FASHION EAST: OLLY SHINDER AW25 @ LONDON FASHION WEEK: The shadowy cityscape of Gotham City in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman; the sultry grit of downtown São Paulo by night; the moody, slim-lined restraint of late 90s continental European menswear; the emotional complexity and contemporary nostalgia of TR/ST, whose work soundtracks the show – Olly Shinder offers a full tilt immersion into the narrative context that underpins the brand, delivering his most distilled collection to date.
The associations of utilitarian garments are irreverently recoded; innovative textile developments are born of a precise system of transformative design choices. The recontextualisation of camouflage netting is a key focus, its squiggled graphics translated in laser-cut nappa lambskin and charcoal worsted wool, which become shift dresses, squared pencil skirts and tailored separates.
A Venn diagram of heritage, craft and technology is expressed through the revival of historical mass-production techniques through modern specialist production processes and painstaking attention to detail; long-discontinued British army-issue thermals are recreated in fine cotton yarn on ultra hi-spec knitting machines, resulting in semi-sheer, ribbed stretch sweaters and tank tops.
Warm weather jacket liners are remade in hand-quilted silk organza; a donkey jacket in hefty melton wool with a contrast vinyl yoke is elongated into an evening coat with a detachable skirt, its interior painstakingly finished with neatly bound seams; a traditional German Guild shirt is reimagined with a complex placket construction, becoming both a dress shirt and a complementing calf-length shirt dress.
The latter is a staple of the season’s womenswear offering, which marks Shinder’s most robust exploration in the category to date. 1950s nursing uniforms serve as a point of departure for a panelled, box-pleated smock dress with a squared neckline in black stretch tailoring wool, and a navy pinafore dress with a banded waist and inverse pleated skirt. Elsewhere, a sleeveless wrap top in crisp selvedge denim nods to a vintage fur stole. Sparing graphic lines are cut to complement the contours of the body, illustrating the designer’s abiding preoccupation with testing the parameters of archetypal utilitarian garments, and repositioning them as keystones of a directional fashion proposal.
— Mahoro Seward
Olly Shinder founded his namesake brand in 2022, immediately after graduating from Central Saint Martins’ prestigious BA programme. From the outset, his work has simultaneously studied and subversion of hypermasculine dress codes, reframing perceptions or archetypal garments through innovative cuts, fabric choices and painstaking attention to detail. Based in London, his work is a product of the cultural networks that thrive at the intersection of the city’s fashion establishment, art institutions and queer night spaces. Further key touchstones for the brand include the aesthetic vernaculars of workwear and military clothing. Since his first season, Olly Shinder has been part of Dover Street Market Paris Brand Development, Dover Street Market’s incubator for emerging fashion talent. In 2023, the brand became a Fashion East recipient, showing its first runway collection with the platform for SS24.
Styling Isabelle Sayer
Casting Rachel Chandler – Midland
Show music mix Wolfgang Tillmans
Words Mahoro Seward
Lead Hair Stylist Clare Hurford using BEDHEAD
Key Make Up Artist Romero Jennings and the MAC pro team
Production Maya Lessof at CEBE
PR Raven Agency, Sophie Jewes, Chloe Long,
Casting assistant Mathilde Chaize
Rose Bradshaw and Tina Chatrizeh
Styling assistant Olivia Renouf
OS Team
Studio manager and
Production manager Nick Landon
Lead Atelier Mel Hewgill
Sample Machinist Karim Kakari
Design interns Will Luker, Kamul Bae, Yoonseo Jong,
Production intern Jisu Baek
Laura Porter
Show helpers Sean Chen, Lauren Ward, Syrie Tordoff,
Isabel White
Special thanks to
Fashion East, Lulu Kennedy, Raphaelle Moore, Nike London – Madison Hahn,
Special thanks to Ferdinando Verderi, Truman Brewery, The Fashion East panel.
Adrian Joffe, Augustin Maunier and everyone at Dover Street Market
