Past. Present. Future

Faced with a weekend without my good friend the Internet, not to mention two tiresome train journeys I made sure I packed a few magazines for my recent trip back home to Kent. As I waited for my train to arrive at the platform, I doubted whether the latest issues of Monocle and Man About Town would provide enough printed entertainment so went on a last minute publication dash to the poorly stocked WH Smith at Victoria Station. After a few minutes of indecision perusing the sorry excuse for a newsagent I plumped for the Inside/Outside issue of i-D. Aside from the odd flick through at Borders or whilst I'm waiting for my turn to sit on the hairdressers chair, I've not read an issue for months. I'm glad I did though because this issue is packed full of features which kept my mind occupied throughout the journey. Highlights include chats with JW Anderson, Patrick Ervell and Thomas Engel-Hart, a Tao editorial and an up close and personal with Karl Lagerfeld. However, it is the feature on Aitor Throup which really captured my imagination and in particular the below image...

Image from Aitor Throup, used in i-D Fall 09. Concept and Styling by Aitor Throup, Photography by Neil Bedford with Styling Assistant Stephen Mann.

The feature focuses on the designers technically advanced reinterpretation of C.P Company's most iconic jackets. Of course, I've already posted about this collaboration (twice in fact) so I won;t rehash the details again but I just wanted to share the image with you. The above image, dreamt up and styled by the designer himself wonderfully illustrates how he approached the collaboration. The image was accompanied by an insightful interview with the publications Deputy Editor, Holly Shackleton and provided the highlight of my train journey. I could quite happily post the interview in its entirety but it might be best to just pick out my favourite question and answer.

What type of man do you envisage wearing the jacket?
I hope that the big followers and collectors of this iconic piece will embrace it and appreciate its integrity. I would love for the rich narrative, which is part of the design, to help introduce C.P. Company to people who perhaps didn't realise just how much integrity and heritage there is in this brand. Stylistically it's a really accessible piece. It can be seen as a really directional statement on one person, whilst on another it can look quite normal. I'd love to see a variety of completely different people wearing it in different ways.

At the exhibition launch on Thursday, I noted the variety of people in attendance. There were C.P Company representatives, next to brand enthusiasts and collectors (a few wearing releases of the iconic jacket) sandwiched between the fashion crowd and frequent exhibition opening attendees. I am quite certain that most people in attendance took something different away with them but all were united in agreement that the exciting design talent had bought the goggle jacket firmly in the twenty first century.