Hodo
Words by: Liv Barrett
@oliviabarrett__
Chinese menswear brand, Hodo, showcased their latest collection on Sunday morning, making this their second year debuting at London Fashion Week.
Comfort runs deeply in Hodo’s DNA, with the age of the brand and the importance they place on comfort being touted across their Instagram, press release and on the digitised background of their runway. Specifically, “Hodo, 66 years for comfort” and they certainly delivered on that repeated promise.
Hodo is not seeking to reinvent the wheel in terms of providing, comfortable, reliable menswear. Showcasing a steady fleet of AW looks, Hodo presented puffer jackets paired with blazers, shirts and trousers, with each model donning a pair of sturdy boots with chunky soles.
The meshing of outerwear with business attire ensured for a truly wearable collection that wasn’t seeking to be imaginative but instead simply to provide the audience with a wholly realised idea of how these looks are to be worn in everyday life.
Whilst clearly resembling the aesthetics that have consolidated brands such as Loro Piana as a luxury menswear favourite, Hodo enlisted earthy and neutral tones to create a bit more excitement when applied to what are pretty standardised silhouettes. Terracotta puffer jackets were paired with green-grey suits and mustard roll necks were matched with deep burgundy knitwear, showing that whilst understanding the need for reliable menswear, the colours could differ from black, navy and camel.
The styling of the looks proved to be a personal standout for me. Independent of how they’d been styled, the individual garments would be quite akin to those that you would find at Uniqlo. However, the styling of said garments and the interesting accumulation across the collection is what pushed the brand just that little bit further in terms of presentation.
A black leather necktie was paired with a bulky heather grey sweatshirt, topped with a short black puffer jacket. Another key styling moment was a deep navy chore coat, topping a teal turtleneck that had been pulled up over the models mouth, all paired with a pair of blue denim jeans and a scandi-grey puffer jacket. The layering was interesting and the varied textures and overall styling ensured that this look didn’t simply fade into the background, despite being comprised of various relatively common pieces of clothing.
Hodo don’t need the theatrics, they don’t specialise in androgyny and they stick to what they know. Which is good, comfortable, reliable menswear. Whilst not to everyone’s taste or imagination, Hodo has a clear idea of their customer. Whilst understanding that their client might not want to push the boat all the way out, their choice in colour palette and styling prove that they’re gentle in their methods of pushing menswear in a slightly more interesting direction.