Since launching his brand, Saul Nash has enjoyed a steady rise. Having founded his label shortly after completing his MA in Menswear at the Royal College of Art, the London-born designer has since received accolade after accolade – last year, he won the prestigious International Woolmark Prize and the Queen Elizabeth II award for British Design in the same week.
“I think sensitivity and softness is always key when I'm designing,” he explains from his studio, a few days before his Autumn/Winter ’23 show. “Whilst my designs are inspired by the men I grew up around, it extends to the people surrounding them; it's for everybody. I quite like that people have the ability to identify themselves within my clothes, they can choose where they fit in that spectrum.”
Analysing how clothes interact with the body is integral to Nash’s creative process. Having spent his undergrad studying Performance Design and Practice, he knows from experience how athletes need their sportswear to work with them, not against them. While the designer’s main discipline is dance, his latest collection looked to the slopes for inspiration.
“What was really key for this season was this idea that you can grow up in the UK and wear cold weather garments but never actually learn to ski,” he explains. “When I was 25, I went skiing for the first time and I didn't know what to do. I chose to go bobsledding instead because I was just too scared of the ski slope.” While many aren’t dashing off to Val Thorens every weekend, Nash notes that a lot of the fashion is often donned closer to home. Puffer jackets, moon boots and tight knit thermals are just as ubiquitous on your local highstreet mid-winter as they are the mountains. “I thought it was quite interesting [exploring] what they’re actually used for versus how we use them.”
On the penultimate day of London Fashion Week, models felt a chill in the air as they shivered and walked down a snow-set runway while dancers weaved in between them performing a choreographed depiction of different snow sports. The colour palate – sky blue, ash, charcoal and volcanic red – was inspired by artist Thomas Flechtner and his glacial photography. “The way that he contrasts light against the mountains, it made me think of body mapping.”
Nash continued using Merino as a material this season, having become well acquainted with it after his IWP win in 2022. Slim-fitting tops and leggings had lines that trace the body, while tracksuits had contrasting panels in varying tones. Even the unsuspecting pieces had a dash of the warming yarn. “Where previously we would have created a jacket in nylon, we combined PrimaLoft with Merino wool,” shares Nash. “You have your technical material in it but it also uses Merino, which many people don't know has a lot of activewear properties.”
The innovation continues through adjustable design elements that make it personal to the wearer. A classic windbreaker is updated with a padded down bodice and lightweight arms that are attached by quick release zips, meaning it can go from jacket to gilet for when the sun peaks out from behind a snow cloud. Not that these should be worn mountainside; these pieces live in the dreamscape Nash has conjured. “It was important not to create ski wear,” he points out. “It's not what I was trying to do, but it was more a point of inspiration of imagining what it would be like if I grew up doing that. What would that look like for the man who lives in in the city?”
After all, these pieces are for those that want reminders of a world outside the concrete jungle. Nature has the wonderful capability of weaving itself into any environment, and I suspect Nash’s garms will act as the bridge between the two. City dwellers can have the après ski mentality at home without having to endure nail biting temperatures and red runs in the process.
It's this juxtaposition that Nash translates into adjustable details, innovative materials and moveability-first fit – and suitably marks the name of the collection. “It’s also looking at my own juxtapositions, because there's many that make me a person and creative.” One thing's for sure: he’s yet to reach his peak.
