Christopher Shannon. Cotton and nylon striped sweatshirt in white, blue, mauve and green, early 2010s.

Sweatshrt in horizontal bands of mauve, white, dark and light blue, and various shades of green nylon.

Given by Charlie Porter

This is part of a group of early 2010s menswear donated to the V&A by Charlie Porter, one of the most influential British menswear fashion journalists of the early 21st century. In 2000 Porter became deputy fashion editor for The Guardian, and since then, has worked as an associate editor for GQ and deputy editor for Fantastic Man. He currently writes for The Financial Times as their menswear critic, in addition to his freelance work, DJ-ing and maintaining an active blogging presence online. Porter is particularly known for his understanding of contemporary menswear and familiarity with developing streetwear and alternative trends.

At the time of the donation, Porter provided commentary on many of the pieces. He said of this piece:

"Banded sweatshirt – a very early piece from Shannon. As with the London designer Nasir Mazhar, Shannon has always made a point of using non-luxury fabrics, to show that fashion and luxury are not the same thing – it is not always the goal of a fashionable item to be luxurious. During the brand mania of the late 90s and early 00s, it was often assumed that fashion and luxury are the same thing, when they are actually very different beasts – fashion should always be open to fabric that is inexpensive. Here, he plays with different materials, different colours, different textures. It is both simple and complex, a mediation on how inexpensive can be desirable."

- Daniel Milford-Cottam
20/05/2016

T.90-2015