- Dec 1, 2020
Prof Andrew Groves discusses the cultural significance of C.P. Company
Historically it wasn't the norm for men to be so into fashion, but that tide sort of turned between the '80s and '90s, why do you think brands such as C.P. Company were integral to that movement of the time?
At the end of the ‘70s, a new subculture developed in the U.K. focused on utilising designer menswear as a means of conveying their identity. The intrinsic style of preceding subcultures from the teddy boys to the mods, the punks and the rockers could create their look through a visit to a local tailor or the adaption of pre-existing non-branded clothing. But while the emerging perry boys of the ‘70s were drawn to predominantly British brands, their evolution into the dressers of the early 1980s saw the arrival and ascendency of Italian brands within casual culture. This coincided with the launch of the 'Made in Italy' marketing campaign that highlighted the uniqueness and excellence of Italian products, aligning with how the casual scene was evolving, that further emphasised how brands such as C.P. Company were becoming central to the appreciation and appropriation of Italian menswear within the U.K.
- Nov 6, 2020
How Police uniforms Are Getting Scarier, Too
By Tim Forster
After September 11, the changes kept coming: body armor became part of the everyday attire for the vast majority of American police departments, a bulky item that makes almost any body type seem larger and more intimidating.
Andrew Groves, professor of fashion design at the University of Westminster, says that this kind of uniform is “designed for conflict.”
“Those uniforms are very much confrontational, they escalate [situations]…it’s like, well, I came out to protest and you’re dressed for a riot.”
If police departments are sticking around (although there’s plenty of good arguments to say they shouldn’t), it seems obvious that beyond losing their military weapons, they need to change their look. Groves has one idea for where to look for a new uniform — although it’s almost certainly one that plenty of police would hate.
“I would look at service industries. I’d look at airlines, I’d look at fast food industries, I’d look at Starbucks — [those uniforms] are friendly, on the same level, and helpful…they’re there to serve,” he says. “When the police stop looking like us, they stop being us, they become this other entity — it becomes a ‘them and us,’ that’s where the problem is.”
- Jun 4, 2020
He wears short shorts: why are men showing more leg?
By Priya Elna
Men’s short shorts, an item of clothing forever caught in the crosshairs of a sartorial culture war between subversive and suggestive and retroactively rugged (think Wham! in the Wake Me Up Before You Go Go video vs Bjorn Bjorg), are enjoying a renaissance.
Does the ubiquity of the short speak to something darker? Could a menline index be at play here: a masculine, inverted version of the hemline index which states that as times get worse, shorts get shorter?
“For me they evoke memories of the Men’s Dress Reform party before the onslaught of world war two, or the last days of disco before the shadow of Aids fell across San Francisco,” says Groves. “They are both optimistic, yet hopelessly pessimistic.”