As ever intertwined with his experience within the evolution of ska, dub, and reggae in British culture, this Nicholas Daley collection was focused on the midlands tradition of 2-Tone. That was the name of the record label founded by Jerry Dammers in 1979. As well as Dammers’ own band, The Specials, the label promoted sounds from others including The Selecter and Madness. Together their sonic output became emblematic of a progressive and inclusive philosophy of race relations in the UK—a soundtrack of tolerance—when the prevailing cultural ethos was anything but integrated.
Daley worked with The Selecter’s charming trilby-toting chanteuse Pauline Black and the writer Benjamin Zephaniah (whose autobiography the designer said is a key influence of his) on the campaign for this collection, and launched it at a six-act ska night in London. Also blended into this rich mix was Daley’s own history: the collection featured a remade version of the t-shirt once worn by the designer’s father to promote his own night, The Reggae Klub, in Edinburgh and Aberdeen. Kilts in tartan mohair reflected that Scottishness, while monochrome jacquards produced with the 1720-founded silk weaver Stephen Walters transmitted the key 2-Tone motif (interestingly also riffed on by Undercover’s Jun Takahashi this season).
A “rebel jacket” in British melton wool and Italian denim was an attractive 1970s revamp while a quilted bomber in upcycled fabrics from past collections made by Manchester specialist Chris English was a more contemporary camouflage. A fiery suminagashi print from Japan graced multi-pocket shirts while Gabicci-esque knit shirts and sweater jackets were woven with remixed argyles. Especially lyrical were the fitted mod-era suits in Daley’s own, officially registered red, green, and gold tartan worn above collaborative loafers made with GH Bass. Daley is using his collections to start cross-generational conversations about cultural progress in the past, present, and future. And the clothes are excellent too.
