Beginning the day, Junya Watanabe knows how to welcome his audience. Set in a beautiful glass roofed atrium, the runway snaked around small café style tables where the audience sat and were served coffee and croissants to a soundtrack of Paul McCartney. Both the Britishness and the 60s influence of the music was very much a reference to what was to come. Sports jackets and tailoring, simple chinos, smartly cut with quintessential English preppiness seeping from every stitch, was the theme for the show, placed on almost entirely strawberry blonde and redhead models. Colours were greens, blues, navy and marine, off-white and subtle pin stripes, all perfect for a summer picnic. As the boys walked between the onlookers, they stopped and removed their jackets to reveal some great shirting in true Watanabe fashion. Patch pockets and checked detailing on collars and cuffs stood out whilst contrast buttons and stitching added a touch of knowing. As the tailoring moved on to outerwear, it was classic Britishness again, with trench coats, car coats and short hooded anoraks. All-over bold black and white checks and then more refined olive greens with brown contrasting sections were the key pieces. As the music faded and the models left the runway, it was difficult to remove yourself from the environment, which felt almost as if you had been sitting people watching in a chic café. Where there just so happened to have been a fashion intervention.
