Founded in 2007 as a collective of artistic individuals who bring their skills together to develop creative products such as clothing collections, Uniforms for the Dedicated is a brand that is ultimately defined by the garments it produces rather than by a branding strap line. And as its collections are normally created by people who regularly work together, it is not surprising that a sense of fluid continuity can be identified in the themes and their treatments as one season gives way to the next.
Uniforms for the Dedicated describes its current Autumn/Winter 2013 menswear collection (titled ‘Turmoil’) as the result of taking further the concept explored in the preceding Spring/Summer 2013 collection (under the moniker ‘The Listener’). Inspired by the hectic rhythms of urban lives and landscapes in direct contrast to the soothing and nurturing qualities of nature, the collection embodies the notion of ‘Turmoil’ in subtle ways, such as by fusing elements of sportswear and utilitarian clothing with conventional tailoring, or by hiding veiled messages in the patterns and prints that can only be noticed after careful inspection.
Following from this dialectic process of combining opposites such as nature with the urban realm, and first perceptions with subdued deeper meanings, the brand chose Aiden Shaw to model the collection’s campaign and represent its ethos. A British man who became known in the 1990s as an actor of gay pornographic films, Shaw’s life witnessed many variations of turmoil on a path towards personal fulfilment that led to numerous creative manifestations, including literary and biographic writing, music composing and playing, and (particularly over the last few years) a successful new professional path as a fashion model.