'Refined scallyism' hits the catwalk

By Charlotte Penketh, Fashion Editor

Liverpool-born designer Christopher Shannon has been named by GQ magazine as one of the hot designers of 2009. His ‘refined scallyism’ style was debuted at the MAN fashion show during London Fashion week in September 2008.

Male models wore tracksuits, shell suits, hoodies and puffer jackets. The models either had shaved heads or had their hair greased down with hair gel and one thing is for sure; they had a whole load of attitude.

For those unfamiliar with the term ‘scally’ then think ‘
chav.’ If you’re still unsure then think shell suits with
socks worn over the top and caps with the peak
pointing up to the sky. Let’s just say if Lady
Sovereign were from Liverpool, she would probably
inspire a range for women.

After completing a foundation degree, Christopher
Shannon went on to graduate from Central Saint
Martin's in London with an MA in menswear. He has
since worked with Kim Jones, Richard Nicoll and
co-designed with Judy Blame for Commes des
Garcons.

Shannon says: “Someone described me recently as
a sportswear tailor - but I genuinely am not interested
in tailoring. It’s an approach to sportswear. My
aesthetic comes from taking things that I like that are
garish and making them slick. I like giving pieces a
high quality finish. It’s not about referencing an era,
it’s about working with a garment and seeing it from a design point of view.”

At Liverpool Fashion Week he also collaborated with Reebok, with the aim of getting his designs into stores. However with prices that won’t be student-friendly, you have to wonder how hard it would be to do it yourself...

Whilst making 'scallyism' refined would not be an easy task for anyone, I summoned my inner stylist and with a bag of bargain sports clothes, which totalled just £9, we created the look above.

Let us know what you think...