My Work.. Lyle & Scott

The brief I have just completed was set to me by Umbro,
the brief asked me to consider how to interpret menswear graphic trends for a high street retailer of my choice, so I needed to find a balance in my designs that would allow them to be unique and commercial. The brief was quite specific in terms of asking me to choose a brand; I had to establish an understanding of what different companies were producing, for instance the identity of certain brands always vary. i.e. Lyle & Scott produces different styles to that of All Saints.

I needed a theme in my work, and the brief allowed me to choose between three. I chose to work with a theme called ‘Cheap Thrills’, which the Umbro brief describes as, “Cutting back doesn’t mean going without. Look to make do and mend craft influences and also nostalgic memories of day’s gone bye. There is a strong desire to challenge convention and embrace a simpler life creating a personal aesthetic.” (Latimer H, Umbro. 2009). I began thinking about words like nostalgia and began identifying what the brand’s history and aims were, their notion was to create clothes “for living, but living with rigour and vigour” (Lyle & Scott Spring/Summer 2010 Catalogue. Page 5.) I began looking at football casuals and terrace wear, and original tracksuit designs, whilst aiming to incorporate a theme of city culture from my personal photographs taken in New York City. By looking at these historical sportswear designs and sub-cultures, it became clear how I wanted to use appropriation in my work, and that nostalgia was key to making my designs look vintage and contemporary.

I chose to design for Lyle & Scott, who have split their company into four areas. Each area offers a different style, the vintage range was a combination of sharp, mainstream aesthetics that had classic sub-cultural styles involved, and they were enthusiastic about using graphic shapes and lines in their work. This was ideal because of what the brief required from me, and I chose this area of the company because the other sections, Heritage, Club and Golf were very formal or intended for the golfing market.


I produced a variety of designs which I then visualized on to T-shirts, Polo Shirts, Cardigans and bags, using a colour palette from Umbro.


Below, are a few designs from my collection and photographs from my Lyle & Scott display..