"The collections that I make in the summer don't usually follow a particularly strict narrative, I like to have the freedom to let the collection find its own way as I am developing it. I always start with the fabrics, as this is the longest process whilst making a collection from the initial idea to the testing, and then having the final design woven. I like to try to design as many different cloths as possible for the collection, so this means figuring out what base you're going to have, what weight you would like it to be, how you want it to handle, and then what the design is or what the weave structure is.
That process, the further you get into it, usually starts to determine where I'm going to take the collection and what I'm trying to do with it. This year, I wanted to really specifically consider the fabric choices I was making in order to do something that was very personal. I always consider whether I would wear something before I make it, but I wanted to analyse that further and really delve into what feels relevant for me currently.
Recently for me dressing in a manner that might be considered slightly more formal feels the most esoteric and therefore the most appealing. The rise of comfort based dressing draws one to be compelled to rebel against it. The simple act of wearing tailoring in a particular way that is non stuffy nor governed by ridiculous made up rules is what currently is very enticing for me.
A particular type of cloth that I am always drawn to is traditionally used for morning trousers, it is a particular stripe that is in some sort of combination of grey and black yarns. I was given a piece of cloth earlier in the year that is a variation on a morning stripe from a friend who has an antique clothing shop in Paris that used to be the home of a tailor that mainly specialised in equestrian regalia. He received all the dead stock cloth when he took over the shop. This cloth became my starting point for how I wanted to fabricate the collection and formed the basis for the colour palette.
The combination of this cloth, the colours, and tailoring worn in more of a laissez faire manner made me think of my grandfather and the gentle elegance he exuded with the clothing he wore. I also thought about a trip he made in what must have been the mid 90's to Ireland with my grandmother and their friends, the photo's that came from this trip have always been ingrained in my memory even though I can't recount the specifics of any of them. They were joyous, often outside pubs, in tailoring and singing.
The collection became an ode to that trip, to the energy of my grandfather and the way he wore clothes and to the places they visited. Mayo is the county where the Irish side of one part of my family are from so it felt apt to start the shoot there and then work our way up the coastline finding local characters to photograph and film ad hoc as we went. It was a really memorable experience, there was significant trepidation in not knowing how it was going to turn out, if we would find anyone to wear the clothes and how the weather would treat us. The first person we found at Toby's bar in Westport turned this on it's head as a crowd gathered outside the pub to tease our subject, the openness of the Irish people and their generally joyous approach to life put to rest our disconcertment."
-JAS on collection XIX
