Nightclub couture

London – Charles Jeffery’s spring/summer 2017 show highlights some of the city’s finest underground club culture.

• The collection comprises two silhouettes – Bitch, which features skirted coats, and Bastard, which features jackets with nipped-in waists
• Chainmail accessories, fabrics, installations and a film were created by the designer’s friends

The 25-year-old LOVERBOY founder has taken a heady mix of raw influences born out of his cult night, at art space Vogue Fabrics Dalston, and successfully woven them into the fabric of luxury commerce.

Accessories made from plasticine feature alongside wool jogging bottoms, Swarovski crystals and fabrics from Savile Row. ‘The starting points were iconic couture, Louis XIV and grandeur,’ says Jeffery.

The bad taste, the decay and chaotic styling point towards a desire for something real, authentic and anti-materialistic in today’s fashion industry. The unobtainable trappings of wealth are on display in the baroque-meets-squat collection, but there is also a clear DIY aesthetic that reflects young consumers’ culture of customisation and experimentation.

Gen Neutral boys, wearing New Romantic-style make-up, walked through a bed of flowers while a film from collaborator Gareth Wrighton that depicted the birth of a new generation played in the background.