Christopher Kane Takes an Axe to Mulberry for His Debut Show

2 min read

For his first Mulberry show this afternoon in London, Christopher Kane looked to the tree at the heart of the brand. His idea was simple: sometimes you have to cut back to grow again. An axe, naturally, followed.

“It’s this person who looks after the Mulberry tree, cutting it back to the fresh fruit—which is what every gardener does to make it bloom better,” Kane said backstage. “The axe is very fundamental to the collection.” The motif manifested literally and subtly, in the form of angular shoulder bags and a recurring cutout pattern that appeared on everything from mod micro-mini dresses and leather overcoats to textured sheer skirts. The spliced technique was also an “if you know, you know” reference to the brand’s hero bag, the Bayswater.

Kane leaned into the “Britishisms” of the brand without solely relying on them. A plum cashmere sweater, a symbol of prep, was made cool with a jagged hemline and a tiered skirt in slate gray, a color Kane derived from his homeland of Scotland. “It’s a clean, refreshing tone of palette-cleansing gray, white, and then black.”

In a fitting nod to the collection’s blank-slate palette and the brand’s latest chapter, the models walked a pristine white carpet.

That’s not to say that the collection, titled “City, Town, Country,” relied solely on neutrals. A hooded parka in neon orange worn as a minidress recalled a coal miner’s uniform, while the brand’s heritage check manifested in a floaty Oxford shirt and a PVC trench coat.

As one of London’s most subversive—and beloved—designers, Kane has ample room to expand upon his more experimental ideas in the coming seasons, like the interesting leatherwork, off-kilter accessories, and narrow silhouettes that defined the show. Kane, for one, seemed to see the collection through that lens.

“The tone is set now,” he explained. “She’s cool, she’s modern. But she’s also got that country in her.”

Matthew Velasco is the Fashion News Editor at ELLE. Based in New York City, he previously worked as a News Writer at W magazine and an Assistant Editor at V magazine. Outside of fashion, he enjoys interior design, tennis (both watching and playing), and a jam-packed antique store.