I think it’s safe to say everyone is completely mesmerised by this A–COLD–WALL collection, ‘Human. Form. Structure.’ Hats off to Samuel Ross for bringing new, innovative ideas to the catwalk yesterday. So many people do British streetwear these days it can all end up quite boring and looking the same but Ross continues to shine and excite us all.
Now lets talk about the show. As people had entered to take their seats they were handed protective glasses, earbuds and face masks which left me slightly confused but also reminded me of a mix between a science experiment and a building site. The show started out with a group of people coming out, walking in unison in what looks like to me contamination suits or some sort of protective wear; they’d also been painted silver as well. It’s after these people had departed that the models started to walk out to what sounded to me like either a frequency from a different planet or some sort of alien music. The same suited people also helped showcase some of the designs as well as carrying props. At the end of the show the same protective suit people drag out this box and begin to destroy it while a naked human crawls out of red substance from within.
A-COLD-WALL has recently been invested in allowing Ross to improve his manufacturing and now creates clothes in factories in Italy. This has to be his most complex and technically structured collection yet. It featured trousers with drawstring pull cords, netted pockets that hung from the knees, jackets with zips and poppers that could remove the sleeves, accessories which clip around the body which resembles armour among other things. The industrial theme extended to the clothing as well as the surroundings with many deconstructed pieces as well as PVC which was incorporated in. I like how Ross uses a good range of multicultural models which is nice to see.
I loved this collection and the creativity and time that went into maintaining a structured, industrial motif throughout. It’s all people were talking about the whole of yesterday. This is one hell of a strong collection. Ross really has gone from strength to strength, always improving, always bringing something new. I think this collection is going to catapult him and I hope everyone will know his name globally.