À La Disposition Menswear

As featured in Pebble Zine, Issue 3

Often in fashion, there is a distinct divide between men's and women's styles, created by separate designers working on separate sexes. But for those designers who work with both, similarities in design are commonplace, when influences, ideas and materials are one in the same.

À La Disposition illustrated such a point within their début menswear collection for Autumn/Winter 2013. Since the label's launch in 2005, husband and wife Daniel and Lynda Kinne have envisioned and crafted fantastical pieces for the intrepidly fashionable woman, but now their designs and precision are shared with their men's collection, restructuring the male silhouette in much the same way as the female form, with sharp cuts and varying yet traditional fabrics.

“It's nice how well it actually translates into menswear,” says Daniel, “especially since menswear has changed so much over the last couple of years. We have come to find that you can do these things and pull it off.”

Particularly in Britain, home of menswear, there has been a growing interest in men's fashion, in which the customer no longer feels so afraid to wear that which is striking or conspicuous in its style.

À La Disposition's collection, “Black Snow”, is remarkably bold, nonetheless there is definitely room in the industry to sell its unique and strong style. Its graphic novel inspiration turns the wearer into “the protagonist” of Daniel and Lynda's story.

“With the quality of fabrics and the construction of our pieces, the appeal is not just in the design, but also in the longevity of the individual pieces,” Daniel adds. “Which is very conscientious, when you are considering that it is not throw-away fashion - it's really staple pieces, something that you cherish, that you really fall in love with. Keep it in your wardrobe and use it, or keep it as a collectable.

“For the wider competition, it's really great. We think our shirts are really strong. And we have a couple of t-shirt designs, which are a great entry-level price point for us - the first taste of what our collection is about and how it feels to wear our stuff.”

The movement between womenswear and menswear has been a successful transition for À La Disposition, with much enthusiasm and excitement at their London Collections presentation. But while men's and women's remain separate collections by sex, the same genius and wondrous play on fashion is a shared privilege.

(Read more from the Pebble Zine fashion team at: www.pebblezine.com)