Text by Laura Chatterton
The Man with the Altered-Ego
Luxury fashion house, The House of Osei-Tutu, presents its latest menswear collection, Ego Altered, through a series of images. The Hackney based brand designs cotemporary couture and accessories for men, this season the collection is shown online through a montage of images that conveys the tale of a gentleman born in the late 1950s, who is faced with a conflict between man and his alter-ego.
The gentleman is portrayed as growing up timid and shy and with little or no social life. We are told he has no friends and he lives very alone, rejecting anyone who tries to come into his world. We are led to believe that this is what leads him to discover his alter-ego. This alter-ego is fighting to get out of inside him. The House of Osei-Tutu has portrayed this through their latest collection.
The story begins with the image of the dapper model staring into a mirror, with the mirrored image desperately trying to break free. The male model is also shown lying naked on a bed with a mess of thrown down clothes surrounding him. When the character comes into his own a little more he is seen lying on a contrasting clean hotel bed, wearing a luxurious beige fur jacket, cinched in at the waist with a matching leather belt. A crisp white roll neck top and trousers peep out from under the coat. His hair is dark and styled in a voluminous Grease-esque quiff. Suits are featured in black with the added twist of white inserts on the inside of the trouser legs and white trimming on the blazer. Black ruffle shirts are teamed with black floral brocade blazers, yet it remains surprisingly masculine. Off-white studded jeans, with a double waistband are photographed close-up with just a small amount of the model’s scrawled on torso in view, portraying the man has been defeated by his alter-ego.
This is when the montage moves into a more colourful approach, with flashes of rose pink on shirts and purple snakeskin belts. The presentation finishes with the words ‘I’d rather die misunderstood than live as someone else.’
