All Saints Clothing SS12: Thoughts?

[_Ben_]

I was wondering what people thought of the newest range of clothes from All Saints.

To be honest, I'm a bit underwhelmed by most of it. The quality of their clothes seems to be on a downhill spiral. They've traded merino wools for 'luxurious' cottons, with the adjective clearly in use to make up for the apparent cheapness. I can't see anything that I would go out and buy today in their knitwear section: those loose-knits are just awful. Bring back the AW-10 collection! Even last years collection looked better than this one.

The new trousers/chinos are refreshing; albeit being similar to most on the market (of course the quality is a lot better).

Some of the new jeans don't look too bad either, although I miss the short-kicks.

Overall, I think All Saints could do a lot better. The lack of lookbooks this winter was a real turn off for me as well, as they had a plethora last year, most of which were excellent. They also had the lookbook videos too, which I wish they would have maintained. Any lookbooks they have produced recently have been horribly edited, which warps the colours.

Am I alone in these (perhaps harsh) opinions?

[Sam]

I quite like it actually!
They've slimmed down the jeans completely - cigarettes are now the dominant fit, and while I have to say it happened at precisely the time I began to move away from skinny legs, it works for their look and a lot of people will be mighty pleased.
The leathers have also changed; lots of biker jackets where before there were almost none. That suits me perfectly.
And the knits, the knits I actually like too. Fabrics may have changed - bamboo and linen are interesting choices - but they've got some great textures on offer.

I mean, a regular, rock and roll look like this:

Is already a great look the past collections were missing. But if you add this great textured light cardi it becomes something more.

So I approve completely.

I have to say though, it was a nightmare to put this post together; their site is really screwing up on me.

[merc05]

Don't they always change to cotton for the S/S collection? It's lighter and more breathable for the hotter weather, wool would be far too hot to wear in the summer. Plus, the benefit of switching to cotton is that it's cheaper to use, so rather than being £120-130, their summer knitwear is more like £80-95. I can't say I like some of the slightly unusual cable-knit patterns they've gone for, or some of the knitwear colours, but there are still items I like. There are some really nice chambray and denim shirts in the collection, and the leather jackets are nice too.

I actually like the open cardigans that they have in the knitwear section too, I would definitely wear one of those on a slightly cooler summer day. I also like the chinos. As per usual with All Saints, it's the distressed-look items that I really dislike, so that rules out their shoes and blazers for me. Other than that, I think it's a good, if slightly unusual, collection.

[Olly]

Must say that I really dislike All Saints. The quality has gone downhill considerably over the past few years as Ben said, and I find the looks pretty one dimensional. Just my opinion; I know I will probably get lambasted. I wore a pair of black AS cigarette jeans for a shoot a while back and hated them. I think some of the coats and jackets are alright, apart from the leathers but those aside, I steer clear.

[_Ben_]

Interesting comments.

I think their new jeans are actually very nice. I've always preferred their skinnier profiles (the NFL short-kicks, Print and Wamwam Cigarettes being my favourite)

But regarding the knitwear I disagree. Most of their SS collection last year used fine-merino wools, which are light, breathable (more so I would say than cotton) but at the same time feel expensive.
I think their AW10 collection was brilliant because the knitwear was all priced at around £90 (I'd still never pay this much) but the quality was a lot better than their effort in 2011. Some of their pieces last season were awesome, but the Base crew was just a re-jigged Trek crew.

I do like some of the new leathers, with the Cargo being the nicest (so tempted to sell my Ruck jacket for it).

Overall I think I may wait for the next sale before I spend any money (or make the most of the current sale as I have been doing). It is an unusual collection, but until they release some good lookbooks, I can't see myself wearing much of the clothes.

[J8x]

I would rate S/S'12 higher than S/S11 and is definitely a much better collection than A/W'11 which I found to be particularly drab. The new season jeans are a lot better than the previous fits which is a plus as their denim has always been decent for me. I have lost a lot of interest in Allsaints over the past year or so but they have improved with this new collection, I like the direction it is taking.

[Pin Money]

I'm pretty sure they did have lookbooks over a/w? They weren't as extensive as they have been, though. Agree that they need to hurry up with the current one!

I'm absolutely loving the jeans and chinos- been in store to try a few on and they are immense. Got a couple of pairs of filter chinos already!

Really like the unusual coloured cable knits too- thinking I'll wait for the sales though as they are probably not to everyone's taste.

I do agree with the comment about re-hashed items, but as AS has such a defined look I see it more as a common thread that passes through all the collections. It's more about subtle development than total renovation.

The footwear seems to be quite lacking this season though, and all the "complete the look" bits on the right seem to have shorts and sandals incorporated, which is fine, but I'd prefer to see some variety. I'm not going to be wearing sandals with coats etc. I do like them with the light knits though.

Overall I am impressed with it and could buy a big pile of it if I had unlimited money, but those who are familiar with my style will not be very surprised by that.

[_Ben_]

Pin, they did have lookbooks, but as you say they weren't very extensive and many had horrible filters which distorted some of the colours. It was funny because I remember being in an All Saints store and one of the attendents was dressed in one of the looks (baggy joggers and a striped black top) and he started swearing to his mate about how he hated the lookbooks (which I think they have to base their work outfits on).

The jeans and chinos are awesome. I just got a pair of idaho's in ink (eBay) and I wish I'd saved up for the skinnier ones. The idaho's are a 28 waist, but it feels more like a 32 or even 34! It's huge! They were fairly cheap, but I've never had to wear trousers so high for god alone knows how long. They're a lovely pair of chinos though, but I am really tempted to take them to a tailors.

I think I'm warming (no pun intended) to the new knitwear. I just wish they had used nicer materials. There was a lot of nilon/acrylic in last season's collection which was unusual, as AW10 was just full of lambs and marino wool.

I could probably spend a lot of money too. Some of the new shirts are just awesome. And no Stuyvesant shirt in sight!

[Pin Money]

I do see where they are coming from with the materials this season. I personally like some of the open textured knits and linen yarns. They're really practical for the summer, and when you see them in the flesh and feel them I think you will like them more- I certainly did.

I did find it strange that there were quite a lot of man made fibres in some of the AW 11 bits. I would have liked some of the chunky cable cardis, but they just had too much acrylic for me. I bought a roulette cardi in the sale which was an alpaca blend with some nylon or whatever, but the only full price knit I got was the base crew in brown. The wool feels so nice, I think it is a tweed blend or something but it's so soft. I also had the Trek cardi from AW10, and I have to say I was pleased to see a similar style in the AW11 looks as it gave my cardi a new lease of life and kept it looking current. It's so comfy, like wearing a blanket!

[_Ben_]

I think I might need to get hold of a new Trek/Base crew. I have the former in the ink/marl colour (or whatever colour they call it) however it's a medium but fits like an XS. It was an absolute steal on eBay (£30) but I think it shrunk in the wash. It fits perfectly, but it is so warm! I felt one of the base crews the last time I was in an AS store, and it was so much softer than my Trek Crew. My one feels quite rigid. It does put me off wearing it sometimes, because the minute I go indoors it can get really hot...

I'm definitely going to have to take a trip to AS to see the new knitwear in person. Although I really should top shopping there...I'm beginning to have outfits which are AS head to toe...