John Lawrence Sullivan

Admittedly I didn't really know much about Japanese designer Arashi Yanagawa, or his brand John Lawrence Sullivan, before I attended his show in Paris last month, but having taken a glance at his website this makes sense - while being stocked all over Japan I couldn't trace one stockist here in Europe.  There are quite a few designers like this who show in Paris for the prestige but actually only sell back in Asia.  It's a funny concept but I guess there is still that cachet associated with the Paris shows.  It might also lead to more Western press exposure, which can only be a good thing for the Sullivan brand because there was a lot to like!  

While I did find a few of the pieces rather dated (double breasted suit jackets worn with roll-necks and billowing trousers - The Sartorialist/Mr Porter has a lot to answer for here), it was the more modern items getting me hot under the feathers.  I liked the accentuated shoulders, either pointed or padded, which had a touch of Mugler about them and were certainly less ridiculously proportioned than at Thom Browne.  The narrow-legged trousers in either leather or gold were much more my style as were the silk evening jackets in jewel tones - just the thing for a nip down Shepherds Bush market.  I'm starting to enjoy the stares I get in West London.  The long, sweeping coats and the black suede biker jacket were instant classics that almost any guy would want to wear (even a girly boy like me).  So, as Stasie's been saying for years, out with the old and in with the new!     

Only one more post from Paris to come and then the drama of London Fashion Week will be upon us, although I'm restricting myself to just a couple of shows this season because of thesis time constraints.  Sometimes life's just a bitch.  

xxx
Duck