Kent & Curwen

A baker boy hat, a pair of pegged trousers and a chunky brogue – you know the guy. Handsomely modern but with a sense of nostalgia in his dressing – we might as well be describing Mister David Beckham here, and that’s not just a coincidence. The creative director was in the spotlight this morning at the Kent and Curwen AW19 show, set inside the monumental space of Two Temple Place.

This season though, the trousers got shorter, the jumpers became longer and more oversized – even the dapper lad is infused with contemporary codes. And that’s what made the collection look unmistakably now – traditional striped college jackets became puffers and longline dinner coats, bomber jackets were embroidered with leather harlequin-like appliqué. After Stone Roses last season, Kent & Curwen collaborated with the popular TV programme ‘Peaky Blinders’, a crime drama set in post-WWI England. Again, it’s these retro codes that worked so well when interpreted into modern-day, perhaps because that aesthetic has been part of ethos since the brand relaunch less than two years ago.

Backstage after the show, Kent & Curwen’s designer Daniel Kearns cited the brand’s founder and beginning-of-the-century style icon Eric Kent as his muse for this collection. His exposed red socks and tightly tied neckerchiefs appeared throughout the show and incidentally looked like some of the more contemporary touches. Does this mean we’re approaching a major 1920s redux?