YMC Menswear Spring/Summer 2016 London

What was interesting, then, about YMC‘s show was how their new season’s vision followed that same language. Well into their third decade, YMC are part of the establishment here – but an establishment formed in the radical heat of the Nineties, which started many of London’s ongoing conversations around the modern masculine wardrobe. Their show notes explicitly referenced oriental work-wear; but unlike, say, Green’s work, the garments that circled the Sorting Office runway (round columns boxed out with heavy black grids) incorporated that influence far more delicately.

So there were low-slung boiler suits, broadly-cut trousers and trailing shirts, blended with supple suede jackets and easy athletic shorts. After last season’s harsh bursts of yellow, the palette was pared back to bleached neutrals and soft greys, echoing the gentle silhouettes of the garments themselves. It seems trite to throw the word “wearable” at YMC’s garments; realistic and comfortingly familiar, yes – but their approach was no less authentic for that.