Craig Green AW23 is a breakneck journey from ancient humans to baby AI

It’s been ten years since Craig Green introduced us to his eponymous label, and needless to say a lot has changed over the course of the last decade. While the British designer has continued to explore and expand on timeless human themes – from travelling, to our understanding of what it means to be masculine – the world around us has become increasingly alien, with a distinct chance that we’re accelerating toward actual, literal alien contact. (No, not the little green man kind. The superintelligent robot kind.) For some, this marks an exciting new epoch; others think it looks like the end of the road for humanity.

In this sense, Craig Green’s latest collection comes at the perfect time. Presented in two parts, it simultaneously marks the closing of a ten-year chapter for the label and this crossroads in the history of intelligent life. What does that look like, exactly? Very cute, it turns out.

Dressed in uniforms of double denim and slouchy tailoring, several of Green’s AW23/SS24 models come draped with an array of robotic limbs, which morph into seemingly-autonomous bodies, begging to be cradled and carried into their brave new world. (Michael Bay’s Transformers these are not. Think more along the lines of I, Robot, but chic and pillowy, in orange and powder blue.) These vulnerable objects, Green suggests, are an encapsulation of the loneliness produced by modern technologies, but also the dependence of these technologies on the human beings that birthed them, to nurture them through their early years.

Despite the apocalyptic tone of his AW22 comeback, Green’s outlook on artificial intelligence isn’t too pessimistic, choosing to focus on the positives rather than the perils. He even played around with ChatGPT to generate show notes, before ultimately opting for the human touch. On that note, it’s clear that the designer believes humanity will still have a place alongside AI, nodding to the IRL adventures of past, present, and future throughout the rest of the collection. Utilitarian string ties are repurposed to strengthen and secure the human form, while floral, full-face masks conjure up ancient folk rituals.

Elsewhere, there are some more meditative looks on offer, hiding the face with cultish hoods in contrasting colours, flowing down into tasselled hems. Similarly, outerwear pieces with exaggerated silhouettes evoke the contemplative forms of nature – mountains, waves – while hinting at the inevitable, sweeping momentum that carries us into the future. If you really don’t like where things are going, then this side of the collection seems to suggest an alternative solution: head for the hills, and don’t look back.