Martine Rose was exploring places and spaces for S/S 14. She was looking at the influence our surroundings can have on the way we dress, hence the complexity of her installation, which came complete with house plants, apple cores and half-drunk beer bottles, plus model.
Rose's is an apt theme for an event like London Collection: Men, where the fashion-fetishising environment caused by the concentration of style fans in one place tends to send everyone into a competitive frenzy that makes them start dressing like peacocks. Luckily Rose was drawing inspiration from less manic surroundings. Provoked by her working relationship with furniture brand Lignet Rose, she was looking instead at chairs from different cultures, as well as home furnishings like curtains - hence all the frills. While Rose may be thinking big in terms of her creative concepts, the bulk of her collection was pleasantly simple and, dare I say, sellable. There was a certainly a commercial savvy to those slogan sweatshirts and printed t-shirts. While last season's lengthy, artistic presentation was fun, it was rewarding to see Rose use the 5 year anniversary of her brand as the occasion to balance her theatrics with a collection that was true to her ethos but could pull in shoppers as well as critical admirers.