Mark Fast - By Gussy

It's Monday 14th September. I have a deadline looming - and I’m not the only one: the clock is counting down. In a matter of a few short days, London Fashion Week will be upon us. And not just any fashion week either, but the 25th anniversary of this much-esteemed event on the seasonal sartorial calendar. Cause for excitement indeed - certainly an adequate reason to break out the Louboutins.

Of course, all the stalwarts will be there: Betty Jackson, Basso and Brooke, Vivienne Westwood, and Aquascutum, among many others. Even Burberry Prorsum have returned to mark the occasion, with Christopher Bailey bringing the iconic English fashion house back to British shores, after a long stint in Milan.

This is all, obviously, incredibly important. Well, maybe not in the grand scheme of things: I mean, I think it’s important, some people think interest rates are important. I’m not judging them about that – different people think different things are important, there’s no need to go banding around words like shallow, or vapid. In any case, touched nerves aside, I’ll continue! The point I’m hoping to eventually make is that LFW is as much about the new generation as it is the about the veterans: up-and-coming designers parading their creations on the catwalks, be it on- or off-schedule. It's all very well to know your Nicole Farhi from your Jasper Conran, but some of the week’s most exciting fashion comes from fresh blood: the new names with nothing to lose, but plenty to prove. We all want to be among the first to know who’s going to be the next big thing we’re talking about, and currently there’s a lot of whispering on the streets of London – and beyond – about Canadian-born knitwear designer Mark Fast.

So, who is he? To give the Reader’s Digest style, abridged-for-blog version, Fast studied fashion design at London’s Central St Martins for five years, before completing a masters in February 2008. He created knitted pieces for Bora Aksu over three seasons while still at St Martins, and his graduate show at London Fashion Week in 2007 piqued the interest of buyers from London’s Browns Focus. In January of this year, he was awarded NEWGEN support, and a month later was showing his A/W 09 collection in the tent at London Fashion Week. His pieces are stocked in 7 countries around the world, from France to Egypt, and over to Russia. All Fast’s work is done by hand, on a domestic knitting machine. And before your head fills with images of your nana’s wardrobe, please put such presumptuous notions on hold. His clothes caress the body like a second skin, formed on the body as he works, with every contour informing the direction of the fabric. Not only that, he manipulates the very nature and composition of the fabric he uses, merging lycra with wool, angora or viscose. He’s also been praised for his cutting-edge, innovative stitching techniques. In short, he’s the breath of fresh air giving new life to a classic form, and pushing the creative envelope as far as the needles will let him.

Fast’s collection for A/W 2009 was awash with black, with flashes of vibrant orange, deep cerise and muted stone for good measure. Knitted fringing was a highlight – the 1920s flapper was clearly in the forefront of his mind, but there were subtle elements of 1970s and ethnic influence too, with the detailing reminiscent of the llama-fur edging of afghan coats. He turns his hand to the little black dress, with fierce results, with one featuring loose-woven panelling that at first glance looks like snakeskin. A hooded cardigan has a touch of the Morticia Addams about it, there are hints of geometry in a floor-grazing fringed gown, and an orange minidress takes us back to the 1980s – with some raw-edged rolled hems thrown in for good measure. Things then seem to go just a little sci-fi, the models’ collarbones adorned with strips of fabric, vaguely sinuous, a little bit alien space suit, and – is it just me? – a slight channelling of Old Gregg.

Fast does not believe quality, attention to detail and purity of form should be sacrificed in the quest for new aesthetic dimensions: “I believe that there is a growing attention to craftsmanship in fashion these days, as opposed to quick-fix disposable pieces. I am focussing on timeless classics”. Thank God for that! One less jumper that will disintegrate in the washing machine then, I hope.

By Gussy