Written by Lewis Cameron

Tue. 13. Aug.

 

The age old tale of the Alpha vs the not so Alpha, i.e the Underdog, finds its foundations having begun in any single individual’s first day of school.  It’s not necessarily a war zone per say, but in this particular power struggle, the strong versus the weak manifests in a battle for dominance, competition and triumph in the ultimate demonstration of strength, ability and overall, masculinity. Let the games begin, as we catch up with talented and innovative designer Naomi Staniland who delves into the ideas and elements behind her AW14 collection from her independent label NSMENSWEAR entitled ‘Alphamale vs Underdog.’  

 

“The concept behind A/W 14 Collection 'Alphamale vs Underdog' started with the search for a title. When beginning with ideas for the collection, I knew I wanted a really strong title so the first thing I did was to brainstorm words. I ended up coming up with Human VS Animal and that developed into 'Alphamale vs Underdog'.”

 

“I began to think about connotations surrounding those two words and ended up splitting them into separate projects and creating three stories for each. For the Alphamale, I researched 'Boxers', 'BodyBuilders' and 'Gangs', and for Underdog, 'Animal Cruelty', 'Femininity being perceived as weakness' and 'Femininity within a male'.”

 

“Through the development of these stories the collection started to become much more in depth than I had originally envisaged and the 'Alphamale' and 'Underdog' sides started to become a clear indication of a battle between the strong and the weak. When it came to designing the collection I took shapes, movement and fabrics from imagery I had collected from every story.”

 

“I wanted the Alphamale looks to be oversized, with heavy fabrics to represent power and for the padded bomber jacket I specifically looked at the muscle shape of the bodybuilders. For the Underdog looks I wanted the complete opposite, therefore representing vulnerability and fragility. I wanted to use sheer fabrics which were soft in movement and silhouette, the idea of using lace came to me when looking at imagery of crossdressed men in ladies lace underwear. The concept ultimately became a battle between the weak and the strong and to me, depicts the power struggles we have in society.”

 

Theatrical, empowering, bold, confident and luxuriously androgynous, the Alphamale vs Underdog collection is one of sheer creativity with a designated and structured design aesthetic. One of imagination, ingenuity and eccentrically quirky creativity.

 

For more info on Naomi Staniland's designs and latest collections check out www.nsmenswear.com