The father and son duo Joe and Charlie Casely-Hayford presented their AW14-15 during London collections: Men in January. True to the DNA of their brand, the collection juxtaposed tailoring and sportswear. The volume was emphasized on top through layering, while the bottom was kept simple with tightly cut pants. A classic and wearable silhouette spiced with excellent prints and color blocking.
One of the prints was inspired by British born sculptor Cornelia Parker’s 2005 sculpture Anti-Mass. Parker created the sculpture from the remains of a Southern Baptist church with a predominantly African American congregation, which was destroyed by arsonists. At first, the burnt wood appears to be solid black, but a closer look reveals an array of colors hidden within the bumps on the wood.
Besides the wooden print, the designers used inspiration from the De Stijl movement of the early 20th century. The Dutch movement founded in 1917 took name after Dutch painter, designer, writer and critic Theo Van Doesburg’s journal by the same name, which was used to publish the group’s thoughts. As one of the originators of color blocking, the movement serves as a perpetual inspiration for many artists and designers today. The rectangular forms often associated with De Stijl clearly were also very clear in the duo’s AW14-15 collection.
