In Pictures: 10 years of Charles Jeffrey Loverboy rooted in consumer and queer experiences

Throughout the brand’s now 10 year history, Charles Jeffrey Loverboy hasn’t exactly been known for having a commercialised take on its niche realm of fashion. Yet, as the industry evolves alongside a fast-paced and more demanding generation, it is natural for even the most artistically-driven labels to seek out some kind of conformation in order to secure a firm foothold in the long game of luxury.

It is exactly this that Loverboy presented on the runway of London Fashion Week June (LFW June) over the weekend, with its suitably titled ‘10’ line which was exhibited in the courtyard of Somerset House. While the concept itself moved the brand away from what it called a former “narrative-driven approach” towards more of an exploration of “queer time”, the attitude to the formation of the overall collection was decidedly rooted in commercialisation.

When speaking on the creation of the SS25 collection, the team said they looked to successful elements of pieces currently on the market in order to establish a complete wardrobe, basing much of its decisions on research into the Loverboy customer and how they engage with the brand. In a press release, they added that there had been a further review of its current process, which had been reworked where necessary in order to support a more aligned direction across the company as a whole.

Securing a future in luxury for Loverboy

As such, their task was to work on “brand magic” in a bid to present an image “aligned with how the customers see the brand and to pivot it to a place that offers scope for Loverboy to stay a luxury brand of the future”. The result? A line largely made up of wearable pieces that still put forward the playful and daring approach to fashion that has become synonymous with Loverboy throughout its lifespan, albeit with an attainable spin.

Throughout, there were deep dives into Loverboy’s short yet swarming history, with references to its birth city of London’s own background, and plays on sartorial codes that resonate with the likely post-punk sensibilities of its consumer group. At the core, however, was the exploration of ‘queer’ in the context of time and how it has and will be relayed in the past, present and future, thus shaping the social lives of those associated with this group.

Experimenting with traditionally masculine conservatism

Such an idea was extended into not only the clothes, but the setting and musical atmosphere alike, the latter having been produced in collaboration with composer Luca Manning, who drew on personal experiences of queerness and translated this into instrumentals that served as the backdrop for the show itself.

The garments, meanwhile, came as a reflection and celebration of both Loverboy’s 10 year existence and the brand’s distinct perception of Britishness, evolving on its continued experimentation with “traditionally masculine conservative signifiers”. Through techniques like draping and deconstruction, for example, Loverboy set out to “cultivate a sense of becoming and undoing”, while upended takes on military garbs, largely in the form of printed sweaters, aimed to challenge the status of these rigid historical symbols.

Elsewhere, items that have become a familiar part of Loverboy’s presence, such as the knitted beanie and banana motif made a resurgence through new animalistic expressions, as seen in the addition of ears to distressed headwear. The brand’s tongue-in-cheek design values were also adopted on wardrobe staples – a puckered denim dress, for example, appeared with 3D Cupid arrows, a white t-shirt sat under a disjointed vest overlay and a corseted evening gown, the finale of the show, was elevated with monstrous-like spikes.