I have been a fan of John Alexander Skelton for many seasons now. Regular readers know I love clothing that has an historical sense, which can manifest in the silhouette, the patterns and cuts, and of course in choices of color and materials. It is why I love the work of Westwood, Yamamoto, Anne Demeulemeester when she was head of her own house, the swashbuckling collections of Galliano, even Armani in his refined luxury. But the work of John Alexander Skelton is extraordinary. Skelton (previously here--please 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, references Dickensian/19th-century/Victorian/Edwardian menswear such as frock coats and high-waisted trousers. Of course I am wild for the Romantic and historical references in his collections, and a signature detail of his is the plethora of buttons on shirts, waistcoats, and jackets.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.
For the last several seasons, Skelton has presented his collection via a lookbook which, and while being able to be photographed in various special British locations which can support the theme and concept of the clothing, leaves out a little of the theatrical. So I am pleased that he presented his Fall-Winter '24-'25 collection live at London's St. Bartholomew-the-Great, a marvel of 12th-century Romanesque arches and Gothic Revival tombs. It was a perfect spot because, whereas the last few seasons were about a certain kind of rural-British folk-earthy vibe, this FW collection was unmistakably ecclesiastical. His penchant for buttons dovetails perfectly into a priestly cassock. The addition of vermillion to the Skelton color palette seems to support the theme as well.
But what really tickles my New Romantic heart (here and here) was the fact that the soundtrack for the show was the song "Dreams Made Flesh" from the very first This Mortal Coil release in 1984. Skelton revealed, "Whenever I really need to concentrate, or to focus on the more creative side of my job, I put on This Mortal Coil—it’s almost like a soundtrack to my work. It feels as if there’s a kind of imagined world behind the music that I wanted to capture in this collection. Taking the inspiration from the music gave me a lot of freedom.”
https://www.johnalexanderskelton.com/
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