Pretty Green Black Label AW15 - Review

Pretty Green run 2 main Labels under their name, Green Label is a collection of day to day essentials whereas their Black Label is their higher end masterpiece collection.

For AW15 we knew Black Label was going to be a Beach Boys influenced range, as well as pulling some British heritage looks via The Beatles link. As UK and US music went head to head in the late 60's fashions on each side of the Ocean also squared up to each other.

Standing out at the head of Pretty Green's seasonal releases the Black Label collections tend to be smaller than Green Label, and for AW15 the range feels a bit smaller than previosuly, although not quite as small as the year the Outerwear didn't make it into production, but we'll say no more about that.

Users of my Facebook and Twitter pages picked up on something else, styles they'd seen previewed weren't in the collection, a few pieces we saw at LC:M didn't make it, there were cries of ‘where’s the purple Parka?’.

Not all items shown on the runway at a show will make it to the final collection, generally 20-30% will be cut. Various reasons are at the heart of this, material no longer available, factory can’t turn the order round, costs becomes silly and of course the one we can’t forget….the man at the top of the tree, a certain William John Paul Gallagher, might simply decide he doesn’t want to put the piece out. Remember LG signs off each and every piece at Pretty Green.

I was personally disappointed about the Purple Alaskan Parka being cut, it was under real consideration for me. But in PG we trust, and if they aren't willing to put any piece out then it wasn’t good enough for us to invest money in. Fair play, if they’re not 100% behind it they’re not putting it on the rail

Outerwear - kept classic and simple, 3 styles to cover off most of your high end stylish needs. Pretend your James Bond in the Carbury, keep it warm and elegant in the Reefer or show you know you’re a top cat with the Mac. Materials keep warm with wool mixes on the black styles and a smart Cotton/Linen mix on the Mac. No need for multiple styles of varying coolness, 3 styles that knock it out perfectly. When Pretty Green do Black Label Outerwear they do tend to get it pretty much on the mark.

Knitwear - original Black Label styling in the Roll Neck with the added stylish removal of any branding, the super-cool Modernist of the Knitted Shirt and some SS15 revivalism in the Boat Neck with a new full on luxury knit. Excellent.

I really do prefer knitwear with no brand embellishment on it, the understated look just carries more class about it. The knitted shirt is close to a sell out, I'd love to see the McCartney styled roll-neck follow suit. Pretty Green fans always look back to the early Black Label collections as a standard bearer for the brand, this new roll-neck is as close as it gets to the orignal greatness.

Shirts - well now then, Black Label Kaftans ahoy! The Wild Honey and Wilson floral prints have been beautifully drawn by PG’s in-house artist, and what a job they’ve done. They are a stunning pair of shirts and definitely worth looking at investing in. The tab collar shirts have crossed over into continuation territory, and I am absolutely 100% behind that. I’d even extend it so that Black Label always always always carries 3 formal shirt styles, plain, tab collar and button-down in a straight cut 100% cotton. And as PG are lovely folks who appreciate we aren’t all Kaftan disciples, they’ve also done the superb Wild Honey print in a straight forward smart Shirt style

Tees - this is the space where the range opens up a little bit, t-shirts are always popular so no surprise to see some options here. The SS15 BL Kaftan style is back and bedecked in Wild Honey, so far so cool. Simple elegant style is served up subtly in the Wilson Pocket design. And then the superbly re-drawn Wild Honey is spread in 2 options, wildly outrageous on the Floral Crew and subtly burned in on the Devore. Black Label tees of late have suffered from varying material compostions, while a return to Egyptian cotton would be well received, the new range is predominantely cotton with only the Devore style being a polycotton mix, I guess to accomodate the Devore process.

Polo Shirts - the Lux Polos have crossed over in to the continuation space offered up in black or white. There is also a jersey Polo offering up the Wild Honey print. Of all the ranges this is probably the lightest. If you drop the continuation polos it's a single piece. It's a bit of a shame, I think there was a lot more that could have been offered here, would have been nice to have options in this price range between t-shirts and shirts. The Wild Honey looks great, the Wilson print would have been tremedous on a Polo Shirt offered up in some alternative colours.

Tailoring - oh ye boy, let’s cross straight to the Quarry Suit, every good man should have a proper cool suit stored in the clothing armoury. The textured fabric of the Quarry makes it a stand out option if you’re looking to invest. Paired off with the tab collar shirt and you’ll show folks you know your stuff. Special mention also has to go to the Penny Blazer, if you have the minerals to pull off some rock star ice cool over the upcoming Festive party season then this is the piece you’ve been looking for. The Black/Navy combination makes it easy to pair off with jeans, Tux trousers or a simple pair of well cut black trousers and some chelsea boots. The size of Tailoring in the Black Label offering has varied wildly over the seasons, for AW15 this feels just about the right size with a very smart suit and some jacket offerings.

Oh….and there are some Wild Honey Desert Boots (that have been available in stores for a while now)…..and they’re cool. Sadly the previewed Wild Honey pumps didn't make the range, neither did the glimpsed Chelsea Boots. It's a real shame LG doesn't want leather shoes in the range, they really would make the perfect offering to pair off with your Pretty Green formal wear. But his brand his decision.

Anything else of note..?

I think most pieces are made in Europe again, well played Pretty Green

Materials by and large look to be good again, only conceding to mixing mad-made fibres in for strength or to create a fabric pattern (such as Devore). So again, well played Pretty Green.

Anything missing or negative….?

Well yes, but purely because I claim to be a clothes blogger and want to nit-pick…

I’ll pick up a few things, but only to be balanced, I think it’s a really great range and I’ll just go through a few personal things you may or may not agree with.

Footwear - I was gutted the spotted Chelsea boots didn’t make it, I would love to wear some proper PG formal footwear with my PG Black Label. I live in Scotland and it pretty much rains 362 days of the year (we have Summer over a nice weekend in May usually) so suede isn’t always a good option. Call me a snob but I prefer to pair my desert boots with denim, not smart trousers.

Scarves - I’m a scarf loving kinda lad, so I was a bit disappointed when I spotted there was none (have to admit I didn’t spot them missing at first). It’s just one of those pieces I always look forward to each season. They were previewed and the Wild Honey or Wilson patterns would have made a very cool design.

Denim - I’ve mentioned before I’d love to see PG stick a jeans offering in their Black Label collection, it would be pretty mega.

As you’ll see I really am stretching to find negatives, they are just personal opinion of what I’d like to see.

So summing up, it’s a small but perfectly formed Black Label collection to represent PG for AW15. I can’t think there is a single piece in the range I wouldn’t love to have on my back, it’s simply a smart classic range where every single piece is quality.

To close, let’s have a top 3:

Carbury Overcoat - I’ve been looking for an Overcoat for years now, I’ve finally found it

Quarry Suit - Heritage cool sums it up

Penny Blazer - great colours on a truly unique piece, it’s a stand out

Kaftans - I always cheat and do a 4th, it has to be both Shirt Kaftans, ludicrously smart

Well, that's my thoughts on the range, as always though it's your opinion that is the only important one.

Now we can start to dream about the SS16 collections, Green Label looks to be pretty colourful and we've not seen very much of Black Label so far, so we'll need to keep a beady eye out for any clues. No word from Pretty Green on the themes for their SS16 collections at this stage, so again we'll need to await some clues.

Peace&Love, theSub