Brogan Toyn

BA (Hons) Fashion Design Technology: Menswear

JAMAICAN ME CRAZY'Don't want Jackie, Give dem Paul instead, Dem don't want di sweetness between di leg..' Banton, B . (1992) Boom Bye Bye. Jamacia: Shang Muzick Brogan Toyn’s S/S 2013  graduate collection, ‘Jamaican me Crazy’  contends against frequent homophobic dancehall lyrics, by creating ‘expressive’ street wear for the modern man.  Through the amalgamation of research, aggressive 90’s hip hop trends are combined with the promiscuousness of Jamaica’s dancehall Queens, consequently redefining common contemporary constructions of the male identity in contemporary fashion. Collaborating with textile designer Zoe Sterling, ‘Jamaican Me Crazy’ ignores familiar connotations of masculinity in order to create an unconventional sportswear S/S13 Menswear collection. Juxtaposing common culture with subcultures, Brogan creates clothes for men willing to push image boundaries beyond the norm of the day, instead hyper exaggerating them. Representation of the black gay male in contemporary fashion is relatively absent as patriarchal values still influence the majority. Although, commonly it has been long thought that it is a homosexual customer that consumes outlandish modern menswear trends. Something which has been allegedly underground , emerging in the 80s and 90's and documented in films such as Livingstones 'Paris is burning' is now becoming a trend. Queens. Proportions within ‘Jamaican me Crazy’ remain unbalanced due to the amalgamation of inspirations. Influenced prominently by the provocative outfits of the Jamaican dancehall Queens, the collection rearranges masculine shapes in order to reverse gender restraints. Referencing dancehall contemporaries in hip hop,  Brogan adopts classic street style proportions to conflict with risque silhouettes, crop tops vs. basketball shorts. Focusing heavily on the context of colour within menswear and in order to balance an overtly sexualized concept, a juxtaposition of colour has been enforce. Enhanced pastels compliment the risqué silhouettes as they distract from erotic undertones and encourage the energy of the dancehall. Unconventionally luxurious, Brogan does not use classic performance fabrics. Instead, collaborating with textile designer Zoe Sterling, sequins adorn nearly every look and increase the collections flamboyance. Rainbow furs creep along the edges of garments while tight crotches are emphasized by printed, metallic lurex fabrics. As ‘Jamaican me Crazy’ adopts outlandish street style and contradicts obvious urban aesthetics, sequined crop tops only emphasize this further. Sequin Print Textile Collaboration Zoe Sterling BA (Hons) Fashion Design Technology: Surface Textiles z.sterling1@arts.ac.uk http://showtime.arts.ac.uk/ZoeSterling WORK EXPERIENCE .Christopher Shannon, London Menswear Design Intern .Von Sono, London Design Intern .Fannie Schiavoni, London Jewellery Design Intern FINALIST All Walks Beyond the Catwalk - Diversity NOW! in association with i-D. http://i-donline.com/2013/04/diversity-now-the-finalist-cut/ LCF 2013 ANNUAL http://issuu.com/london_college_of_fashion/docs/sdt-annual-2013 LCF 2013 MOVING ANNUAL https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wj1fm39ha-o PRESS http://wgsn.tumblr.com/post/50644377782/cosmic-we-love-lcflondon-student-brogan-toyns