A trip to the beach is always a welcome escape during London’s sweltering summers. The fash pack were treated to sands, sea and the evolving sportswear of rising star Saul Nash, who closed out London Fashion Week on Monday by creating a man-made, sun-kissed haven inside the halls of the ICA.
The Hackney-born designer had been thinking about the intersections of his heritage. His mother, born in Barbados, is of Guyanese heritage, while his father, born and raised in the UK, is Mauritian. “The first thing I remember when I went to Mauritius was the sea, and how fresh it felt,” says Nash ahead of the show. “That feeling you get when you go to the beach, particularly when you’re from London, and you go back to visit your parent’s country. You feel like you’re fitting in when you put the flip-flops on, but actually, you’re wearing a Nike set on the beach.”
This meeting of differing cultural style codes came reflected in Nash’s distinct reworking of garb usually associated with water sports, swimming and sailing. His signature track jackets, for instance, came with aquatic blue, equipped with marine-inspired collars and adorned with flying fish embroideries; a nod to Barabados’ national dish. Elsewhere, clever knit jacquards, which from afar looked like camo, actually depicted the Indian Ocean, whilst superimposed trackies nodded to Ganga, the Hindu river goddess; a tribute to Nash’s grandfather, who the designer discovered was Hindu when he visited Mauritius in his youth.
With movement capabilities at the forefront of his design philosophy, Nash expanded his design repertoire with wetsuits, ventilated shirts crafted from a crispy, nylon-cotton blend, a hot-pink pineapple-printed bomber jacket, and breathable, coral-hued knitted polos with key-hole cut-outs (a nod to Mauritius’ national footy kit). Chuck in some swim trunks, a Saul Nash-branded beach towel and swimming caps courtesy of Soul Cap (the Olympic-approved activewear brand championing all hair types), and you’ve got all the right gear for a successful trip to the seaside. Pina colada, anyone?
Photography courtesy of Saul Nash.
