Daniel Gayle, the designer behind the London menswear label Denzil Patrick, is fairly nifty in the case of naming his collections. This spring was dubbed London Belongs To Me, whereas for fall he got here up with the equally evocative All Dressed Up and Someplace To Go. That sense of evocation is 2 fold. For one, with All Dressed Up…Gayle has tapped into the approaching season’s new temper for menswear: a bit extra glam, a bit extra peacocking, and an entire lot extra newness in the case of tailoring. And evocative as a result of Gayle is canny in an entire different manner too. There’s a wealthy sense of narrative happening right here, private and reflective, emotive and joyful. And that may very well be precisely the appropriate method to be taking now as a tiny indie in a world of behemoth megabrands: To make your label significant, inform your personal story, not anybody else’s.

In Gayle’s case, that at all times begins with household, with all of the love, connection, and complication that entails. With All Dressed Up… the start line was a picture of his mom taken through the very early ’80s within the multicultural south London neighborhood of Brixton. And, one other earlier household snapshot from the ’40s, of his grandmother glammed as much as buy groceries in London’s West Finish, {a photograph} brimming with the palpable and recognizable thrill of getting made the trouble and turned your self out in model in a sartorial rebuke to no matter else is happening in your life. “I’d spent a lot time speaking about my grandfathers, Denzil and Patrick [hence the label name],” he stated, laughing, “I needed to offer a nod to the highly effective girls in my life.”

That led him to consider the household residence in Brixton; to the very material (actually and metaphorically) of the home setting—the carpets and web drapes—which have turn out to be the prints for crimson or silver grey plush velvet jackets and silken shirts, or lace wrap attire which may be layered with sharp jackets and pants with a snug-fit larger waistline. The tailoring was impressed by his snappily suited younger Mod uncles, whereas his faux furs (created from deadstock fluffy stuff) got here from that picture of granny.

In impact, there’s an entire generational and gender interaction happening right here. That’s powering loads of style nowadays, however Gayle’s is particularly familial. You don’t have to know something in regards to the Gayle clan to really feel the emotional resonance in these garments, however it’s there, and it makes his work all of the extra compelling for it. Make style, however make it really feel, is the message right here—just like the acquainted consolation of Gayle’s cozy Aran cardigans, which have been recycled from classic ones, then re-dyed in probably the most attractive shades of scarlet and emerald. It’s artistic ambition knowledgeable by emotion.

Elsewhere, Gayle delved once more, as he has completed prior to now, into his early dance coaching, giving a nod to the the good, Puck-ish Scottish choreographer Michael Clark, who danced with Leigh Bowery and in BodyMap (the bodysuit the cult ’80s London duo designed for Clark featured cut-outs, memorably together with one exposing his ass). That led Gayle to discover how match and freedom of motion can work collectively—that very au courant wider, sloping shoulder, or the slender, warm-up pant leg, or the deep curving armholes on a pale mauve duchesse satin tee that’s been spangled with jewels. That’s not the one ornamental flourish. Equally private, Gayle’s companion, the artist James Bosley, sketched a sassy character referred to as Lydia, all Jessica Rabbit curves and Riot Grrrl perspective, who seems on the likes of a sweater with an uncovered again. So, sure, all dressed up, to make sure, and with sufficient thought and creativeness to counsel these garments are undoubtedly going someplace.