Providing a platform for a select few blossoming young menswear designers, this year the MAN spectacle - a partnership between Topman and purveyor of burgeoning fashion talents, Fashion East – welcomes back Martine Rose for a third season and unveils the S/S12 collections of MAN newcomers Shaun Samson and Matthew Miller. Dazed checked in with each designer ahead of London Fashion Week for a sneak peak and to get a little more insight into the thought process behind each collection…

Shaun Samson

Radical is the concept behind the new collection. I reminisced about growing up in California; the surfers, the grunge and the gangster rap movement. I remember seeing these urban kids at the beach still rocking their oversized clothes in the water. Some over-tanned surfer dude chilling out on the beach on a Mexican blanket was the man I had in mind for this collection. I found these blankets that were all woven by hand with colour combinations that you'd have to see to believe. The rules of the colour wheel said the hues weren’t supposed to complement each other, but it's like the weaver just said 'fuck it!'

Matthew Miller

The collection is an analytical and pragmatic response to modern day social unrest. I looked at new processes and invented potential answers to questions that we previously thought were answered. The processes this season included 3d CGI 3d garment construction as well as using a program to unfold and define the details of the garments. Prints have also become part of my form. They are now known as progressive prints and are not only decorative surface designs but constructions which can communicate. The man I worked around for this collection was the Randian hero who is heroic, bold and technologically astute.

Martine Rose

This season I have been concentrating on the 70's Californian skate and surf scene. My research has taken me to the sun bleached sidewalks of Dogtown, and through the pages of Thrasher magazine where I discovered the Zephyr team. I really liked their energy, youth and style. Having style is the most important thing - to own it, to be different, a band of outsiders a band of brothers. One figure in particular stood out whilst researching the scene and the Zephyr team and that was Jay Adams. He has the most natural ability and the best style. He’s confident, belligerent and is the least interested in turning his ability into a long-term plan. I found him so completely unaware of his beauty and talent. I was also looking at Kurt Cobain particularly performing in a dress. He was so beautiful in a similar way to Jay Adams.