Stefan Cooke Fall 2020 Menswear

Stefan Cooke and Jake Burt called their collection, rather ominously, The End. The words were painted on a handbag like movie credits. The set—empty chairs and music stands—suggested a hall just after an orchestra has left post-recital. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the two of them were looking back and feeling the reverberations of everything they’ve made and achieved since they graduated from Central Saint Martins MA in 2017.

“With the end of the decade, we felt like we were ushering out the old,” said Cooke, “and this is the new version of what we do.” Burt chimed in: “Or maybe more professional, in a way.” Well, not so fast. Cooke and Burt have invented much which is identifiable, a configuration of skinny silhouettes and ingenious playing with classic British staples like argyle patterns, tweeds, and funny forms of chain mail, for starters. None of that felt old at all in this show. The trick in any young designer’s career is knowing how to capitalize on signatures.

Growing up and struggling with the reality of business means they may be feeling different from the heady days of shooting out of college on a rush of ideas and adrenaline. Nevertheless, if they’re focusing on balancing creativity and wearability, they made a good job of it. The boyish quirky-chic of the pierced and slashed harlequin knits—first of all made into scarves—was joined by new takes on Fair Isle sweaters. The idea of a yoked neckline flowed over into the slash-neck coat-jacket shapes; a neat way of making old English checks less dad-like (with some mini kilts as accessories).

Now, the super-skinny Cooke legs are encased in real denim, not trompe l’oeil printed legging-jeans, and that was a stride forward. It’s the result of a collaboration with Lee Jeans, which gave Cooke a free hand with printing, studding, and grommeting with jeans and jackets. A commercial brand relationship, then. Surely this is the beginning of a new chapter, rather than an end.

Source: Vogue

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