LONDON TRADE SHOW REPORT
London, England, 4 Aug. 2006

The edition of London trade shows spring/summer 2007 - encompassing TBC, Margin and The Park - took place July 30-31, [2007].

At all the shows, the color palette was muted and looked suspiciously autumn-like: black, white, gray and khaki ruled. Keeping with the subdued hues, womenswear captured a prim and proper air. Never have so many puff-sleeved, round-collared polo shirts hung under one roof at the same time.

Menswear, too, had a formal, dandy-ish vibe. These elements materialized in smart cuts and accessories as well as in prints. The new label T-Book offered neat tie/neck piece hybrids with its cleverly printed tees and shirts; Luke matched scarves to its grandpa cardies and sweaters; Red Dot embraced the trend by printing silk scarves on to its tees.

This edition of Margin drew a large proportion of international names, including an entire Finnish brigade among the show’s 80 exhibitors. These included Zukale & Huoviala and Tiia Vanhatapi, whose cute naively printed tees and pretty dresses made of nappy gauze were lovely. Another great name to watch there, albeit not Finnish, is Muffty, a menswear label offering a new spin on the polo shirt: a neat shawl collared version.

In addition, Wayne Pinnock Live’s quirky men’s separates also stood out in all its modern-art-meets-tribal ethnicity glory.

Report from the fashion tradeshow

Sliced and Diced: Dice graphics were seen several times in jewelry and accessories. At Lady Luck Rules OK, tiny dice cubes were used as part of a hair bobble accessory. Wendys and Zukale & Huoviala both showed a string of dice on wallet chains, and Zukale & Huoviala also showed slim neon yellow belts printed with dice. Sliced was also a common theme this season. On Tour Lab’s Slicedworks collection featured circular saw graphics on vests and tees, while Concrete Lawn’s debut collection of hoodies and sweatshirts were sliced at the yoke with contrasting colored jersey fabrics. Block Headwear also got sliced with segmented baseball caps in contrasting fabrics.

Mini-Me: Children’s versions of adult collections were noticably more prominent this year. Maak en Herstel who showed a range of women’s detailed bird image applique tees had cute identical versions for toddlers. Finnish womenswear label Tiia Vanhatapio has a separate newborn line, Quelle Jolie Bebe! which included a very modern take on the christening gown in a folded and pleated pure linen. New to Margin this season was London label Map Nap, with a cute range of prints especially for the kids, including Fuzzy Felt, which pays homage to the 70s art and craft phenomenon.

Cool New Labels: Muffty from London showed slick upscale menswear, including a take on the polo shirt was with a new open and curved collar. Accessories designer Wendee Ou’s bag and purse range mixed glamour with utility, as seen in her silver pleated leather clutch bags with twill and d-ring clasps. Menswear from Tranzit highlighted the trend that casual menswear is taking more and more inspiration from traditional tailoring. Blazers in crumpled linens and slacks in traditional wovens were big hits in this collection.

Agent Knock

American Chang

A-Non Clothing

Block Headwear

Cindez

Dangerous Breed

Dephect

Fork Forever

F-risk Jeans

Girlgang

Hammer Brand

Holt Royale

Ili I Love It

Imso

Isis Cashmere

Keto

Komodo

Lady Luck Rules OK

Laysick

Lazy Oaf

Lost Property

Maak and Herstel

Mami London

Map London

Muffty

Office Lendorff

Remco Ontour

Peace Industries

Roxton

Seventyseven

SP:UK

Tiia Vanhatapio

Ubiquity Records

Vivien of Holloway

Wayne Pinnock

Wendee Ou

Wendys of London / Stylex

Yamama

Zularni

Muffty

Muffty started out as a successful mens bespoke tailoring service before the designer Leo decided to create his own line of mens ready-to-wear.

Muffty (which means casual clothing worn when off-duty especially when worn by someone who normally wears a uniform) is a London based label that specializes in Jackets, Polo shirts, Sweaters and Accessories.

All are made to reflect the brand philosophy of smart casual British tailoring utilizing both modern and traditional methods of garment construction. The range uses earth tones, and vegetal dye colours utilizing only the finest quality fabrics and places emphasis on structure and fit to create a crisp and unique look.