William Richard Green showed his AW11 collection at the NEWGEN MEN & Fashion East installations, Garden Show Rooms at Somerset House during London Fashion Week.
We have collaborated with William Green to create a suede shoe with a leather toecap establishing the Underground by William Richard Green partnership, which testifies to the designer’s fervent mission to promote the use of English, Irish and Scottish materials and manufacturers in Great Britain in English fashion.
Few male icons are as defined in character and legend as William Richard Green’s muse for Autumn/Winter 2011: the viking. Drawing on the fearlessness, the beastliness and the hyper-manly expression of this iconic historical figure, Green has created a modern image of the great Nordic warrior.
By introducing the designer’s already established signatures of boyishness, frivolity and a sense of appreciation for nature to the idea of the viking, an image of today’s urban viking is formed. In employing the art of viking clothes-making — including ancient pattern cutting, pleating, and armour-based attire — the collection is founded on genuine Viking Agetechniques paired off with Green’s love of utilitarian garments. Alluding to both the notion of the urban viking and to the idea of Green’s nature boy evolving into a city boy, a black council estate jacket in waxed cotton serves as a shield-like skin, complementing the functional accent of a navy boiler suit in silk. Likewise, a black trouser is reinforced with layered pleating along the calf, creating a toughened expression.
Tailoring is discreetly introduced in a red check suit with a drop-crotch trouser, whilst the collection maintains an overall non-fitted silhouette. A humorous nod to the self-adornment of vikings at war, a polka-dotted knitted cardigan with a striped sleeve also sees Green’s first turn at knitwear. As a tongue-in-cheek contradiction to the dark nature of the collection, a polka-dot print appears on the linings of all pieces. A certain viking-punk tone is evident in jewellery featuring black cast metal bones on black metal chains, created by Gogo Philip for William Richard Green.
