In February of this year, for the first time in its 25 year history, the BFC announced a MAN day at London Fashion Week. A day devoted solely to the glorious London fashions for men, and with it, at the LFW finale, it introduced an accessible art-inspired sports collection called New Power Studio. Nearly seven months on, NPS founders, designer Ebru Ercon and menswear stylist Thom Murphy, muse on their role in 2010’s fascination with all things sport.

“We wanted to comment on the significance of Power at this particular moment. Questions surrounding Power and what it means to have power are very relevant to the world now, especially in the UK. We felt that the old identity surrounding Power such as money, personal wealth, luxury, weapons, energy and social power seem like very zeitgeist subjects, subjects relevant to fashion now,” says Thom, of the UK’s financial crisis and its effect on NPS’ new designs.

The notions of power are certainly evident in every piece of their new line for spring/summer 2010: a high-collared sweatshirt is branded with hierarchal triangles, grey marl shoulders that pass the shoulder create a new silhouette, literally turning the torso into a triangle itself, and zips create harsh lines on the soft curves of the back, the ass, the thigh. Ebru’s favourite piece, the God trousers, made of a tailored canvas coated grey marl jersey, taken in at the ankles, are a perfect example of the new line. It seems to challenge the tech-derived performance fabrics appearing on the progressive 2010 catwalks. The predominant use of fine quality Jersey, which offers comfort and elegance, ignores the current sports luxe trend – typified, for example, by DKNY’s 21st Century take on 80s style, all techno neon accents and contoured shapes. NPS’ new line is relaxed with cut-out details that give its soft textures and subtle palette a street-smart edge.

Reflecting on their intentions for the new line, Thom explains: “We were interested in people’s emotional reliance on the status that luxury goods seem to provide the individual. It seemed to us that ’luxury’ has given people an instant sense of status, worth and style. We wanted to see this sense of ‘luxury’ in the everyday. And sportswear used to have luxurious connotations,” Thom says. “Remember – it was sportswear that initiated the birth of Ready To Wear, with Jean Patou’s designs for the tennis stars of the 1920’s the forerunners of contemporary clothing.”





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