COS Launches AW21 Collection
WORDS BY,
DOUGLAS HENRY LEWIS
There is an understanding and honoring of classic neutral tones and menswear silhouettes.
The COS AW21 collection feels fresh, unique, and wearable for today.
2 MINS READ TIME
The creative identity of London is one that is totally unmatched, much more experimental, with free-flowing creativity frolicking frivolously throughout the streets.
COS, in true fashion, made a spectacular return to the runway at Roundhouse, a hub for youthful creative communities to showcase their various talents. On this spherical stage of physical and digital delight, models strutted in a counterclockwise formation while enormous squares of fabric hung in the air with projections of miscellaneous artistic images of human attributes and activities.
The collection sought to “reinvigorate a classic wardrobe with the freedom to push the boundaries of traditional design paralleled by the fluidity of movement through draped, layered styles and oversized fits.”
There is a beautiful symmetry that aligns this collection, exemplified expertly with the clothes and the theatricality of the venue – a real marriage between digital and physical, concept to creation, experimentation, and elegance. Quite simply, the clothes breathe and the pieces speak for themselves.
The collection captured exactly what the experimentally chic Central St. Martins student and the dignified design executive would wear on a Wednesday while catching the tube from Victoria to Piccadilly Circus.
Ottawa Kwami walking the COS AW21 runway show during London Fashion Week on Tuesday, September 21st, 2021. Photo: Courtesy of KCD Worldwide
In black and cream, there are tote bags with one strap for the handle, shaped like the foldable brown paper bags you obtain from a Brooklyn bodega. A white, olive green, to black ombre color scheme done on a Mohair sweater, which is hugely popular this season.
We simply cannot get enough of the fluidity and movement that comes from the oversized trousers. Its silhouette also translates on the superb navy peacoat, and a powder-blue oxford shirt – perfect to wear over a turtleneck as if it is a jacket. A blazer with a zipper going down the front where buttons should be.
Tae Min Park walking the COS AW21 runway show during London Fashion Week on Tuesday, September 21st, 2021. Photo: Courtesy of KCD Worldwide
Jonas Gloer walking the COS AW21 runway show during London Fashion Week on Tuesday, September 21st, 2021. Photo: Courtesy of KCD Worldwide
Utility and practicality take a peak with safari-esque pockets on a cream-colored shirt with matching pants! The brand also introduced a new geometric cut-out collar combination on a black bomber jacket. Sleeveless V-neck sweaters, very deep almost-brown mauves, olive greens, a camel suit, and my personal favorite: a plaid, ombre, mohair trench-coat done in navy, sky-blue, orange, and even a hint of violet.
The men's clothes featured in the Autumn/Winter 2021 collection from COS have encapsulated the essence of modern British menswear and set the tone for how to stay both cool and warm in the following months to come.
