Sporty and spliced: Mark Fast has fashion living in the fast lane for SS22
Through a reminiscent haze, Mark Fast dreams of inner-city Club Kids and acid-house ravers for an electric new season.
DESIGNER: MARK FAST
SEASON: Spring/Summer 2022
EVENT: London Fashion Week
LOCATION: A multi-story car park off Leicester Square, London
With its spider-riddled staircases and stony interior slathered in graffiti, the unlikely setting for Mark Fast expressed gritty, urban character. The sort of place that MARK LECKEY might stage an exhibit, a supervillain lair may exist or where sketchy techno raves would convene on a Friday night, gabber-heavy and totally legal, of course. As the world awakens from its pandemic hibernation, Fast has turned his eye, instead, to the chaos and community of underground city scenes. Fuelled by ‘90s nostalgia, the show was a prominent call to youth culture: grungy denim, abundant tracksuits and almost enough vibrancy to put the Crayola factory out of business.
Car engines rattled the building before SAWEETIE'S aptly-named track Fast (Motion) set the pace for models – appearing perfectly dishevelled in their morning-after smokey eyes and DIY-jeans, lashed repetitively by paint. Hair came crimped, leggings torn. The look was at the same time worn yet refreshing, rich in the hedonism and Club Kid mania of pre-millenium adolescence but adaptable for today’s teens. It was an electric, party-ready range. The venue’s concrete walls juxtaposed myriad hues on the runway; a trippy kaleidoscope of luminous greens, tangerines, that were watered down by lilac and pastel peaches.
Colour comes naturally to the knitwear designer, who has been illuminating the LFW schedule since his MA graduation from CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS in 2008. Going on to dress British it-girls from CHARLI XCX to NAOMI CAMPBELL, Fast’s knitwear weaves sensuality into a traditionally modest craft; stretching far from stuffy librarian turtlenecks and grandma’s mittens. Playful hybridity is at the helm of his work; blending lycra and wool into quirky demi-couture experiments that tease textural expectation. Across both menswear and womenswear his innovation harnesses duality: garments fall under activewear for their elasticity and snug bodycon shapes lend easily to cocktail apparel. When you’ve got the gym at five and gins at six, Mark Fast has you well covered.
For this collection Fast accelerated knits into a provocative lane, where halter crops and slinky tube cut-outs were held together by interlocking chains. Several dresses reiterated the subversive basics trend through horizontally spliced torsos that could’ve easily been ravaged by a wolf’s claws or the Hulk as a backstage dresser. It teared up the formality seen in his tailored trenches and feather-tipped gowns of seasons past. Although mature clientele may lose touch with the acid-wash, high-octane offerings this round, shaking off structure made way for a universally fun, carefree feel – enough reason to smile in our stifled livelihoods.
Amidst a show driven by the streets, it was no surprise to see sporty looks make a run-in. Joggers, then biker shorts. Shell suits and panelled bomber jackets came elevated with fetish-esque stiletto boots. The styling emitted thrown-on cool – an oversized blazer here or fishnets there. In the wake of logomania, Fast opted for a new MF-initial monogram that zig-zagged across shoulder bags and tees like distant, graphic lightning bolts. It loudly called out to Gen Z’s Hypebeast partiality. Fast by name, fun by nature, the catwalk was a dynamic coming-of-age commentary; a generational mirror bouncing between OG ‘90s babies and current youth, geared up by bold colours and boy-racer cars. Now get in loser, we’re going shopping.
Images courtesy of Getty.
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