Canadian-born and London-based Todd Lynn has been a sleeper favorite of ours for the past few years, from the metallic and structural details on his leather jackets to his covetable and always skin-tight tailored pants. Since 2006, Lynn’s moved well beyond his original reputation as the bespoke skinny rock’n'roll suitmaker of choice for music’s elite in the post-Dior-Homme era. His eponymous menswear line launched four years ago and womenswear joined the ranks shortly after.
Lynn’s impossibly slim-cut pants, leather jackets, extreme shoulders, uber-minis, and architectural cuts paired with draping fall somewhere between Balmain and Gareth Pugh. Relatively speaking, he’s also had a good deal of recent commercial success — he’s collaborated with Topshop and you can find his clothes on the racks at Barney’s. Yet Lynn has still maintained a reputation as something of an underground, up-and-coming designer — perhaps it’s that his subtle, impeccable tailoring and strict colour scheme of black, white, and neutrals (as opposed to the flashier antics of some of his colleagues) add a more timeless feel to his slick, edgy designs. Lynn’s collections maintain a similar aesthetic from season to season. Harsh and gritty yet polished, futuristic and sci-fi yet somehow classic. His attention to detail constantly shifts and evolves. SS2011, entitled “Genesis Redux,” was marked by tonal and textural patches of suede and snakeskin. Combined with the palette of neutral near-pastels that softened his usual harsh silhouettes, even strong-shouldered bodycon minidresses and dark grey blazers seemed light and summery. Images from that and his past four collections after the jump. –Meg Clark
FW2009
SS2010
FW2010
SS2011
Tags: Balmain, Dior Homme, GARETH PUGH, Genesis Redux, todd lynn, Topshop
