through his prints: original and vibrant.