Returning to Milano for a third season, London-based designer Saul Nash continued to move his sportswear design codes into more formal territory. He cleverly explored how tailoring and casual wear can inform one another, dancing between the two with ease and sophistication.
He’d been thinking about how clothes can be used as a form of masquerade as you move through every day life. After seeing colourful masquerade costumes at Notting Hill Carnival in the summer, he began researching into Venice masquerade where masks are used as a way to disguise. Thinking about his own experience growing up in the capital, he wanted to create a wardrobe that would help him adopt certain formalities without loosing sight of his own sense of style. Like a tracksuit, Nash’s go-to uniform since he was younger, that was printed with the silhouette of a suit. “This is a way to fit in, but at the same time, staying true to who you are,” he said.
This was power dressing through a Saul Nash lens. Eighties business suits lent their shape to merino wool pinstriped all-in-ones, cut wide and baggy, emulating the elongation of a masquerade costume. They were paired alongside padded shiny jackets, crinkled nylon jumpsuits and form-fitting compression tops printed with a faded body as if you were wearing another person; a new identity.
Like with all Nash’s collections, there was an underlying sexiness to many of the pieces, like a nipple-flashing mohair cardigans and denim twinsets that were printed with the faint outline of a chiselled toro. Also, there were many moments of technical brilliance, like cropped trench coats with adaptable collars and the designer’s ongoing collaboration with Lululemon, where the Canadian sports giant’s codes are elevated. Masquerade might be defined as a way of blending in, yet these clothes will ensure you do the exact opposite.
Photography courtesy of Saul Nash.
