Nigerian menswer label Johnson Johnson was one of the sixteen emerging labels chosen to showcase as part of the British Council run Lagos Fashion and Design Week Fashion Focus program and showed a formal wear heavy debut collection that saw a female model open the show and feature cropped trousers, heavy lapels and tweed. The designer has finally released the official editorial images for the Spring 16 collection ‘The Legacy’.
Right off the bat, it is clear the photography and choice of location does the editorial a great disservice. The images are grainy and some are heavily retouched, making it incredibly hard to pick out the more intricate details in the clothes. The location choice also proves a heavy distraction from the clothes themselves. As does the styling. Jackets are too tight across the shoulders for many of the looks. A lapel rose sits almost at a model’s clavicle on a too wide notch lapel.
The label’s tailoring is strong (as is usually common with bespoke menswear labels) but many of Johnson’s sartorial choices are harder to justify. His lapels are too wide and high on many of his peak label blazers, their tips peeking over the model’s shoulders. The fit around the torso gives many of the models a ‘roid’ body stance, as though each is constantly tensed up. It is not a good look. We do love Johnson’s trousers, there he is less experimental and it works in his favour.
Ultimately, like most bespoke menswear labels, there are too many iterations of the same item for us to truly form an opinion about the label. It seems counterintuitive for a label that promises to make anything we desire to have a lookbook that suggests it is a one-trick pony.
To get in touch; Instagram: @JohnsonJohnson30 | Website:www.Johnsonclothings.com
Credits
Models: Chinko Francis, Alexx, Gedoni, KayKay, & Akuma.
Photography: Cube Images and Phonzy Images
Designer: Johnson Iyaye. B. Creative Director (Johnson-Johnson Menswear)