Ross PollardFashion & Grooming Editor, Ross Pollard reviews Lou Dalton’s autumn/winter 2018 collection.
I love winter. Bright mornings in the cold are just the thing to put me in the mood for some fashion. So, it was with a spring in my step that I headed over to the Lou Dalton presentation with my Candid Magazine colleague and all-round stylish gent, Tyler Kenny. Also, very exciting for me as a lover of both modern fashion and our great fashion history, was that Lou Dalton had teamed up with John Smedley for the knits. It was the perfect mix of a youthful British fashion teaming up with centuries of garment-making excellence.
The Lou Dalton collection had a mix of modern and classic. These elements appeared all the way through the designs – the more classical track-style top, the ribbed knits and pared-back colours sat alongside fun and fresh bobbles, wider-legged trousers that don’t quite alight on baggy (a tailored width gives a fresh cut to the looks), and the odd splash of colour mixed with the pristine whites of the Diadora trainers.
I loved the touches of the rural mixed into the feel that this is a collection that would be at home in the cold city and its automatic stylishness. The woollens felt like each look could be like wearing a good, cosy hug. The accessories, so often an afterthought, felt very much like a part of the collection. The hats and scarves were not only sharp and fitted perfectly to the aesthetic, but you could see that they were soft, tactile and once again, like an embrace. Who doesn’t want a snuggly scarf in frosty February?
Now let me make it clear here, as a man who is past the years of skinny-legged cool, I was delighted to see that cuts and shapes that will look great for so many are back. After all isn’t the biggest question in fashion ‘would I wear it’? With Lou Dalton, that answer is yes, yes, and more yes.