story by Brandon Ruckdashel
photos by Adrianna Favero
Simon Spurr’s Spring 2011 collection is clean, crisp, pressed, and well tailored. The understated Mr. Spurr creates for himself and his own closet, drawing inspirations from both Savile Row and British historical military dress. This approach becomes more hampered by it’s nature than it’s presentation, as he prefers to dilute those inspirations. A suit, by definition, is “timeless” and thus a well designed suit will stay by a man’s side and hold his shoulders up as time takes its toll. All of the collection’s pieces were well executed with fabrics created under development deals and exclusive to the label. Mr. Spurr’s gaunt composition, however, cuts so tightly that the discernment of garment and model becomes difficult.
Mr. Spurr, during our interview, referenced that he wanted to reinforce what he had done with previous seasons with British dress. He accomplished that goal well, building upon his label with the addition of sunglasses (by Selima) and umbrellas. These items may prove, however, to be stronger gateways to his commercial-centric label than the actual garments themselves, as his collection still lacks any defining characteristic that separates it from every other well tailored, well designed, minimalist collection.
Men’s design is neither complex nor easy. Innovation falls further in between simple constructionist and eccentric experimentalist than most would assume. The gauge of success in this realm is set closer to the goals of the creator, and in that essence Mr. Spurr has succeeded.
