Images: Palmer//Harding SS13 www.londonfashionweek.co.uk
During a recent interview with a tailor, I asked "What is the most important component of a suit?". The reply was, a shirt.
I first met Levi Palmer and Matthew Harding at LFW a few seasons ago when they were supported by the Topshop NewGen scheme and immediately recognised their USP. An entire unisex collection based on one item, the notorious shirt. Their focus on the reforming the shirt, an item often neglected in the wardrobe, has resulted in directional design using a modernist approach. Clean, minimal and structured, the Palmer//Harding aesthetic is to not distract from the raw basic elements of the shirt, that is reminiscent of a puritan era. The design duo are clear that progressive is the path they want to take with their collections.
What helps the duo more in their collaborative process is the different backgrounds that they have. Both hailing from Central Saint Martins, Palmer developed his skills in menswear whilst Harding worked on honing in on the womenswear side of things. With this aesthetic behind the brand, and neither taking precedence over the other, the two designers have found a way to use their strengths to take reign in the creative side of the brand.
Let alone a suit, every wardrobe needs a good shirt and it begs the question as to how many people really consider the importance behind it. For their initial SS12 collection, Palmer and Harding really captured the essence of a shirt in a refined manor. Details such as gathered pleats at both the front and back and experimenting with the idea of a collarless shirt that could still reflect some sense of formality stood out the most for me. In the simplest possible way, who knew a white shirt could come in so many different variations.
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