Margaret Howell’s latest Fred Perry collaboration is inspired by vintage sportswear
Margaret Howell looked into the Fred Perry archive for her latest collaborative collection with the brand, while drawing on her own memories of sports at school
![Margaret Howell Fred Perry collection campaign](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/TgWu6JNgaUmrqEMX8zWrp5-415-80.jpg)
Margaret Howell first collaborated with Fred Perry in 2019, the first collection inspired by the latter’s roots in tennis (the 1952-founded brand’s namesake was a three-times Wimbledon champion). It is a partnership that has proved fruitful, and fitting – both labels are synonymous with British style, and have been adopted by subculture and establishment alike.
Sportswear remains prescient to the latest chapter of the collaboration – titled 'Fred Perry for Margaret Howell’ – which launches online on June 16, 2023 and in stores from June 19. ’I enjoyed sports and athletics at school and when I began designing clothes, sportswear was a source of inspiration – photographs of sports men and women in action for example,’ says Howell.
Fred Perry for Margaret Howell S/S 2023
‘I also grew up with the name of Fred Perry so to collaborate with the Fred Perry company, and their expertise of manufacture, I feel is a happy match,’ she continues.
As such, the collection – made for both men and women – is defined by its ease of design, whether a gently oversized open-collared rib sweatshirt (a riff on Fred Perry’s famed signature polo shirt), zip-cuff narrow-leg track pants, or a polo-neck dress evocative of women’s tenniswear. A restrained colour palette spans black, off-white, burnt orange and khaki; each piece is completed with Fred Perry’s signature laurel leaf logo as an embroidered self-coloured motif.
Alongside, a smattering of accessories complete the collection; namely, a classic pair of cotton sports socks and a high-top plimsoll in black canvas with a natural rubber sole.
'Fred Perry for Margaret Howell’ is available from tomorrow (16 June, 2023) online and in stores from 19 June, 2023.
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Jack Moss is the Fashion Features Editor at Wallpaper*, joining the team in 2022. Having previously been the digital features editor at AnOther and digital editor at 10 and 10 Men magazines, he has also contributed to titles including i-D, Dazed, 10 Magazine, Mr Porter’s The Journal and more, while also featuring in Dazed: 32 Years Confused: The Covers, published by Rizzoli. He is particularly interested in the moments when fashion intersects with other creative disciplines – notably art and design – as well as championing a new generation of international talent and reporting from international fashion weeks. Across his career, he has interviewed the fashion industry’s leading figures, including Rick Owens, Pieter Mulier, Jonathan Anderson, Grace Wales Bonner, Christian Lacroix, Kate Moss and Manolo Blahnik.
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