Written by Guest Blogger Adrien Book
Design director Alistair Carr gave Pringle of Scotland, the legendary luxury knitwear manufacturer, the farewell it deserved with his spring / summer 2013 collection for men. It was shown last week during the London Collections Mens weekend. Using a fairly restrained colour palette, the ex-Balenciaga designer created modern boxy silhouettes that fitted the general trend of relaxed tailoring.
Most clothes shown had an air of practicality, including knitwear with camouflage prints in various colours (as well as enlarged and abstract versions of the Pringle diamond check) and trousers with bold contrast panels, which, as well as a sense of utility, also gave a certain (refreshing) eccentricity to the collection.
Speaking of eccentricity, it seems the Scottish house decided to enhance certain looks with a sense of sprezzatura(nonchalance). For example, the socks are always worn high around the calves, and most models used for the show were tattooed in obvious places such as the neck and the arms.
To make every piece more practical, zips replaced button on cardigans and tops and the tailored pieces covering the vertical striped shirts in monochrome were designed to be relaxed and unrestricted.
Sportswear came in the form of leather biker shapes with zip armhole detailing and parachute weight parka in white, and Punches of yellow and tangerine lifted the muted and monochromatic palette.
Shoe fans will, however, not find much to excite them as the collection only comprised very few pieces for our feet. Nevertheless, Pringle of Scotland was never a shoewear brand, and the rest of the collection definitely makes up for this small misgiving.
