her designs (Picture: Eamonn M McCormack/Getty Images)
Designer Katie Eary plans to give Savile Row tailoring an edge. We meet her ahead of London Collections: Men.
Menswear designer Katie Eary is in the depths of preparing for her AW14 collection at home on an estate near Hoxton, east London. She’s anxiously trying to find the trainers she’s created for the show as famed Savile Row tailor Richard Anderson looks on.
Dressed immaculately in a suit, Anderson looks incredibly relaxed as he sips a brew in Eary’s digs, which seem a world away from his usual Mayfair surroundings. The pair have joined forces for her show, which takes place on Wednesday at London Collections: Men.
Eary’s designs have been made in Anderson’s prestigious atelier. ‘We made them the exact way as we make our suits,’ he says. ‘We put 50 to 60 man hours into our suits and we’ve done that with Katie’s, and the results are really good.’
It’s not the most obvious pairing. Eary may have worked for Kanye West and just bagged a womenswear collection with River Island but she’s still one of the new kids on the block. Many of the designers showing at London Collections: Men are graduates from Central Saint Martins or the Royal College Of Arts and have been on the scene for a few years but their brands are young in comparison with the established heritage labels.
Anderson, on the other hand, sits firmly in the camp of the old guard, along with other Savile Row tailors and big names that are increasingly joining the London Collections roster. The pair hope to show there needn’t be any tension between the two worlds.
Working with young designers is paramount to ensure Savile Row has a relationship with the contemporary world, says Anderson. ‘You have to look forward,’ he explains. ‘If you don’t, you’re not going to progress.’ Does he believe other Row tailors share his views? ‘Hopefully they’ll see it as progressive,’ he says.
Eary admits she initially felt intimidated by Savile Row. ‘I never ever looked at it and thought I should go there,’ she says. But she changed her mind after her stylist, Way Perry, introduced her to Anderson. ‘There are a lot of unapproachable people on Savile Row, so the introduction was important,’ she says.
Since launching her eponymous line in 2009 after a stint at Levi’s, the Stevenage-born designer has been making waves on the menswear scene. Her clothes aren’t for the faint-hearted. Eary wants to provoke a reaction with her designs, positive or negative.
‘I used to worry people would hate what I did,’ she says. ‘I think I have an issue because I’ve come from nothing and others have had it handed to them, so I’ve been a bit aggressive, putting things in people’s faces. I overcompensate because of where I’m from. I want to impress people; I want them to feel something. But if they’re going to hate it, I’m going to give them a reason to hate it.’
If the recession has made some designers more inclined to play it safe, Eary missed the memo. She’s committed to her vision, sending men stomping down the runway in everything from flamingo prints to bold, clashing colour combinations that are a assault on the eyes. ‘It’s this strong graphic aesthetic that customers are responding to so well,’ says buyer Sam Lobban from online menswear retailer Mr Porter, whose London Collection collaboration with Eary, and a handful of other designers, was one of the most popular last year.
Her streetwear has been worn by the likes of Jaden Smith, Rihanna and hip hop collective A$AP Mob. But with her partnership with Anderson, it was important to showcase the craftsmanship of the clothes. ‘The colours and prints have overshadowed that in the past,’ she says.
She attributes her love of tailoring to Yves Saint Laurent designer and former Dior Homme artistic director Hedi Slimane. ‘I’d never seen tailoring the way he did it in 2006,’ she enthuses. ‘He picked young boys and put them in slim-fitted suits. I didn’t think of a suit being worn by a slim 17-year-old. Suits were for older people who worked in a bank, not this cool kid who’s in a band and is sassy. It put tailoring in a whole new context for me.’
Eary also tried to give tailoring a twist. ‘I wanted to do something Savile Row has never done before,’ she says. ‘Punk is all about doing it yourself so my thoughts were: “What could we do if we took it to the highest grade?” That’s how the project started.’
Expect to see new prints too. ‘Now, anyone can take an image off the internet, put it on a T-shirt and call themselves a designer,’ she says. ‘It’s an insult to have people ripping you off based on an image you’ve used. I just can’t deal with it. The streetwear thing needed to change with this collection.’
I can’t leave without asking about her friendship with West. ‘He believed in me more than anyone for a long time,’ she says. ‘He still helps me.’
Has he seen the collection? ‘Yeah. He always sees everything first. He’s seen the prints and loves them.’
London Collections: Men takes place between January 6-8. www.londoncollections.co.uk/men
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