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To quote the inimitable Alice, A Child Of The Jago just gets curiouser and curiouser. Based in Great Eastern Street the label could easily be dismissed as just another Shoreditch wannabe, encased in skinny jeans, dabbling in t-shirt design on the side…but to put it bluntly, it’s not.

Headed by Messrs. Simon ‘Barnzley’ Armitage and Joe Corre, A Child Of The Jago fuses eccentric dandyism (think Oscar Wilde in Kettners) with impeccable tailoring, Victorian sensibilities and just a little rock&roll excess. Military jackets with gilded epaulettes (products of the revolution?) feature alongside multi-coloured checks, Scottish cashmere and references to Apache Indians- contradictions in the extreme lie at the heart of the Terrorist label. The shop is a veritable treasure trove of vintage curiosities- unexpected artefacts and Napoleonic uniforms are presented alongside the collection, and it’s difficult to where one ends and the other begins. 

Last week Armitage and Corre bought their creative vision to Wilton’s Music Hall as part of London Fashion Weeks’ MAN showcase. The crumbling, faded grandeur of the venue was the perfect setting for the luxurious splendour on display. Part catwalk show, part performance, the characters wore their costumes with an audacious ease- preppy boys wore smart bowties and blazers edged in white, uncompromising pirates were adorned in heavily brocaded jackets and string vests, and to keep them all in check? A fierce tigress, brandishing a whip was dressed in a tailored catsuit and thigh-high boots.

As with almost everything A Child of the Jago is associated with, this catwalk show eschewed convention- unorthodox models paraded across the stage at their own pace, stopping to admire the (imaginary) view or to adjust a shoe, -accessories came in the form of bright hats and surprisingly well-behaved dogs. With most labels this would have felt like a badly executed PR stunt to gain some extra column inches, but the Child Of The Jago aesthetic is so encompassing it was the only option.

If you’re looking for attitude you’ve come to the right place- ultimately A Child Of The Jago is a child of the street; menswear unconcerned with street style trends or following the crowd- content to stick two fingers up at everyone as it meanders along the street, head full of last night’s excess. But this nonchalant arrogance is well founded- combining young Japanese talent from the land’s most renowned fashion academies with tailoring straight from Savile Row A Child Of The Jago is a refreshing alternative to mass-produced, over-priced, under-designed garments.

Vicki Loomes