RJ-AW16-LOOKBOOK-DRAFT-5.2

CHAINS + CRANES
Cinnamon, myrrh, and mace you showed,
Golden Paradise birds that glowed.
More cigars than a man could count,
And a billion cloves in an odorous mount,
And choice port wine from a bright glass fount.
You showed, for a most delightful hour,
The wealth of the world and London’s power.
John Masefield, Poet Laureate from 1930 until 1967,
after visiting London’s docks.
OUR AW16 CHAINS + CRANES COLLECTION SOUNDS ITS HORN HARD,
HOISTS THE RED ENSIGN AND PUTS ITS ENTICINGLY EXOTIC CARGO AND
CORRESPONDINGLY COSMOPOLITAN CREW IN UNDER A SILVER-GREY
SKY AT LONDON’S DOCKS IN THE MIDWINTER OF 1935.
BY THE MID ‘30S LONDON HAD BECOME THE HOME OF THE LARGEST PORT IN THE WORLD
AND ITS BUSTLING, BOUNTIFUL, EIGHT-AND-A-HALF SQUARE MILE DOCKS WERE AT THE
HEART OF IT, THE COMMERCE COURSING LIFEBLOOD OF ALBION AND EMPIRE ALIKE.
HEAVY WITH ROPES AND CHAINS AND WISELY WATCHED OVER BY BOWING CRANES, THIS
WONDROUSLY DIVERSE WORLD OF CHIC, CLEAN-LINED CRUISE LINERS AND COLOSSAL,
CHOCK-FULL CONTAINER SHIPS WAS THE DOMAIN OF THE DOUGHTY DOCKERS,
A TIGHT-KNIT, STREET-SAVVY BAND OF MEN FROM THE CAPITAL’S PROUD EAST END.
THIS IS A BOLD, SHARP-EDGED COLLECTION THAT CELEBRATES LONDON AT ITS
MOST POWERFUL AND ALL-ENCOMPASSING, A GREAT, CLANKING SALT-CORRODED
AND COLOUR-RICH HIVE OF INDUSTRY AND GLAMOUROUS INTRIGUE.
BOTH SUITING AND CASUAL WEAR NOD TO THE COOL CACHET OF CRUISING
THE HIGH SEAS AND FEATURE DOUBLE-BREASTED JACKETS WITH WIDER
LAPELS AND PATCH POCKETS AND WIDER, HIGHER WAISTED TROUSERS.
WARMING WOOL, HEAVY BRITISH MELTON AND PLUSH CORDUROY GIVE
WEIGHT AND REAL TEXTURE. OVERSIZE PRINCE OF WALES CHECKS AND
HERRINGBONE PUSH FORWARD. AND CHAINS AND ROPE MOTIF
PRINTS LEND IMMEDIATE FOCUS AND PROVENANCE.
BASE COLOURS OF WINTER WHITE, GREY, GLACIAL BLUE AND NAVY ARE
PIERCED AND LIFTED BY ACCENTS OF RUST ORANGE, AQUA AND SAGE.