A journey westwards to the Natural History Museum for Cottweiler’s latest. No matter – we’re fans of the duo’s sleazy, subversive sportswear, and they’ve quietly carved out a reputation as one of the most exciting shows in London. As befitting the setting, the museum’s darkened crystal corridors, they looked downwards (figuratively) into the Subterranean lakes of the Krizna Java network. The pair work best in deep, dark Freudian holes such as these – their stripped-back sportswear always comes laced with a suggestion of fetish. Here merino base layers, some shredded and torn, were cinched with climbing belts and carabiners – those natural merino fibres played against distressed nylon, and shiny metallic jacquards – a tension between synthetic and artificial that the boys have explored since they won the Woolmark Prize for Menswear. It was finished off with clear goop, smeared on heads and arms, as if the boys had stuck their hands into a pot of hair gel – or, well, use your imagination.
Photographs by Jason Lloyd-Evans
