Saul Nash has travelled to Katla in Iceland for its latest campaign, which builds on the London designer’s acclaimed FW23 collection. It examines the tensions between the popularity of skiwear on the street and the social barriers that prevent most people from going on extravagant trips to Europe.
As a designer, Nash fuses the practical design properties of sportswear with an elevated and material-focused menswear vision. Born and raised in North-East London, Nash’s collections have, until now, felt like a home-grown affair, with campaigns shot in barbershops being a shining example. Not just a designer, Nash is a choreographer and dancer; his clothes are thus woven with aerobic possibilities.
“Juxtaposition” starts with a group of young men strolling through Hoxton dressed in technical tracksuits, quilted gilets, and tubular Merino wool knits. An exchange sees the film’s protagonist lean into his escapism, where an East London chicken shop is juxtaposed with the Tolkenian Icelandic landscapes of his desires.
The film is directed by long-term collaborator FX Goby and styled by Elgar Johnson and is the sixth project Nash and Goby have worked on. Nash shared the sentiment behind the collection. “This is about escapism. Looking at the streets, where ski garments are worn, and looking at the true context of where they were designed to be worn.”
Drone shots capture the breathtaking natural landscape where soft black sands lap against towering cliffs, dwarfing the film’s protagonist, who performs expressive dance movements that show off the full range of motion the outdoor gear provides. It leans into the idea of living by proxy, imitating the lavish lifestyle of going to the ski resort that is out of reach for so many.
Clothing arrives in a palette of “Alpine Blue,” moss greens and ski-bunny creams paired with volcanic blacks and bursting reds. While feeling and looking like an elevated outdoor offering, Nash’s FW23 collection is as ready for the inclines of Val d’Isere as the concrete of Cambridge Heath.
The collection is available to shop on the Saul Nash website, which has just launched a direct-to-consumer e-tail model.
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