Bristol Los Angeles puts a new spin on old streetwear classics from the early 2000’sLuke Tadashi and Tommy Nowels take us back for SS18.
Feeling nostalgic at the Bristol Los Angeles spring/summer 2018 presentation. The designer duo presented their latest collection at New York Men’s Day, which took place at Dune Studios.
The collection was a mix of denim with a sportswear aesthetic and minimalist approach. The color palette was right on trend with hues of blue, beige, gray, and a pop of color. Stripe accents were also utilized throughout the collection. Featured pieces were: baggy fit tracksuits and loose fit t-shirts. Skater-inspired oversized corduroy pants and vertical stripe resort-style button down shirts. Snap-closure popper pants and a dusty rose mock neck tee. There were also Cupro half-zip top and basketball short sets.
The designers marked each look by “issue” numbers and paired all the looks with Adidas logo tube socks and kicks.
I had the chance to catch up with the designer after the show. When talking inspiration for the collection Tadashi admits he was losing his fashion spark and begging to question if he was on the right path.
Heres more on what he had to say: “This collection was super personal. This year has been a rollercoaster ride of a year. Through all of that, there were some doubts and questions about whether this was the right path for me. I had to reinvigorate that passion that I felt was slipping away. So I took it back to the basics and created comfort food. The first times when I felt like fashion was more than what you put on in the morning. Maybe it’s self-identity, it says something about who you are, your values, your beliefs, all those things.”
Yearning to rediscover his passion, Tadashi was on a mission. He dug deep down to one of his early childhood memories, where he recalls when and why he fell in love with fashion in the first place.
“So there’s a particular memory I have of my mom taking me to the grocery store. With me being bored out of my mind, I would go to the magazine section, which is why below all of our models, it said issue 1, issue 2, instead of look 1, look 2. And the magazine I connected with at the time was SLAM Magazine. It was really urban hip-hop inspired but also basketball, which was my passion. There was this raw authenticity to it. It made me feel like these guys just didn’t care and they were going to be themselves, and if you were judging them, than f*%k you! So that was sort of the emphasis behind this whole collection. That and reinvigorating that passion, and I think it worked.”
Overall I think it worked too. The Bristol Los Angeles spring/summer 2018 collection is a fresh take on men’s streetwear. The line is super chill, cool, practical, and wearable.
