Neil Barrett - SS14 Menswear Collection

Moving on from last season's influence of 1930s Bauhaus Modernism, the 1950s California Minimalism of Charles and Ray Eames is the inspiration for a spring/summer collection that combines the graphic and the natural.
Engineering Eames to the body, the organic shapes of their mid-century design classics are echoed in inlaid fabric panels or engineered patterns throughout the collection, designed to morph around the form. The influence of another defining twentieth-century American movement, grunge, can be seen in the collection's use of lumberjack plaids in red, white and black.
Throughout is the feel of American streetwear. The ease of a t-shirt is translated into every garment, but the silhouette and perfect finishes are controlled, sharp and contemporary. The attitude is casual but the execution is precise.
The silhouette is tailored away from the body, short sleeves standing away from the arm to create an emphatic silhouette above wide-legged shorts or narrow trousers.
Crew-necklines supplant collars, cut clean across the neck. Streetwear staples like sweatshirts, biker-jackets and bombers feature.
Proportion and finish give a futuristic spin. Seams are bonded, visible stitching and fastenings stripped back to the absolute minimum. Magnets and velcro are used instead of buttons. Concealed scuba zips as front fastenings and pockets streamline surfaces even further, their bindings becoming minimalist decoration, reducing the zip to a crisp black or white line.
Prints are simple, classic. Monochrome horizontal stripes are shown alongside lumberjack checks in black, red and white in a trio of scales: micro, macro and mega.
Sometimes all are combined in a single garment through an engineered weave.
The graphic nature of the patterns emphasise the curvilinear forms taken from the ergonomic designs of Eames, evoked through circular inlays.
Texture is a focus, fabrics given a lightness despite their complex surfaces. Rayon, viscose and nylon technical fabrications are woven into jersey ready to wear and sweatshirtings. These stand alongside perforated neoprene and knits, giving a sensual sense of the body beneath. Leather and pony are requisitioned for summer duty, perforated to give lightness. Leather is woven intricately to create a masculine boucle, the boucle texture also used for jersey separates. All fabrics have body, double-faced or bonded to create architectural volume around the figure.
Shoes are black, the textures of leather and rubberised finishes showcasing cut-outs of natural shapes, again influenced by Eames, supported by a light rubber sole.