“The benefits of looking at where things are at but through different lenses” – a simple sentence to define the autumn/winter 2017 collection that resurrects the attention of a darkness that can be beaten, or in this case, an uprising of identity that is against the norm. In militant shades of forest, olive and acid greens, the power troopers of Hodges stormed the runway for Autumn/Winter 2017, a combination of Mad Max in Dystopia, drawing us in to the thought provoking world of Liam Hodges. Yet despite the all-together workings of the collection, a multitude of developments coexist together to demonstrate Dystopia Lives – an intelligent play on Kuato Lives graffiti in Total Recall, to photos taken by Liam in China, against a print based on Total Recall’s Mary the triple breasted sex worker. It is hard not to see the punk influence screaming out for release within Hodges catwalk, yet there was a sense of togetherness and intelligence of solitude in defiance. Intelligence was also found through the realisation of what the Dystopian youth may need – Salopette style trousers with removable pockets, Puffa jackets “to always be worn with a hoodie”, and even creatively designed fur jackets, developed a powerful uniform that enveloped Hodges youth in front of our eyes. indeed, Hodges ponders performance poet Hector Aponysus for Dystophia Lives, “looking for vocation in the decline of civilisation” a line that proves his boys to be the defiance of fashion’s decline, a gutsy punch to individualism for autumn/winter 2017.
words by Jasmine Banbury
images by Lusha Alic
