Patrick Michael Hughes Men's Fashion Editor
A call to the end of tyranny and convention! also known as 'Death to Tennis' a fashion brand to watch and know founded by British designers Vincent Oshin and William Watson. The young men's label has gained a fair amount of attention in the past few seasons, still stating that there is a 'style war' is underway.
This was the second time as a fashion writer and editor I have seen this collection. The first was the Spring 2018, and I found it a solid presentation styled in the vain of working class teddy boys with memorable and a wonderful statement, in the swirl of Brexit ,independent Scottish blood pressure and America First. In that collection there were original prints by New York artist Keith Mackie. The DTT is still creating wonderful prints and for Spring 2019 within a well balanced artistic 'conversation'. This season the collection filled with striking and saturated tones.
There is a love of modern art in the spring/ summer 2019 palate, creative connections could be made to the vital modernist abstraction of Robert and Sonia Delaunay to color forms and shapes akin to the canvases of the early to late twentieth century and American fashion designer Stephen Burrows. The noted dosage of purple, teal, red, yellow and blue in the collection is a departure from previous seasons. Balanced within this are muted gray and white branded pieces in keeping with the logo-mania trend seen in many young collections.
Most of the Death to Tennis's silhouettes for spring 2019 are parallel to the ath-leisure genre of the brand. However, these clothes are not shouting street wear there is an 'English-ness' to this American label there are well tailored items; snap front and zip front short sleeve jackets, early season outerwear with utility details and the trend of the men's fashion season thigh grazing shorts. All other pant silhouettes stuck with elastic waist sweat pants and relaxed pajama like styles.
This is an exceedingly cohesive collection with the standout stars being the prints spotted in roomy cotton versions of a track suit merged with deconstructed bomber to a double breasted notch lapel jacket suit highlighting a Mackintosh pocket detail ideal for strolling the urban pasture. Conversation prints during this age of boastful rhetoric for DTT were of understated small figures engaged in very British sports; cricket, fencing, rugby polo, blood sport fox hunting and bathing beauty watching (no tennis)... a cheek with a feel of nationalism perhaps.
The Death to Tennis brand feels like it nods to it's respected uncle of Paul Smith can hang with brands such as COTTWEILER and Bobby Abley in London, but lives in America and has a exceeding approachable New York sense.
This collection's textile sensibilities and nuances excel in the presentation format while conversly on the runway it could be dismissed just another hoodie ...but if you have to have another hoodie the DTT hoodie is the one to get.
