Craig Green look from MatchesFashion.com

Fashion’s fortunes fluctuate almost seasonally, but there are few designers that manage to ever really shift the landscape in a significant way. Hedi Slimane and Raf Simons shaped the way the 21^st century man dresses with the introduction of the slim – sometimes super-skinny – cut, and more recently Thom Browne influenced office attire around the world with his cropped take on the traditional suit.

After graduating from Central Saint Martins in 2012, British designer Craig Green showed his wares as part of Fashion East’s MAN runway show at London Collections: Men for three seasons, gaining particular interest for his large plywood sculptures that masked a collection of oversized, tie-dyed pieces. But it was his spring 2015 collection, presented as his first solo runway show, that really stood out, earning him the unofficial title of the show of the season, with much of his audience in tears.

Ahead of his fall/winter collection presentation, Mr Green speaks with MatchesFashion.com men’s style director Simon Chilvers about that haunting collection, now available from the online retailer, and his beginnings in fashion.

How would you describe the Craig Green look?
Everything is based around a workwear jacket, which is something that I wear every day. There’s always a massive influence of uniform and functionality, so all the shapes, as a rule, are boxy and square and non-fitted.

How did the spring 2015 collection start and what were the ideas behind it?
From the beginning, there was a big importance [placed] on movement. We started with basic pieces of cloth that we saw move and draped onto the body, then these transformed into garments. We wanted an emotion of Zen and calm and everything stripped back; something that we’ve never done before. That’s why all the models were barefoot.

The colour palette was very pared back. Why was that?
We only used five colours, which was a big move away from the print that we’d used before. We wanted to concentrate on the shape, structure and the construction of the garments and also give it a textile feel. They could be untied and unravelled and then tied back together to make a more wearable, understandable garment. We’d never used white before so we wanted it to set the tone of this really purist army of boys, and then we always use navy and black because they are our uniform colours.

We wanted an emotion of Zen and calm and everything stripped back;
something that we’ve never done before.

What was the appeal of denim for this season?
This was the first time we’d used denim. It’s always made sense for what we do because it’s always based around workwear and uniform. We wanted to use it in a different way from other brands. We got the denim washed before the garments were made, which means that all the seams are clean and it has no shrinkage. We could use it in a more clean, flat way but it still has the colour and texture of denim.

Tell us a little more about the construction of the garments this season.
The original idea was that they were flat-pack garments that came apart in pieces that you could then construct and dress how you thought were appropriate, so that’s why we had all the ties. In the show, they were untied in a more extreme sense but when tied back together they are understandable garments. We just liked how basic and simplistic it was; the idea of just having shoelaces to hold things together.

When I went to Saint Martins I always felt like I was the really boring one. I wasn’t very “fashion” in that sense.

Did you have any sense of the audience’s reaction to the collection when you took your runway bow?
No! We did a run-through without the clothes and because the music was classical I don’t think any of the boys knew what rhythm to walk at. We were chasing them down the catwalk saying, “Walk faster! Walk faster!” I thought, “Oh my god, this is going to be the most boring runway I’ve ever done; there’s no print, the music is really classical, we haven’t seen them dressed altogether because we didn’t want the white pieces to get dirty.” It wasn’t until I watched the video backstage and I saw the sculptures moving and everything else working, then I was pleased.

Do you have a childhood fashion memory?
I was never really interested in fashion and no one in my family was very fashionable. My mum was a nurse, my dad was a plumber and my uncle was a carpenter. No one was arty but everyone made things for function. My dad used to collect all his boilers from his old jobs, so there were all these alien shapes in the garden. It was quite arty but a bit like Scrapheap Challenge [a TV show] or something. There was lots of creativity but just not fashion.

Any clothes you remember from being young?
I had a Sonic the Hedgehog tracksuit and stuff but I wasn’t really very conscious of the way I dressed. When I went to Saint Martins I always felt like I was the really boring one. I wasn’t very “fashion” in that sense.

What’s it like reading rave reviews like the one by Tim Blanks on Style.com?
I was asleep in bed. I remember my friend called me and shouted, “WAKE UP! WAKE UP! Read the review!” and I had text messages from other friends saying, ‘Read it!’ so I was scared. It wasn’t like they were saying it was positive or negative. It was amazing. It’s really surreal that someone like that writes a great review.