Carven AW14

Initial reaction:

A scrawled love letter from a gang of turn-of-the-century American 'bad kids’.

The markings:

The collection took reference from mug shots extracted from the archives of the American police. Scrawled prints on shirts and concrete coloured coats appeared copied from the walls of a prison: imagine a bad boy scratching love hearts and nothings onto a wall, and obsessively marking it into his skin.

Girls vs boys:

A gang of bad girls and bad boys – the ones your mother warned you about – walked with wet slicked back hair, and a threatening look. Girls wore the graphic scribbled print on shirts with prim black skirt suits and on hot mini skirts with their boyfriend’s slubby knit thrown on top. They perched on platform patent two tone shoes with a bulky zip split to the toe. The boys wore beautiful black leather bombers, under an overcoat flung onto shoulders and with tailored, starched workwear denim.

Atmosphere:

The space had been transformed into the smoky seedy snooker hall of a hush-hush private members club. The eerie jazz soundtrack, with its snap of fingers created a wild tension. The men’s nude leather, maroon suits and tweed worn with fur had the air of a charming rich boy up to no good – cheating at cards, stealing the women.

Quote from the show:

“I’m really into anonymous people, I love characters. This season the muse was the guys I found in police mug shot books, anonymous people. I adore the photographer Weegee, but I wasn’t looking at how they were dressed in his pictures, more this atmosphere, this mood. When I’m looking at Weegee pictures, I don’t look at anything aggressive or violent. It’s like Chicago in the 30s or 40s: it sounds dangerous, but at the same time it sounds exciting.” Guillaume Henry