Item 2019.1.4 - Meadham Kirchhoff Reject Everything Nylon Zipped Trousers

Identity area

Reference code

2019.1.4

Title

Meadham Kirchhoff Reject Everything Nylon Zipped Trousers

Date(s)

  • Spring Summer 2015 (Creation)

Level of description

Item

Extent and medium

1

Context area

Name of creator

Meadham Kirchhoff
(2006-2015)

Administrative history

Edward Meadham (b. 1979) and Benjamin Kirchhoff (b. 1978) founded Meadham Kirchhoff in 2006 as a womenswear brand. They had initially shown a menswear collection in 2005 under the label Benjamin Kirchhoff as part of the inaugural Fashion East MAN show at London Fashion Week. Meadham Kirchhoff had NEWGEN sponsorship for seven seasons up until 2010. In 2010 the label won the Emerging Talent Ready-to-Wear award at the British Fashion Awards and were a semi-finalist for the LVMH Prize in 2014. In June 2012, the brand launched their menswear line at London Collections: Men, showing their Spring Summer 2013 collection as part of Fashion East MAN for three seasons. They did not show menswear again until their final runway show in September 2014, which featured both menswear and womenswear. Shortly afterwards they denied press rumours that the company was about to close, but mounting financial debts forced the company to shut down in September 2015. In June 2016, a campaign was launched to raise £15,000 to buy back around fifty items from their archive to be donated to museums.
Sources: British Vogue; Dazed; Drapers; Middle East North Africa Financial Network.

Repository

Westminster Menswear Archive

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Content and structure area

Scope and content

A pair of narrow-leg trousers made from sheer black nylon, with panels of black nylon lace. The design includes round cut-outs at the front and back of the knees, each edged with cotton ribbing. The trousers feature brass-coloured metal zips: one extending around the crotch from front to back, and two additional zips running down the back of each leg.
Country of Design: United Kingdom
Country of Manufacture: United Kingdom.

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      Physical characteristics and technical requirements

      Nylon
      Colour/Print: Black

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      Note

      Invisible Men exhibition label:

      TRANSPARENT TROUSERS
      Meadham Kirchhoff
      2014

      Meadham Kirchhoff’s final runway show, Reject Everything, was both a manifesto against the fashion industry and a homage to Vivienne Westwood’s early punk approach to design. These nylon trousers reference Westwood’s bondage trousers from the 1970s and the US Army Air Force’s G-3A Anti-G flight trousers from the 1940s.

      Nylon
      Archive no. 2019.1.4

      Note

      From Inside the Westminster Menswear Archive:

      NYLON ZIPPED TROUSERS
      Meadham Kirchhoff
      Spring Summer 2015
      These nylon trousers are from Meadham Kirchhoff’s final runway show, ‘Reject Everything’, which was a manifesto against the fashion industry and a homage to the punk design philosophy of Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood. The trousers reference the G-3A Anti-G flight trousers of the US Army Air Force from the 1940s and the bondage trousers of Westwood and McLaren from the 1970s. They are constructed from sheer black nylon organza with panels of black nylon lace, round cut-outs trimmed with cotton ribbing at the back and front of the knees, and brasscoloured metal zips – one around the crotch from front to back and two down the back of each leg.
      Nylon
      Archive no. 2019.1.4

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