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Margin London Autumn/Winter 2010-11 Edition

Despite being the longest-running independent trade event in London, Margin remains a fringe affair and an untapped resource for emerging street wear and young fashion labels. These brands are born out of personal passions often created with handcrafted touches and finishes with local sourcing at the core whether it be the UK or Latvia.

DENIM
Laundry Maid Jeans are a relatively new name in the premium denim market utilising the British tendency for expert tailoring to produce high quality cuts with meticulous attention to detail and perfect constructional finishing. Futurism inspires Hypnosis’ fashion-forward denim collection, littered with deconstructed detailing from off-centre button fly fastening, twisted seams and dropped-crotch cuts.

ACCESSORIES
Margin is a hotbed for quirky one-off jewellery brands. We loved Sansonnet, a Tokyo based label whose pretty pieces resembled re-worked antiques meets kiddy-craft kit - very Harajuku. Hannah Makes Things is another fun brand, specialising in pendants ranging from mini donuts to rainbows to cassette tapes! One of the highlight accessories concepts was Sneakart – a range of durable but removable, art-inspired stickers that can be adapted to customise any sports shoe shape.

GRAPHIC TEES
As expected, graphic tees abound at street wear shows and Margin was no exception. Each label seem to major in art first, t-shirt printing second producing some original graphic ideas in the process. Bristol-based label My Yard commissions local graphic artists to produce designs for the tee label in a range of eye-popping colours. Conquer is rooted in fine-art with the design team producing intricate illustrations which are then applied using a specially developed printing method to ensure the clearest transfer. Finally, Junkfunk is a Brighton-based label entrenched in typography and revolutionary-flavoured graphic design (think Spanish civil war slogans and Cold War motifs).

READY TO WEAR
There was something for everyone, RTW-wise. Hysteric Asteria designer Alexia Kirmitsi has developed a reversible webbed/inverted knit technique that adorns oversized jumpers and trims jersey dresses. Brighton-based Jojo & Mac produced knitted jumpers and cardigans with cutesy motifs like all-over YSL style strawberries and large placement cats. Germaine Minette brought a range of detailed mens shirting with subtle panelled collars, contrast inserts and lining and wonky welt pockets. 21dgrs are a truly global brand, designed in Hamburg, based and manufactured in Bali, sold in the far-reaches of the Southern hemisphere- even Byron Bay! The collection is diverse with hand-dyed silk dresses, printed tees and detailed washed sweats. Found comprised of unique items creatively salvaged from vintage garments and fabrics.