Frat party

WHILST most folks spend Mothers’ Day frantically searching for a flower shop that opens on Sunday or begging your Mum’s forgiveness for years of putting up you, clothing brand Frater put on a feisty launch party in the Deaf Institute in Manchester instead.

‘It’s 9pm, and the crowd is beginning to look a little like Frater’s answer to gentleman’s club. There’s not a chest in sight that hasn’t squeezed itself into one of the slim-cut shirts’

The night was a fusion of art, fashion, music, and lots and lots of sambuca.

Strolling into the bar, I’m greeted by a sea of particularly virile young males, each donning a different Frater design, tapping their feet and clinking their beers to some Tyler the Creator track. The tone is set immediately.

Frater clearly stands for something much more than fashion. In an age of tedium and uniformity, Frater is the quick slap of cold air that wakes an uneasy sleeper.

They are a reaction against the expected, a protest against the predictable, the chaos in the calm, shoving two fingers up to the ugly face of monotony.

The brainchild of Michael Brown, a 22-year-old designer from Manchester, Frater (‘brother’ in Latin), is a collaborative brand, blending the talents and individual ideas of a group of young creatives. With a set of beguiling images from aspiring photographers Willow Williams and Matt Healey, the fashion expertise of Jordan Schneider, a few of Brown’s powerful illustrations and a dash of James McClaren’s cockney charm, this band of brothers fuse high-octane heterosexual design with contemporary art and illustration, creating a set of t-shirts, shirts and jackets, fit for any would-be iconoclast.

It’s 9pm, and the crowd is beginning to look a little like Frater’s answer to gentleman’s club. There’s not a chest in sight that hasn’t squeezed itself into one of the slim-cut shirts, whether it be the best-selling Lenice tee or the wolf-print Winston tee.

Streetwear is where the brand really takes centre stage; tough illustrations are the core essence, intensified with contrasting silk detailing. A splash of blood red adds a powerful highlight to their usual palette of navy, black, white and grey. Worsted cottons, tattoo-inspired imagery and chunky hardware detailing marry modern with old school.

A few shots later, after a ferocious set from Fantastic Mr Fox (fresh from his tour with Warpaint and The Xx), Brooklyn punk band Japanther take to the stage.

“The idea behind the night was to put on bands that weren't just financially lucrative”, explains McClaren, “but represented the aesthetic of the brand”.

Their cover of ‘19th Nervous Breakdown’ by The Rolling Stones saw the audience melt into one huge, writhing entity that tried its best to pile onto the stage. The show was brought to its final crescendo as hotly-tipped hip-hop headliner Jah Jah Brown of Ninjasonik joined Japanther on stage.

For Brown and McClaren, the night embodied the brand. For them, clothing isn’t about the garments; it’s about the attitude.

With so much androgyny in menswear, it is refreshing to see a line of such tough masculinity. They answer flouncy long cardigans and feminine v-necks with bad-ass hooded jackets, graphic tees, and stylish shirts - the proof that being bad will always look good.