Maarten Van Der Horst brings his unique version of punk culture to the high street
The next big thing to hit Topshop this season is Maarten Van Der Horst’s second collection for the store, which is available to buy now.
Since his MA graduation from St Martin’s in 2011, he was taken under the Fashion East wing by Lulu Kennedy and was given NEWGEN sponsorship from the British Fashion Council, and has become pretty well established since then.
The Dutch designer particularly made a splash when he showed a beautifully ironic reinvention of the naff “Dad-trying-to-be-hip” Hawaiian shirt, getting all the fashion bods talking. Since then, however, his work has taken a slightly different, more conceptual turn, drawing inspiration from heavy metal (he says in an interview with Grazia that he “always wanted to be a rockstar”), zine culture and the spirit of destructionist punk fashion.
This latest line reflects this and includes simple basics such as crisp shirts, white jeans and leather jackets emblazoned with angry band logos and graffiti, all in monochrome with an added dash of metallic. The prints are mind-bogglingly graphic, something that Horst’s definitely a fan of (even his Twitter page is enough to give you a slight migraine).
There’s a detectable Vivienne Westwood circa-1975 feel to this capsule collection, but the pieces are really wearable. Granted, the prints are busy, but accessories aren’t ruled out as long as they’re in keeping with the overall vibe. If you wanted to go nuts you could wear everything together and blend in perfectly with the fash pack, but if you wanted something more understated, the jumpers and shirts would look great with a pair of stonewashed jeans or a biker jacket. So be sure to get down to Topshop to find your own statement slice of LFW!
Kate Williams
To see the full collection and to see more of Van Der Horst’s work visit here.
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