At Saul Nash’s sophomore Milan runway show, the standard parade of looks was punctuated by models occasionally stepping under a spotlight, roaming around during the wait for a companion to hug and have a little slow dance with, before parting ways again.
Reminiscent of a clubbing scene, the ritual was at times tender, at others charged with sexual tension, fitting in with the British Guyanese designer’s seasonal exploration of male sensuality.
“I saw an image of two men dancing together and I thought about this idea of the embrace,” said Nash backstage. “You can embrace somebody in a platonic sense, but also in a romantic sense, and I think this collection really looked at the lines between the two.”
The duality influenced his approach to clothes, as he mixed hard masculine shapes with soft and sheer textures or looked to blend classic tailoring archetypes with his athletic wear roots.
The more attention-grabbing pieces included shirts and compression tops left unbuttoned on the bias to reveal a nipple or those printed with the image of hands across the chest and waist to mimic an embrace. “I really love this idea of questioning how far men will go,” said Nash. “In the clubs, there’s a lot of self-expression. I think it’s really important for men to embrace [it] and also to celebrate the body.”
Yet the most interesting part of Nash’s work was seeing how decamping to Milan earlier this year has been slowly contributing to the expansion of his lexicon. Tonal looks and hybrid pieces in-between the sartorial and the sporty, such as hooded blazer jackets or those with cutaway sleeves and shirting replete with ties, are stretching his athleisure world while respecting his overall mission to offer garments cut for movement.
