“Every generation wants to define itself against the previous generation. Men of my age have been wearing jeans for decades and the younger generation wanted to find themselves against that. So they won’t wear jeans – they will dress up. And that’s really where we are seeing the popularity of the Neo-Dandy movement.”
- Roger Leong
A conversation with Roger Leong, NGV Curator Fashion and Textiles, offers a serious fashion education. Forget paying thousands for trend forecasting: the man who has spent his professional life studying fashion in an historical context knows that, when it comes to trends, it all stems from where it’s been before.
Roger: “It’s a really difficult thing to say why certain fashion’s become popular, but it is certain that fashions return – and that the cycle of men’s fashion is much longer than women’s fashion. But of all the fashion that has come and gone, my favourite era is definitely the first half of the 19th Century.”
Roger describes it as “the Pride and Prejudice period”, when men moved from wearing opulent embroidered silks draped in less sophisticated cuts (“often in fabrics more elaborate than that which was worn by the women”) to embracing the idea that clothing should enhance the male form through pattern cutting and manipulation of cloth.
Roger: “Tailoring for men walked hand-in-hand with a growing interest in athleticism – an interest in disciplining the body and creating a well-built, muscular frame, an idea that hadn’t existed before.”
He points to George Bryan “Beau” Brummell as the movement’s key personality, a man who modelled himself on Greek statues, who focussed on the fit of his clothes from the exact proportion of a pocket to the width of a lapel.
For Roger, this is where the current landscape of men’s fashion finds its most direct connection.
Roger: “That early era of tailoring really was about the refinement of the craft and I don’t think really fundamentally that things have changed much since then.”
Roger Leong, Curator – NGV International Fashion and Textiles.
It’s very much for me that inspiration comes in many forms and as the result of different prompts along the way – literature or music or architecture. Certain things will peak my interest and then I might work away from that.
- Nicholas Jones
Stepping in to the studio of artist Nicholas Jones in Melbourne’s historic Nicholas Building is a little like stepping back in time, and one gets the feeling that’s exactly the way he likes it. A ‘creative’ of stunning originality, Nicholas has made his name birthing beautiful sculptures fashioned from books: delicate, origami-like configurations; elaborate cut-outs; whimsical interpretations of page and word.
Nicholas: “I was doing a sculpture and fine arts degree at the VCA when, during the third year, I had a total artistic block. That’s when I started playing with books and that’s it really.”
That was 1997. All those years on and his studio is a treasure trove of old and second hand tomes. His latest exhibition focuses on the idea of imagined lands, the result of a fascination with maps and cartography fed by his viewing of one of the first Atlases ever published – a 16th century example of cartography he was lent access to by the State Library.
Nicholas: “There has always been an attraction to history and the evolution of information and how books are often rendered obsolete five or ten years after being published. Recently my interest has been focussed on the idea of an imagined land – Atlantis or Xanadu – those places where there is something unknown. I find that really enthralling.”
Fashion, too, has formed a part of his art by virtue of its importance to his sense of person, a trait he inherited from his always-elegant mother.
Nicholas: “Part of the work that I make is about collection and going to markets and finding certain things and that also happens with fashion, with finding something different. It ties in with that idea of presenting yourself, being a curator of style as well as a collector of objects.”
He expresses his love for the notion of a “uniform”, seen in his preference for boots and the moustache he has carried for 20 years. Not to mention his love of timeless fashions bought when the artistic wage was supplemented by a second career: a beautiful Lanvin shirt, a Balenciaga jumper, Pierre Hardy shoes.
Down and out is clearly not a style choice for this artist, clad as he is in a favoured pair of Crockett & Jones.
Nicholas: “My grandmother still wears high heels at 82.”
He smiles. Expect no less.
Nicholas Jones’ current exhibition, A Conspiracy of Cartographers, is on show at the State Library in the Dome Reading Room.
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The inaugural Royal Botanic Runway transformed the majestic Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne into an international runway event on the evening of Thursday, 30 January 2014.
This charity event featured world-renowned Australian designers: Akira Isogawa, Aurelio Costarella, Collette Dinnigan and Martin Grant, who each produced stunning pieces to be worn by over sixty local and international models.
But it wasn't just on the catwalk that the best of Melbourne style was evident with the boys also turning out to support the charity fashion parade.
Director of fashion label Lui Hon, Luka Maich wearing Rick Owens sneakers
Trent in Crockett & Jones
Tim wearing vintage oxfords
Anderson wearing sneakers by Balenciaga
Bill has appeared on this site before - he knows his footwear & is always impeccably dressed (there aren't many Melbourne men you would find relaxing in a bar on Sunday afternoon in a three piece Vivienne Westwood suit). Working at luxury Melbourne menswear store Harrolds has given Bill access to some amazing footwear including these tan leather AW12 lace-ups with black galosh style rubber panels.
Andrei is the co-creator of the new Melbourne based Barnaby Shop sock company & we had to admire his cycle print socks when we stopped him ask for a photo. Andrei was shot in South Melbourne wearing a classic pair of 'Jensen' calfskin cap toe oxfords from Santoni.
Chris was a stylish standout during a wednesday workday lunchtime & it was no surprise when he told us he worked for Suit Your Style tailors. Chris was waiting for a coffee when we grabbed him on Little Collins street, wearing a pair of suede wrap boots by H by Hudson.
Head of the Chin Chin restaurant kitchen, Ben Cooper is Melbourne's most fashion forward chef. He's a man with a particular fetish for footwear, photographed in a pair of waterproof boots by Norwegian brand Swims
Hairdresser Luke has only been living in Melbourne for a few months & his classic British style is still evident. His creepers were bought from 'Underground', a classic Rock n' Roll footwear store in London's Soho.
