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With a directional vision and soothing psychedelic patterns, James Long is more than accomplished in creating a utopian retreat in the sleepless cities of Fashion. American leathers suffused with saturating inks, prints instilled with spontaneity and knits wrapped, woven and laced with strings of plentiful summer hues, James Long creates works which are riddled with extensive precision and originality. So much so that it remains more than obvious that his rural Northampton background gratefully expelled him into a city which seems built for his vision; London.

Shirts, shorts and trousers were submerged in acrylic stains, drips, washes and dyes of paint- think Jackson Pollock only less severe. Patchwork knits were worked, reworked and reworked again to invoke an intricate lacing of material. Fragility, texture and loosened leather gave a splendid soporific approach to fashion, where we can relax and drift into the hallucinatory land of Long. Denim which was ferociously bleached appeared quite the opposite, the purified cleansed denim created another temptation to live the summer Long. Spiced with the contemporary heat of Cole Mohr, leather shorts and scarlet stained knits simmered a noxious intensity (although red/grey hair to match...?). Let’s not forget the leather, combined in shorts and jackets it seems so soft and drenched in sharp contrasting inks this was a victorious combination which was sure to make the audience surrender.

Inspired by ‘My own private Idaho’ along with other artistic influences, the American suburban simplicity shone through. With James’ striking yet subtle flair it was a show worth seeing/buying (asos.com fingers crossed).