Drawing inspiration from his Asian heritage, Xander Zhou presented his AW17 range at London Fashion Week Men’s. Titled I’m Carrying A Secret Weapon, models walked the runway in an array of oversized outerwear and Oriental silhouettes.

Severely cropped vests worn over a button-up shirt and paired with dress trousers give the impression of defiance, as do the cropped boxy shirts with exaggerated short sleeves. The show notes read “You’d better work on those abs!” and it became apparent why with these pieces.

With each look that came down the runway, the garments became more sartorial, effectively capturing the transition from “boy” to “man”. Under Zhou’s creative vision, he was able to inject relevance and futuristic edge into the sartorial pieces, like the denim double breasted trench and shearling contrasted coats.

The Asian inspiration came in the form of Mao-style jackets and traditional kimonos, paired with Kung Fu plimsolls. Industrial long gloves and headgear were also styled with the garments to complete the futuristic and at times, dystopian, looks.

The models strutted to an abstract soundtrack, most of them doing it with a resistant panache and this couldn’t be more fitting with the title of the collection. Zhou continues to challenge the classics through playing with silhouettes and materials, occasionally blurring gender stereotypes.

After studying fashion design in the Netherlands, Zhou established his label in Beijing and was the first Chinese menswear designer to showcase at London Fashion Week Men’s. Today his collections are found in London, Seoul, New York and Seoul.