Words - Taj Hayer

Photography - Nicholas Andrews

In times when we need clothes that are wearable and functional, but still desire a sense of whimsy and intelligent, creative design, it is a joy to know that there are still designers like Daniel w Fletcher to rely on to keep menswear in the UK going strong. 

In search of sunrise was a collection that presented the possibility of new hope in a time of struggle and restraint as the darkness of a bygone era still lingers. The weary pace of the corporate, business world was the foundation for the collection as Fletcher mood boarded a man that was controlled by the labour of day and finds himself dragged into a dark, sensual night as an antidote to the dreariness of the day. It’s a powerful statement about twenty first century design - the young designer is now longer free to create and manipulate as his visionaries did in their earlier years; instead he has to meet commercial pressures. 

Daniel Fletcher is meeting those pressures head on. Taking that inspiration, the whole collection turned traditional menswear on its head. Classic tailoring saw hemlines hung out, unknotted bow ties stitched into shirt collars, slashed trousers that expose flesh at the rear and hem and ropes that bind seams together. The perfect uniform for the end of a night out. 

Taking things ever so slightly darker was the reversal of masculine and feminine, with corsetry and underwear worn as outerwear, in traditionally “masculine” fabrics, trousers in leather styled with super tight, body conscious base layers. Shirting was an absolute highlight - designed in collaboration with artist Caitlin Keogh, her pastel hues were printed in silk shirts and scarves that echoed vintage Versace in the 80s. And that is no bad thing as far as we are concerned.

Explore further at Daniel w Fletcher.