Skelton (previously here--do take a look at some incredible past collections), who was awarded the Sarabande scholarship granted by the Lee Alexander McQueen Foundation and graduated from Central Saint Martin’s with an M.A. in fashion men’s wear in 2016, usually works closely with weavers and mills across England to create handcrafted silhouettes that draw reference from 19th-century menswear such as frock coats and high-waisted trousers. Treatments like hand-dying, hand washing and patching are recurrent features in his collections, lending a romanticism to his work which I just love.
But the pandemic forced the markets where he sourced antique linen to shut, so instead Skelton developed hemp-linen and hemp-cotton blends with several Irish mills. He said by mixing two different natural fibers together, the fabric becomes structured and multitonal even when dyed with just one color. For this collection, he also used indigo for the first time. Skelton said he used to find indigo rudimentary and difficult to use on outerwear, but he finally found an interesting way to modernize it.
"I want to make it more romantic," he said, referring to an indigo shirt made with handwoven cotton from India, in which the yarn is also spun by hand. "It creates this ripple effect within the fabric, and when that’s dyed with indigo, you get this quite interesting color, which is deep and light at the same time," he added.
Of course I am wild for the Romantic and historical references in his collections, and a signature detail of his is the plethora of buttons on shirts, waistcoats, and jackets. Skelton says he sees buttons as the simplest form of decoration, as a kind of jewelry, so he applies them liberally to pieces. I feel his love and respect for antique English clothing just like Westwood. It's all so beautiful. And the fact that the lookbook was photographed in the ruins of an abbey add to the Romantic sense and tickle me greatly...
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