At London Collections: Men, myself and my design partner Ada Zanditon unveiled Ada + Nik SS16: SYN (for our tech-advanced dark-matter menswear brand) through an Immersive Experience – a pop up world of Ada + Nik – in an exclusive gallery space in the heart of London’s West End (the British Fashion Council’s new home for Fashion Week).
SYN, meaning “co-” or “with” in Greek – symbolic of the Ada + Nik plus sign (emoji: +) was prevalent throughout every element of the creative journey for the duo for SS16, bringing to life the attitude of how we move forward through positive co-existence.
Runway images via GQ and Vogue, also worth reading this piece on Style.com about our vision for the future.
Channeling a cultural agenda and art driven creative vision this season, we created SYN:
A 60 piece collection featuring a signature, concept and classic luxury leather bikers, a significantly broader spectrum of luxury summer separates including luxury long and short sleeve t-shirts and vests, lightweight tech enhanced outerwear including reversible bombers and showerproof tech jackets and the development of a dark print featuring a dystopian world juxtaposed through the window of SYN (the Ada + Nik plus sign). Ada + Nik have also co-designed an artisan leather bomber jacket featuring bespoke pen holders with luxury pen brand Montegrappa.
Innovative tech and sustainable fabrics include rubber coated jersey, lamb nappa leather, hand woven organic denim, smooth modal and organic cotton.
A film produced and directed by Ada + Nik and Jonathan Harris featuring actor Duran Fulton Brown delivering a poignant and poetic verse written by Ada + Nik with Yrsa Daley-Ward and B.A. Zanditon and based on a dialogue that started between Ada and Nik, that the duo is now extending outwards from themselves into the world. SYN marks the fifth instalment in the ongoing narrative of Ada + Nik films that have received critical acclaim, award nominations and premieres (ASVOFF, Interview Magazine, Rankin, NYLON, Hypebeast, Dries Van Noten).
An Immersive Experience at London Collections: Men – a dark and cinematic journey into a hyper intelligent tech enhanced GRUNK (Greco-Roman Punk) reality with the heroic Ada + Nik man in a midnight dystopian black sand desert. Guests enjoyed the experience whilst sipping Haig Club, the new Single Grain Scotch whisky created in partnership with David Beckham, and BLK Water – the first ever fulvic-enhanced all-natural mineral water.
Technology in partnership with Motorola’s MOTO360 timepiece. Following a successful AW15 collaboration, Motorola commissioned a bespoke Ada + Nik watch face to be worn at the London Collections: Men show and feature in the film and campaign imagery which will be available for fans to download.
SYN is also part of an ongoing Ada + Nik partnership with Holloway Prison and London College of Fashion (LCF) to produce a bespoke piece in The Ministry of Justice’s workshop within Holloway Prison. Ada and Nik hope that the programme will give this small group of inmates a better chance of rehabilitation when they’re released.
Partners for SYN Immersive Experience included Motorola MOTO360 (technology), Claire Luxton (art and architecture), Last Japan (sonic curation), Ex Idolo (private blend immersive fragrance), BLK Water and Haig Whisky (immersive liquids), Palladium (footwear), Hemsely London (back pack collaboration), Danny Defrietas (grooming), Nicco Torelli (styling), Kevin McDaid (campaign and lookbook images), Montegrappa (illustration and bespoke Ada + Nik for Montegrappa leather jacket design), Richard Thornn (event production).
Photos c/o Laura Couglan and Luke Freeman.