February 19, 2024 |
Saul Nash took us back to a bygone, golden era of London clubbing on Sunday as he transformed the NEWGEN space at Old Selfridges Hotel into a UK garage night. It had the look and the energy of the infamous Twice As Nice, the late ‘90s UKG mecca where dressing to impress was de rigour. Designer labels populated dancefloors and to even get past the front door to the capital’s biggest nights, there were strict dress codes: “no hoods/no hats/no trainers”. Nash saw the UKG scene through the eyes of his older brother, who was an MC in clubs, and remembers watching the ritual of him getting dressed for a night out.
In making his collection, Nash started to think of ways he could smarten up his sportswear, as if to sneakily get past the bouncers guarding those doors 30 years ago. Padded jackets, for instance, came with hoods that can be quickly folded down to resemble a classic collar, while loafers designed with Sebago, came with sporty soles. As the sounds of Ms. Dynamite and Heartless Crew flooded the space – MC Bushkin walked the show, as did photographer Ewen Spencer, whose lens captured the birth of UKG as it happened – Nash’s cast two-stepped their way across the catwalk. They wore recycled nylon zip-ups, track pants cut in the silhouette of a suit trouser and the designer’s signature compression knits, woven with dancing bodies. Nash also expanded his womenswear arsenal too, with Jourdan Dunn closing the show in a sporty miniskirt and skin-tight track top with keyhole cut outs at the shoulder. It shaped up to be one of the week’s best shows, and had us yearning for a night out on the tiles.
Photography courtesy of Saul Nash
