Cousins Lee and Ben Copperwheat both started out on different routes - whilst Ben was a print designer, Lee had been designing for 25 years.. starting out with Tailoring Studies in Northamptonshire through working at Aquascutum, he continued at the London College of Fashion studying Fashion Design and Tailoring and had his own successful label in the 90s, Copperwheat Blundell which sold to Browns, Selfridges, and Liberty's. After being awarded Young Designer of the Year by the British Fashion Council, he moving to New York in 2002 where he worked with the likes of Daryl K, Frank Tel, Marc Jacobs, and Edun. Now wanting to start his own line again in New York, Spring 2010 "London to New York" brought the first Copperwheat Collection.

DD: What was the inspiration behind the collection?
Lee Copperwheat: Fall 10 "Fall of Empire",, inspiration was loosely from Edwardian England shooting, hunting and sports mixed with 70 punk,, an eclectic mix of looks brought together with the use of colour,, army green, burgundy and neon.

DD: You tend to use quite bright colours and juxtaposing materials, do you feel this represents your label accurately?
Lee Copperwheat: I love the idea to mix colour and prints and plaids together, notice I cut the plaids off-grain which gave the look a fresh modern approach, of course we will move forwards with this style and expand on it.

DD: Who do you design for?
Lee Copperwheat: I like to think that every guy in someway would love to wear our clothes, I'm looking to change how people dress, mix it all up, New York is a great showcase...

DD: What's next?
Lee Copperwheat: We are working with Tandy Brands for a range of Copperwheat ties, bow ties and cravats that will be launched during menswear week in july in new york. we will be showing our Spring '11 collection at Tomorrow showcase is, part of the ENK trade shows. Riverpack, a french company, is sponcering our look book for the event..

Photographer Jason Mickle
Stylist Jessica Bobince
Hair Song Hee for Kerastase
Makeup Aya Komatsu for Makeup Forever
Photo Assistant George Barberis
Styling Assistants Jonathan Hamilt, Shea Daspin, Nick Collins
Models Mikhael @ Re:Quest and Frey Mudd @ Red