In Pictures: John Alexander Skelton’s Warm Welcome to Spring

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John Alexander Skelton XVIII
John Alexander Skelton XVIIIPhotography by William Waterworth

Photographed by William Waterworth, British menswear designer John Alexander Skelton’s new collection is a call to the changing season, creating clothing to “enrapture and ultimately transport”

“In terms of the clothing I make, I often hear the words ‘nostalgia’ or ‘heritage’, which I don’t associate with at all,” John Alexander Skelton told us once. “I don’t cater to a certain crowd or person, I just make what I like and whoever likes it can wear it as they wish.” That crowd came out in droves last week (January 10) when the designer made his annual outing to present his off-schedule collection (titled in Roman numerals as per tradition – XVIII) in a grand, foliage-filled east London hall. 

The collection itself is a response to Christopher Wood’s richly illustrated Paradise Lost, a book featuring nearly 200 colour plates that showcased the works of various artists from 1850-1914, exploring the contrast between the idyllic portrayal of rural life in Victorian paintings and the harsher realities of rural poverty during that era. “My personal takeaway was that whilst it is important for an artist to convey the realities and harshness of life, it is just as crucial that they make work that transports us,” Skelton says. And transport us he does. With his signature gaggle of weathered and wisdom-filled faces, his models danced and frolicked through the church hall with a cheerful farewell to winter, and a warm welcome to spring.

The designer’s practice revives a long, rich and labour-intensive history from lost generations of craftsmen, using various textile mills and individual artisans throughout the UK, Ireland and India to develop unique fabrics as to his specification, along with the use of deadstock materials. Here, his tatty tailoring and woollen knitwear are reintroduced in natural shades of brown, grey and mottled green, with thick black buttons aplenty and his antique fabrics offering a gorgeous, warm depth. “I want to do something different to keep the juices flowing,” Skelton told us. “Doing the same thing every year gets boring, no matter how different each show is.”

Take a look at the gallery above to see William Waterworth’s photographs of the new collection.