Your Space Or Mine

Nicholas Daley is celebrating music and roots through menswear

Put simply, Nicholas Daley is one of the most exciting up-and-coming names in UK fashion right now. There’s been hype around the London-based menswear designer ever since he founded his eponymous brand five years ago and since then he’s only gone from strength to strength. A 2013 graduate of Central Saint Martin’s, Daley’s designs are an inherently personal exploration of his own mixed Scottish-Jamaican heritage and modern day British multiculturalism. Far from being esoteric, the result is completely wearable clothing stocked at the likes of Dover Street Market and Mr Porter, with an emphasis on quality, local craftsmanship you’d expect from a man who’s worked on Savile Row and keeps the sourcing of fabrics and production in the UK as far as possible.

His love of music is another big influence that often seeps into his work, and especially his shows, which can be traced back to his parents who started one of Scotland’s first reggae nights in Dundee in the late 70s after meeting in the city. He cites the music he was exposed to growing up as a key part of his creative education and built on his family’s history by recreating Reggae Klub for one night only at V&A Dundee last year with his dad Jeffrey, aka IMan SLYGo, playing records and his mum Maureen leading a knitting workshop.

Challenging the notion of what fashion shows ‘should’ be, his AW18 collection ‘Red Clay’ drew on the fashion of Miles Davis and was presented in the form of London artists including James Massiah and Nabihah Iqbal performing while wearing the pieces. He’s also worked with Adidas and Fred Perry, again taking inspiration from the latter’s musical heritage fusing punk and reggae for a AW20 collection that featured a liberal sprinkling of tartan among reworked classics. Community in collaboration are important to Daley too – together with Fred Perry he launched a grant for unsigned artists to go along with his collection and a section of the profits from his Reggae Klub t-shirts went to jazz education and artist development organisation Tomorrow’s Warriors.

The BUILDHOLLYWOOD family are excited to be linking up with Nicholas for his first poster campaign as we begin a series of fashion collaborations at a tough time for the industry and emerging designers in particular. With spaces across London, we’re celebrating Daley with a retrospective of his last year’s work featuring the photography of Piczo and Bolade Banjo as well as the illustrations of Gaurab Thakali. The campaign also highlights his upcoming 2021 Now Gallery immersive exhibition RETURN TO SLYGO, a ‘celebration of music, culture, fashion and ancestry’ which will blend his three core values of community, culture and craftsmanship. The campaign will also start up again for a second phase before London Fashion Week in February. Check out the interview below.