Kent & Curwen Spring 2025 Ready-to-Wear
Until just over a week ago, Kent & Curwen was best known as a sincere, though slightly fuddy-duddy, purveyor of gentlemanly English prep. Those connotations were dispelled, however, with its relaunch under the creative purview of Daniel Kearns, led by a poppyâbut still preppy!âcampaign shot by British photographer Glen Luchford.
Today, Kearns continued the rollout of his youth-driven vision for the heritage brand: a 200-seat show in the sculpture-lined corridors of the Royal Academy, one of Britainâs most prestigious learning institutions. It was a canny choice of location, not just for the back-to-school vibes that September inevitably brings, but also because the setting subtly acknowledged Kent & Curwenâs foundations. Started in 1926 as a purveyor of ties to the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge universities, it quickly became a significant player in the British school uniform market.
It made sense, then, that the opening looks of Kearnsâs new era for the label should directly invoke that history. Amply cut blazers with 3D rosette appliquĂ©s, knife-pleated skirts slashed at the side seams or hoiked up so the hem was about halfway up the thigh, and slim shorts came in navy and charcoal wool. Blue poplin shirts, some featuring look-alike Sharpie scrawls, will trigger nostalgia in anyone who has attended a British secondary school. School team rugby shirts and cricket sweatersâboth long-standing brand staplesâfigured prominently, the latter reimagined as a jaunty minidress as part of the labelâs first womenswear offering.
Granted, rethinking the oh-so-English school uniform isnât exactly a novel premiseâitâs familiar territory for the interrogation and subversion of the stuffy social conventions and mores it represents. What made Kearnsâs proposal compelling was a degree of earnest homage, with the designer keenly observing how uniforms routinely present themselves on Londonâs streets today. âJust walking here this morning, passing all the kids heading to school at different ages, itâs such an inspiration,â Kearns said during a preview at the brandâs airy North London studio, a stoneâs throw from a number of sizable secondary schools. âThat was the starting point: this idea of the conformity that is set by uniforms. How they instill a sense of belonging, but then theyâre almost like a starting point to create your own identity.â
Later looks explored the experimentation phases that come upon leaving the framework of a uniform behindâa sentiment no doubt informed by the fact that Kearnsâs son has just left school for a place at Bristol University. âThereâs the idea of a transition between school and university or workâa time when thereâs a huge expectation and sense of excitement as you step into adulthood, but also a nostalgia for this childhood youâre leaving behind,â he said. A burgundy bouclĂ© jumpsuit and a double-breasted chocolate wool equestrian jacketâboth sported with oversized aviator shadesâchanneled a sense of a girl on the cusp of womanhood toying with a vision of ladylike dressing passed down from her mother. A trench coat in crisp black gabardine came with an exaggerated storm shield, echoing the pomp of an Oxford scholarâs gown.
While uniform, by its nature, is democratic fare, the codes brought to the fore skewed pretty poshâalbeit not quite into Etonian top hat territory. That checks out, given that Kent & Curwen has historically catered to a privileged social echelon. And even if the aim here was to expand its appeal, thereâs a general appetite for the sartorial codes of British gentry, as recent collections from Miu Miu, Celine, and even Palace (by way of a Barbour collaboration) attest.
With its extensive heritage in the field, Kent & Curwen leaning into that is a no-brainer. But with so many others doing similarly, it bears contemplating where the brand will sit within the mix. âWe want to represent London now,â was Kearnsâs response. âWe want to make sure that we keep the heritageâin 1926 we pretty much invented preppy, way before a lot of other brandsâbut it has to feel relevant to a new generation. To my son and his mates, for exampleâitâs got to make sense to them.â But is a generation of kids whoâve just hung up their uniforms ready to slip back into reimagined versions of them? Well, judging by how convincingly a number of Kent & Curwenâclad (presumably) Gen-Z attendees in the front row pulled it off, it would seem so.
