Spring 2014 Menswear: Topman Design
125 Magazine | June 2014
Topman Design has changed course for Spring 2014 since taking to snow-covered mountaintops with its early gentleman explorer last February: heading out West with its techno rendition of the cowboy. Shades drawn and hair part-slicked, part-tousled, the models shot out onto the sloping catwalk of The Old Sorting Office like pinballs in a pinball machine. They were more Nashville rockabilly than herdsman, armed with hand-embroidered shirts in a spectrum of silky maroons, beige, black and white. When worn atop billowy trousers and gold and silver accessories, the shirts quickly brought to mind that of an underground boîte mixed with the forgotten America era – the one with sock hops and drive-ins.
A creative director like Gordon Richardson must always think of the bottom line. So if the Western shirts prove to be a hard sell on the high street, then there’s always this season’s silky varsity jacket. Just don’t be fooled by the embroidered lapels and sleeves. Amidst the handcrafted flowers were spiders, and the mangled stitches, further lending to the collection’s “beauty destroyed” mantra, suggested that every untamed frontier has its own dark secrets.