James Long Revealed as River Island Studio SS15 Menswear Collaborator

River Island design studio was set up to collaborate with emerging UK design talent. Its past collaborations have been with Katie Eary, Joseph Turvey and most recently Baartmans & Siegel. Spring 15 sees them collaborate with one of London’s most interesting labels James Long. Textile expert Long is known for his intricate fabric combinations and his intelligent use of vibrant color which has set his label apart from others and created a vibe he is notorious for.

He brings his signature aesthetic to the 10 piece collection which features gold tone zips, applique stripes & geometric shapes. There’s a heavy sports influence – pointing back to my recent post – with basics like sweatshirts, hoodies and jogging bottoms getting the special Long treatment. There’s also this seasons sport luxe fabric of choice, neoprene in the collection.

The collection will launch with a short film by Menno Fokma in January during the London Collections Men and finally hit shop floors and online in February with a reasonable price range from £28 - £90. 

Is Sports The New Cool? Exploring London's Fascination with Sportswear

Edward Crutchley SS15

England has long been known for its sartorial strength, inventing the suit and home to the iconic Savile Row, a street dedicated to tailoring. All of this heritage and sartorial culture seems to have been lost on the new generation of designers who are mostly inspired by sportswear or its new fancy term ‘active wear’.A look at most of the spring summer collections from London would reveal an ubiquitous presence of sports influence. Sweatshirts, hoodies, baseball jackets, basketball shorts and baggy shorts were reworked by most of the designers in one form or the other.

James Long SS15

NasirMazhar has always been a fan of basketball shorts and it’s become his staple item. James Long became famous for his interesting use of knits and threads for spring 15 he maintained a sporty vibe with appliqued sweatshirts and shiny baseball jackets.

Newcomer Edward Crutchley who showed under the Fashion East collective, employed psychedelic prints to sweatshirts and jogging bottoms. Active wear was simply the order of the day at the shows and it only shows that the designers are simply reflecting the vibe from the street.

Christopher Shannon SS15

Sportswear has sort of become second skin to a lot of people. Ideally a young kid owns a pair of sneakers before he owns dress shoes, a hoodie before a suit. In comparison to tailoring, sportswear is relatively more affordable. Fashion trends like pairing sneakers with a suit or wearing pool slides with sports socks have added to the sports allure.

Nasir Mazhar SS15

The recent Spornosexual evolution – which I explored earlier – might also be a reason why sports is the new cool as more people lead a healthy and active lifestyle that involves the gym, running or some other form of sports. 

Details: James Long Autumn/Winter 2012 Collection

Quilting, Shear-ling, Bedazzling were executed to perfection and as i sit here writing on my desk with a little back ache no thanks to studying for a grad degree i still remember the James Long aw12 show as the models walked passed glittering. James Long was pushing all my buttons as he sent model after model out in either a embellished collared shirt, quilted jacket or thick worsted luxe wool jumper. I'm def going on a baked beans diet to save for most of the pieces in this collection, especially the shirts and gold threaded cardi's. By far my favorites menswear collection from the just concluded #LFW. More detail shots after the jump.

Cat Footwear AW12 Designer Collections to preview at James Long & Martine Rose LFW shows

Cat Footwear will be showcasing two highly anticipated designer collaboration collections during London Fashion Week AW 12, with emerging menswear designers Martine Rose and James Long. Both collections will be exclusively previewed during the designers NEWGEN MEN Salon and Fashion Forward shows and will draw inspiration from Cat Footwear’s workwear heritage.