Christoper Raeburn Mens Fall 2019 – London Fashion Week

(Images from Vogue.com and wwd.com the public domain. All rights. Used in promotion of the designer.)

Christoper Raeburn after ten years of maintaining his stalwart signature brand has now fused into the 91 year old mega outdoor wear company Timberland, to form “Timberland x Raeburn” rather than an acquisition of sorts, more of a collaborative play, akin to what Yohji Yamamoto achieved with his seventeen year old collaboration with Adidas, that appeared at times as a subtly tenuous relationship with the famous Japanese designer and the conglomerate; which in turned formed the bases of the Y-3 (Adidas) collections.  Once a signature brand redefines itself within an established older and mostly corporate entity, such as Timberland, it will be interesting to see what effect it will have on Raeburn's styles and projection of future concepts.  Albeit the already amalgamation of the “Timberland” logo along side Raeburn's, so far the relationship has been  balanced in Raeburn's favor, this could also have to do with Raeburn now been appointed as the Global Creative Director of Timberland.

As noted in my previous reviews of Christoper Raeburn's collections, the admirable effort of infusing recycled materials, mostly from military surplus and/or medical and essential services uniforms, into runway styles should be applauded.  Fast fashion as a global excess is throwaway and consumption originated, which is not designed to last.  Raeburn's pledge in reducing industry pressure on the environment, which means to slow down the effects of climate change from over industrialization is  an essential aspect of an industry (fashion) that needs to now recycle its own products.   Aware of the benefits and attracted too the durable material used in rugged outdoor professions, Raeburn is creating clothing that is built to last.  And the merit, in my opinion, is also the idea, that clothing as a structure to cover the human body, should essentially outlast, in an intact piece, the human biology.   

Raeburn's Fall 2019 Menswear seems to achieve this orientation of longevity and endurance, testament for ten years of the designer steadfast on his own ideas and concepts.  With recycled nylon and polyamide and fabric (industrial mills) cutoffs, with flows of cashmere and wool jackets (created from reversible transit blankets) – overlaying the rugged styles.  The Fall 2019 collection looks tough, built, and as mentioned, to last as the post-industrial styles are sensibly arranged onto each of the models.   The cuts look sleeker than previous collections, which maybe an indication that the designer is beginning to learn to craft the hardy recycled materials, into more well defined looks.      

The color palette maintains a fixture within the industrial styles, a trend which maybe spilling over into 2019.   Ironically also displaying one of the over-construction boom colors, that being safety vest orange, emergency worker dark blues, military  khaki  greens, neutral, dulled grays, black and washed out white as chromatic set pieces.  Displaying traditional mountaineering color shades as Raeburn's continues to scale and recycle the masses of clothing stockpiles.