«We want to bring story-telling back to the industry», continues Jeffrey, but none of this would be possible without a healthy dose of pragmatic concreteness. When the conversation moves from the upcoming Milan show to the way his brand is developing, vague resolutions turn into tangible things: «You can do a commercial collection on the back of your hand, but if you want to invest and have ideas you should do it long scale, like over two or three years». Everything comes from the raw material, the fabric, which is manipulated, recontextualized, used to tell the story of Jeffrey's Scotland, which moves out of the stereotype of tradition and embraces the contemporary world without diluting its identity, but rather enriching it in the process. «We need to stay consistent about what we do», he explains. «There’s something interesting about recontextualizing one fabric over and over again. The tartan for example gets reinvented in new ways every season. Now that the brand is in a good position, we can do things like hiring a fabric designer who just works on fabric long-scale, like this Dries van Noten fabric designer who designs it like two years before the collection, for example». The idea is exciting, and it certainly hints at a technical approach, where there is some ingenuity but that is utterly devoid of the snootiness that reigns in fashion. The tartan seersucker, for example, which over time has become one of the brand's best sellers, grew out of a chance experiment. «To me, fashion is a lighthouse, it shines its light on a range of different movements and brands tend to keep shifting themselves in order to stay in the light as much as possible. The thing is, if you stay true to yourself, once the light comes shining back around, it shines even brighter».

In the show on Sunday 15, all these elements will converge, bringing together the visual aspects to the aural and narrative ones to the collection that will be shown to the audience. A kind of multidisciplinarity that prompted Jeffrey to produce a musical album «that helped with clothing sales» but also a series of objects for the home made by collaborating with a wide variety of artists. Jeffrey's approach is very hands-on: «The great thing about being the owner and creative director of your own business, is that you can do whatever you want. […] I find it really rewarding to know everything about each part of my business, it’s my baby, so there’s less delegating on the creativity side». At the moment this very company is expanding, a microcosm growing along with its creator, who is always investigating new avenues ranging from collaborating with Scottish knitters to working with Italian industries to expand the business. The goal always remains one: «It’s about not rushing things; we want to make good fucking stuff».

FUORIMODA REVIEWS – The first online platform to review fashion shows

FUORIMODA REVIEWS – The first online platform to review fashion shows

FUORIMODA REVIEWS – The first online platform to review fashion shows

FUORIMODA REVIEWS – The first online platform to review fashion shows

FUORIMODA REVIEWS – The first online platform to review fashion shows

FUORIMODA REVIEWS – The first online platform to review fashion shows

FUORIMODA REVIEWS – The first online platform to review fashion shows

FUORIMODA REVIEWS – The first online platform to review fashion shows

FUORIMODA REVIEWS – The first online platform to review fashion shows

FUORIMODA REVIEWS – The first online platform to review fashion shows

FUORIMODA REVIEWS – The first online platform to review fashion shows

FUORIMODA REVIEWS – The first online platform to review fashion shows

FUORIMODA REVIEWS – The first online platform to review fashion shows

FUORIMODA REVIEWS – The first online platform to review fashion shows

FUORIMODA REVIEWS – The first online platform to review fashion shows

FUORIMODA REVIEWS – The first online platform to review fashion shows

FUORIMODA REVIEWS – The first online platform to review fashion shows

FUORIMODA REVIEWS – The first online platform to review fashion shows

FUORIMODA REVIEWS – The first online platform to review fashion shows

FUORIMODA REVIEWS – The first online platform to review fashion shows

Charles Jeffrey is all grown up - Interview with Charles Jeffrey