London Fashion Week S/S2010 - bStore

 

LONDON FASHION WEEK S/S2010 - bStore

Entitled 'Benjamin Braddock', bStore's Spring/Summer 2010 collection, inspired by Dustin Hoffman's character of The Graduate, presented a modern update of preppy. A chambray suit paired with a gingham shirt opened the show, setting the tone for what was to follow. A white polo shirt and matching shorts, in what appeared to be towelling, paired with white socks pulled high were ripe for tennis, whereas a matching gingham shorts and shirt combination painted a picture of lazy days in the Hamptons.

Athletic influences abounded in a jersey shorts suit and in standout outerwear. Rendered in turqouise technical, irridescent fabrics and in both a drawstring waisted, cowl necked and a mac version, the pieces acted as a more blatant indication of bStore's subtle re-interpretation of classics. Always purveyors of perfect basics, the collection bulged with pieces - scoop necked t-shirts, sheer knits and Store's signature boxy jackets and three pleat trousers - that are likely to fly off the shelves come Summer.

Matt and Kirk's first foray into accessories confirmed the trends of the weeks as small bumbag style appendages were attached to belts and neckerchiefs - like much of today's menswear shows - accompanied nearly every look. Closing with Simon and Garfunkel's 'Mrs Robinson', bStore presented a collection that is sure to have every woman seeking her own young buck, and every man willing to - decked in bStore - fulfil that very role.

I also managed to grab Matt and Kirk for a pre-show natter:

Can you give me a quick breakdown of the collection?

This collection is the biggest we've done so far. For us it's the last time we'll show back to back with another designer as the collection is constantly growing and we struggled to keep the looks down to 20 or 21. Following Tim [Soar] if there were any more looks, then the show could get slightly drawn out. We've worked more on a show collection than a wholesale collection, and we've worked with  two seperate factories so there's  a whole pique story and a whole denim story and it seems to have worked both with editorial and with customers. The last collection is always your best one, but -  for the moment - we do think that this is the best collection we've done so far

So next season is the plan to have a completely stand alone show?

It is. We've also employed the womenswear designer Natasha Stolle and she's going to do the womenswear. We'll show both collections together so we'll still probably only have 20 or 21 looks of mens and the same for womens but we'll show it as a full collection.

You stock so many labels at bStore, is there anyone else you'd like to collaborate with, whether they're stocked at bStore or not?

Well we've got Natasha on board and I don't think there's anyone that we stock who we'd collaborate with but I do like the idea of collaborating with people that we wouldn't necessarily stock - like the G Shock thing - someone that appeals to a wider market.

The bStore magazine launched today (23rd September), are there plans to keep it a constant venture?

We released the first issue in conjunction with the Pop Up store that we did with Selfridges last September and the new issue is out today. This is the first proper issue and though we hope its a continuing thing, we don't want to put too much pressure on it, what with it being a difficult time to launch a magazine.  We're not going to put a time limit on it, so it won't be monthly or bi-annually, we'll just do it when we have enough features and stories about everything.

Have you got any other future projects in development?

We're doing a little project with Dover Street Market which launches in November. We're doing 10 of our favourite pieces from the collection, in runs of 10 for them and we're also collaborating with Turnbull and Asser on a range of shirts.

Finally, have you caught many of the shows today? Any favourites?

I think so far...probably Christopher Shannon. I think it looked together and generally quite good.