Inspired... Marwood AW13

As London Collections: Men is only a few hectic weeks and with the festive break somewhat inconveniently popping up right in the middle of proceedings, throwing a spanner shaped mince pie in the works, it is about time that we began our seasonal preview. Over the coming month we will sit down with as many of our favourite design talents as possible to hear all about their inspirations for the autumn/winter 13/14 season. To kick off this whirlwind of tea and biscuit fuelled curiosity, we headed to Dalston and in to the warmth of Becky French's shared studio to take a look at her latest mood board for Marwood.

The emergence and continued rise to prominence of Marwood has been a fittingly delightful journey. We've been enthusiastic passengers ever since we first encountered French's working sketchbook of research and exploration in 2010 and watch on in pleasant surprise as the label trundled through its landscape of carefully crafted lace on to an ever more texture rich vision. Season after season, French's destination is always to produce beautiful neck wear that can be loved by it's owner and worn time and time again. As she embarks on the next leg of what is always a tantalising trip, French talks us through her route and introduces us to a world of English eccentricities and Gallic sartorial peacocking...

"I was thinking about and looking at journeys. Train journeys mainly because I found myself going to Devon, it's a beautiful trip going back and forth and I'm from Somerset originally so I know the route well. I always prefer going by train because you can soak up the scenery. Whilst travelling back from spring/summer 13 showroom meetings in Paris, I began thinking about this season. So, a number of photos on my inspiration wall are snapshots from these journeys along various tracks. I've got loads of them. They document how the landscape and colours changed and the result is a blur. I wanted the collection to be a journey through an eccentric English landscape and an interpretation of classic and familiar scenes in to textures within the ties. From passing cricket grounds and admiring their jumpers into Aran and blurred countryside in to herringbone and the sighting of a kingfisher evolved in to something more abstract. I always want the collections to be heavily textured but for this season I was keen to explore a more graphic side for the jacquards.

I was chatting to Scott Trindle about the look book for this season and the inspiration for the styling and the mood that I wanted to express can best be understood by looking Jean Cocteau. In particular, Cocteau in 'The Mirror and the Mask'. It's an amazing book. I picked it up from a car boot sale and it's one of the first books that I looked at when I started Marwood. It includes an image by Irving Penn which sums up everything. I keep going back to it. It is such a strong pose, sheer confidence, and I love everything about it but especially the combination of textures and pattern. The look book will play with staged poses and the styling."

A quick look at Becky French's mood board for Marwood AW13
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Marwood's is a journey that will never provoke that all too familiar whine of 'are we nearly there yet?' because the route that Becky French steers us is just too beautiful. Rich, diverse and full of surprise, these are trips that we all long to take.

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