John Alexander Skelton may wear seductive clothes, but he is also a masterful storyteller. His latest Lookbook image rotates the escaping yarn of pleasant summer in County Mayo, where fishermen drag nets or look into the sea, villagers climb up nearby waterfalls, pull wild flowers out of the grass, then gather in a local bar for a Guinness. This time, Skelton often finds himself fascinated by some moody Victoriana, and it seems he is letting the light go a little bit.
“That part of Ireland, it’s a softness,” Skyelton told me in the trailer. He noted that he had family roots in that corner of Emerald Island, and that the lookbook was a quiet nostalgic tribute to the family holiday. “The mountains aren’t that big, everything is very emerald and green, and people are very enthusiastic. I want the series to be soft and light.” Skelton and photographer William Waterworth worked with local agency, with their pre-planning actors, who helped them search along the way (they searched for “real people, farmers, fishermen, a few people who just retired, and we even stopped a biker, and it was a weird feeling, and it was a weird person-” reality.
This “soft and lightweight” feel is radiating in some of the more interesting details of the collection, such as a white linen double-breasted suit that exudes a light-colored waist at the waist, slitting the waist out of the waist, or a jacket opening on the waist, or a particularly cute dark green wax jacket with double buttons on the front. It is equally visible in the faint grayish white and pink color story, expressing a series of appearances most vividly. Anyone who has seen Skelton himself knows that he is a living embodiment of his brand, and the collection he points out has a deeper reflection on the relationship between his wardrobe and his customers. “I really just wanted to do exactly what I liked to wear at the time,” he said.
In particular, Skelton wants to reiterate his commitment to non-martial arts forms based on his design spirit, partly a resistance to the slow and steady rise of casual clothing in recent years. “I really don’t like it, and it makes me want to do the exact opposite, put on something that is really formal and doesn’t have to be polished,” he said. “In fact, it’s totally the opposite. It seems to have caused a big reaction among people. But I really like it.”
The collection (and the coveted look manual that comes with it) proves a fashion alchemy that only enters the world and interacts with real people and allows this to give back to the clothes. “One thing I don’t really like working is that I don’t travel as much,” Skelton smiled. “Traveling for these shots is a great way to get into the world, not always in the studio.” This infinite curiosity brings the magic of curiosity to Skelton’s clothes.
