The music for Rag & Bone's show was "curated and edited by Thom Yorke". That's the kind of sleight of hand David Neville and Marcus Wainwright have been pulling off since they started out in 2002. In the past, it's tended to provoke debate about how much of their success is style, and how much of it is actual substance. The duo's obvious response has been to up the design quotient of late. This season featured a Japan-influenced narrative, built on something Neville and Wainwright called a "ninja pant". Collarless jackets and waistcoats, many with inserts of leather or chain mail peeking out from underneath, suggested contemporary samurai clobber. An oversize knit was more medieval in its impact. And fabric treatments were in an artisanal vein that wouldn't have gone amiss in an old Yohji collection. The metallic basket weave of an evening jacket evoked Kevlar, which, in turn, was a reminder of Duckie Brown's show.
