Oliver Spencer S/S 2018

Mood board: For a tailor that began his career in 2002 with a shop on Lamb’s Conduit Street in London, Oliver Spencer has no doubt been influenced by the English capital. This season, the designer celebrated the diversity and strength of the city, one that just last week was subject to extreme terror and barbarism in the London Bridge attacks. Unlike some of the more subversive designers on the London schedule, Spencer has always designed clothes that men want to buy and wear. His ode to London’s inhabitants culminated in designs in dusty shades of pink, ecru and umber; lightweight coats, breezy cropped trousers and shorts, bomber jackets and casual suits. Stripes and checks also ran throughout the collection, seen in navy pinstripe blazers, Breton-striped sweaters and colourful checked shorts and shirts.

Team work: In 2014, Spencer opened a pop-up shop at Store 103 in Tokyo, which included a replica installation of a chair found in the studio of multidisciplinary British artist David Austen. For S/S 2018, Spencer collaborated with Austen on a series of slogan t-shirt prints, featuring the phrases ‘Women and Men’, ‘Face’, and most movingly ‘Love Town’. Models sported the latter at the climax of the show, in a symbol of unity and strength.

Finishing touches: Adding even more nonchalance to the relaxed silhouettes in the collection, outerwear was attached to backpacks and slung over the shoulders of models. It hung hands-free from their backs.