Hed Mayner’s Spring-Summer 2025 collection presents a series of interconnected, undone arguments, embodying the tension of a shaken soda can on the verge of bursting. This season, the designer embarks on an exploration of expanded and reimagined proportions, pushing against his habitual tendencies of intricate pattern cutting. The result is a collection that cocoons the body in wide shoulders and spacious pants, presenting a study in contradiction both in the process of creation and in the final garments.
The collection is less focused on traditional construction and more on the transformative power of textiles. By employing a mix of coated and uncoated, shiny and matte, bonded and foiled fabrics, Mayner crafts silhouettes that stand on their own. Layered and zipped together, these textiles form statuesque and crisp looks, each piece a testament to the monumental. The manipulation of fabric – squeezing shapes or holding volumes in place with cuffs, belts, or buckles – imparts a buoyant, persuasive grace to the garments. Tailored gilets lined with 3D pockets and sweaters with baked-in creases at the elbows exemplify this new approach.
A spare two-button linen vest, seemingly eager to open over the hips, and a home-made plissé with herringbone texture, designed to maintain its shape, illustrate Mayner’s decisive tailoring. These pieces cinch closer to the body, offering a more active stance and embodying the collection’s dynamic ethos. The slashed cable knit sweater, guiding air across the skin, and the purposeful abstraction of the designs, signal a departure from purely decorative elements towards functional art.
Mayner’s reimagining of shirting is particularly notable. Shirts are moved across the body, from front to back and side to side, before a new pattern is established. This innovative approach results in shirts that purposely drop at the yoke and fall diagonally in full swing at the front. The volume created by a cuff belted around the waist of a cotton shirt forms an urgent swoop at the back, while a three-button jacket, pulled at the neck and stripped of its collar, allows its arms to fall forward in active repose.
In footwear, Mayner’s collaboration with Reebok introduces a distinct blend of cross-training and basketball influences. The Reebok LTD Blacktop and the classic Reebok LTD Classic Leather Premium sneaker, reimagined in sponge, add a unique texture to the collection. The audacious addition of a chunk of wood buckled to the foot furthers the theme of unconventional materials and construction methods.
Hed Mayner’s Spring-Summer 2025 collection is a bold exploration of form and function, where textiles create their own narratives. By challenging his instincts and reimagining proportions, Mayner has crafted a series of garments that are both statuesque and dynamic, abstract yet purposeful.
View the collection in the Gallery below:
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