Pringle of Scotland Mens Fall/Winter 2015 London

That seemed to be the message at today’s Pringle of Scotland show, held to celebrate the label’s 200th anniversary. There was an element of back-to-roots simplicity about the collection as a whole, with charcoal, black and white ribbed knits dominating the lineup. As ever, there was plenty of interest in the fabrication, whether in panels of contrast-knit technique and texture, or on more dramatic inversions like soft-structured coats which sprouted chunky Aran detailing. There were plenty of subtler touches, too, from tartan patterns woven from planes of contrasting matt and gloss to greyscale interpretations of the house’s pastel-twee Argyll print. And thrown into the mix was a worn, pixilated carpet-floral knit which offered an elegant nod to the label’s long history — a history which has run from humble homespun roots through Victorian wealth, Fifties glamour, Eighties golf-pro naffness and provocative Noughties reinventions. There’s been a lot of swerves in direction over the label’s two centuries. What was impressive, looking at today’s show, was that Pringle had managed to unite so many disparate, diverging facets of the label into something with confident, unforced coherence.