Adam Jones presented his latest collection in London inspired by imagery and ideas of simpler times in working-class Britain’s past, from a time the designer did not live through yet is nostalgic for, a time learned about via family photographs and stories, also through materials and memorabilia he was surrounded with growing up in Wales, which he found to be stuck in the hangover of the 1970s, the decade he feels he grew up in. These clothes are heavily inspired by the past and even made using fabrics from a previous time, but the materials are reworked and the garments are re-presented for today without marking a season.
“In seventies Britain we spent most of our time at home or in the pub, the collection celebrates how Brits wore clothes every day in those spaces. If not down the pub or feathering our nests, we worked to pay for the pints and home comforts, uniform is also an influence on this collection, what we wore on the factory floor or to work the tills, clothes worn by those who make the world go round.” Show notes explained.
Jones pays homage to the hard-working men who keep the street alive, wearing their stripes to work in the many butchers, fishmongers, and fruit stalls in his neighborhood. There is a formality to what these men wear, not too dissimilar to the men in pinstripe suits who pass them on the way to the office, there is a commonality in the way both men dress, but in different ways, for different environments, which he finds fascinating. The stripes can be seen on jackets and coats, and also on dresses that are made up of two aprons, one worn on the front, one worn backward, and tied together around the waist, will these be sold? Probably not, he is just selling the idea.
There are plenty of characters in this collection, the village priest who also referees matches on a Saturday, the local amateur jockey who wears his stripes even to get a pint of milk from the corner shop, and the lads on a stag do tormenting the town, wearing mini skirts over their jeans. There is a dress-up element to this collection, possibly inspired by Jones’ time spent in a fancy dress costume factory.
There is still a hankering for the countryside in the clothes, Thelwell cartoons are printed all over shirts, shorts, and trousers made from vintage bedding and curtains. This year marks 70 years since we were first introduced to stories of the little pony. There is however a darker side to the countryside, images of traditional hunting scenes contrast the sweet image of the pony, appearing on a boat neck tapestry top, again on a vintage tea towel thrown over the shoulder, as it would be when cooking, then strapped to the body as a top, and granny’s prized China plates are worn as brooches.
What we wore to school also inspired the designer. School trousers and skirts appear a lot, however, they are actually made from shower curtains, a banal household fabric used to make a piece of clothing we remember but in an unexpected material. Another use of domestic textiles are the jumpers and vests cut from old cellular blankets, used in hospitals or on your granny’s bed, the kind of blanket you would be wrapped up in if you were sick or had come in from playing in the rain, there’s a comfort to it both in touch and memory.
Check out the collection below:
