British fashion designer John Alexander Skelton’s preview of his latest collection at the ancient Fleet Street watering hole Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese was a sensually overloaded and eerie delight.

Skelton has only been showing for a couple of years, but is already established as Britain’s idiosyncratic inheritor to the hand-rendered anti-fashion historicism and bricolage approaches of McLaren and Westwood (and in particularly 1982’s Hobo-Punkature) and London’s House Of Beauty & Culture collective.

Skelton uses handwoven fabrics and his arduous and labour-intensive work ethic results in individual garments taking months to realise. And his latest collection draws on the history of Alsatia, the lawless London district around the banks of the Thames close to the City Of London populated by ne’er-do-wells in the 16th century.

Hence the choice of venue, which was candlelit and scented by Haeckels with glasses of stout and oysters available for attendees.

Skelton’s singular ensemble – which includes photographer/interior designer Michael Costiff, art dealer/curator Clive Jennings and market trader and one-time Nostalgia of Mud “face” Herbie Mensah – appeared among us as revenants, creeping slowly up and down the creaking staircases. The sense of unease was magnified by their chanting and humming an abstract choral piece inspired by Meridith Monk’s Dolmen Music.

Visit Skelton’s Instagram feed here: https://www.instagram.com/skeltonjohn

FInd out about Haeckels’ scents here.

*All photos: Oscar Foster-Kane

Tags: Alsatia, Clive Jennings, Dolmen Music, Hobo-Punkature, John Alexander Skelton, Oscar Foster-Kane, Stephen Jones, The House Of Beauty & Culture, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese