Kangansheng
Shen

Kangansheng Shen looked at how 20th century basketball and football players dressed for the basis of his graduate collection. Keeping sustainability in mind always, the Central Saint Martins BA Fashion Menswear designer examined how a single garment can be worn in multiple ways, disassembling vintage and second-hand clothes to source textiles.

‘Fashion and sustainability appear to be in two different worlds, the former struggling to adopt the latter in its processes despite the huge need,’ he intones. This dichotomy often presents an obstacle for young designers, desperate to be a part of the thriving fashion machine, yet turned off by its wasteful practices and apparent disdain for the environment. Through upcycling, Shen has created a fully sustainable collection, recombined and remade from discarded fabrics to present a versatile, wearable menswear line. Optimistic, colourful and supple, voluminous coats hang coolly from the shoulders over shorts, sweatpants, cargo trousers and T-shirts. Silhouettes are oversized but simple, bringing a boyish playfulness, reminiscent of a masculinity that is so often forgotten or touted as a relic of the past.

Kangansheng Shen is hoping to study MA Fashion Menswear at CSM with the intention of starting his own label.

Ellie June Goodman
@elliejunegoodman