Some designers are known for their intricacies: Issey Miyake’s pleats, Demna’s oversized hoodies, and Craig Green for his tie-up strap detail. For SS23, the latter took this motif and ran with it – presenting a collection which kicked off the weekend of Paris Fashion Week.
Notably too, this season saw the London-based designer take to Paris to show – a trend that saw London Fashion Week Men’s only holding on to a handful of shows a couple of weeks ago. Since previously undergoing a two-year hiatus and making his debut at Paris Men’s Fashion Week in 2020, the industry’s eyes were trained on Green this morning to see what direction this collection would take them in – and it did not disappoint.
Known for his thought-provoking designs which often question the parameters of what ‘fashion’ could and should look like, this season saw Green blend the structural with the wearable, functional with the showstopper. Starting things off was a series of denim set looks, coming in various washes but all featuring a circular, silver hardware cutout somewhere within this. Recalling aesthetics of tags, here Green pointed to the garments as labels – how will people know I’m wearing Craig Green? By the tag – or the whole piece, of course.
Then came a tailoring section which saw coats, jackets, trousers and accessories all come in a single shade – whether that was heavy leather, traditional cotton or metallic lacquer. Tying this procession together (literally) was a series of protruding straps, disrupting the more ‘classic’ silhouettes with protruding detail that drew the eye and added further layers movement to each piece. Here too, we saw boxy messenger bags which perhaps signalled a move towards more accessible items for the designer.
However, by far the most memorable pieces were the ones which took structural art and placed it on the body for display: a series of technical and classically Craig Green jacket and trouser sets that had a kite-like attachment on the back of them, trailing behind the models as if ready to take flight. Fittingly too, the cargo trousers that these were paired with were akin to parachute pants – with straps trailing across the runway too. These came in yellow, khaki and baby pink colourways.
Rounding things off were pieces that utilised heavy folding – draped, hooded blanket-like structures with bold prints. Accessories were strong, with adidas collabs on foot materialising as the deconstructed CG Retropy Sandal amongst colour-matched sneakers, which included the CG Stan Smith Boost and the CG Split Stan Smith. This SS23 collection saw Craig Green operate at a level of confidence and comfort that can only be achieved having found a niche. A sweet spot, so to speak. Bright (and shiny) things ahead.
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