The London Fashion Week A/W '21 'Fits Esquire Likes a Lot

Another season, another schedule of shows in the British capital. Well not quite. As the pandemic looms on etc etc. You know all about that, and you know why we watched the menswear shows from afar. But after the London leg of fashion's great enduring timetable, the Esquire style team sat down, talked shop and put a big fat tick next to their preferred favourite from homegrown design brands (it was over Zoom, sigh).

Here are the Esquire editors' top looks from London Fashion Week.

Molly Goddard

Catherine Hayward, Fashion Director

"Molly Goddard has made her name with frothy, flirty, fulsome womenswear that’s big on volume and proportion. But hey fellas: here comes Molly menswear. Requested last year by her partner, fashion PR Tom Schickle, who complained that she never made anything for him, the Goddard aesthetic has now been re-defined for men.

"So out goes the tulle and the taffeta, and in its place, a look that is part buffalo, part punk, with a little bit of new romanticism thrown in for good measure. Goddard prides herself on sourcing and manufacturing as much as she can in the UK so the tailored jacket is made from a strong woven Melton Mowbray twill. And the kilt – traditionally woven from pure new wool in Scotland – is the classic Royal Stewart tartan which means any of the Queen’s subjects can wear it. I’m a girl but with that Fair Isle sweater and the brothel creepers, I’m all over it."

Dunhill

Charlie Teasdale, Style Director

"This season represents something of a turning point for Dunhill and its creative director. I’ve enjoyed seeing Mark Weston’s vision for the storied British brand develop over the past few years, and the dramatic Paris shows of the past few seasons (pre-Covid) were some of my favourites of their respective rotations. I loved the future-goth energy he injected into the clothing, all asymmetric tailoring, sharp shoulders and leather. But now the aesthetic is established, it seems as though he has the scope to create something richer, more easy-going.

"There is still drama, but it is tempered with Dunhill editions of classic menswear. There’s a tweedy gilet, polka dot shirting, bomber jackets, schoolboy scarves… it has a dandyish feel, to me. The best thing – and perhaps my favourite single item of the whole season – is the Dunhill dad hat. The brand is firmly rooted in the worlds of motoring and golf, so it’s surprising that its inherent preppiness hasn’t been mined sooner, but just like that, they’ve created what might be the best dad hat of them all."

Bianca Saunders

Murray Clark, Digital Style Editor

"The tuxedo is a strange fish. A hangover from aristo dinners where northern accents and women were illegal, the opportunities to wear them are few – especially now. But, when 'black tie' is stamped upon an invitation, they're deemed an essential. If you don't follow the flock of Pavarotti penguin suits, then you're not at all proper, and people will get very upset. It's all a bit much for something we don't really wear, isn't it?

"And yet. London Fashion Week's Bianca Saunders – something of a promised child on the schedule ever since her 2018 debut – recoded the tuxedo into something cooler, something a little more open. It was boxier, and while it had all the hallmarks of usual black tie (well, it was black for a start, and it had nice silky lovely lapels), this had legs beyond the Lithuanian ambassador's annual diamond auction, or wherever it is people wear tuxedos. If you can take something as stuffy as that and make it refreshingly cool (and still legitimately wearable), then you're very good at your job."

Edward Crutchley

Finlay Renwick, Deputy Style Editor

"I’m a long-time admirer of Edward Crutchley, a designer who is a master of print and texture and who makes clothes that are beautiful and fun. A Woolmark prize winner and long-time righthand man to Kim Jones, Crutchley’s own brand is ascendant, as shown by his A/W '21 outing, which imagines a Coronation Street-inflected magical realism North/South divide told through the medium of… clothes!

"My favourite look is this, an encapsulation of what makes the Yorkshireman such an appealing designer: the overcoat that looks heavy and warm and well-worn, but cut in a way that is inherently expensive and tactile, like a back of the rail vintage shop find that happens to be archival Prada with the tags still attached. The drape! The fit! Worn over a track jacket in the same hazy melange brown, colour and contrast arrive in the form of a silk bandana thrown nonchalantly behind the neck. One of my favourite recent trends, a neckerchief on men is cool and irreverent and the right side of opulent. This is a look that is tailoring, sportswear and a hint of extravagance. An outfit for the catwalk and a fantasy pint down The Rovers."

Ahluwalia

Dan Choppen, Fashion Assistant

"When we return to normality, how will we dress? Many think it'll be a Roaring 2020s, with an excitement and desire to dress up again. That usually means tailoring, which is a foil to a year spent in sweatpants. Ahluwalia's A/W '21 collection, 'Traces', might provide another alternative though. As an exploration of ideas around migration, it coincides with the process of moving from our homes back into a fully working, post-lockdown society, and the collection is built from retro sports kits, polo shirts, tracksuits and denim. So not tailoring.

"My favourite is a boxy fitting deep-navy tracksuit with enlarged cuffs and a rigid collar. A power-suit for the new hybrid living, this blend of comfort and style adds just enough colour and just enough details – I'm all for the white, blue and orange cuff especially. Bold, exuberant suits might be the calling for some, but I am going straight for the boxy, monotonal tracksuit."