Simon Spurr

Following last week's announcement that Proenza Schouler would be showing at an earlier time slot (to accommodate their party) comes the news from WWD that Tommy Hilfiger will also be switching his show date.

Simon Spurr stirred up some waves in the fashion community back in March when he up and quit his eponymous menswear label without saying why. Then it got even more confusing when the company announced that it would continue without Simon Spurr, the designer. Oh, and did we mention that this all happened mere days after the designer was nominated for the CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year award? Awkward. The New York Times' Eric Wilson pinned down both Spurr and his business partner/co-founder Judd Nydes, and while neither party came clean about the specific reasons for Spurr's departure, it seems that the designer may have left because of a disagreement over the high price point of Spurr's collection.

In an increasingly bizarre and confusing situation, Simon Spurr, the company, has confirmed that operations will continue despite the fact that Simon Spurr, the co-founding designer, left the company last month. Judd Nydes, co-founder of Simon Spurr, who has stayed with the company, told WWD, “We regret Simon’s unfortunate decision to leave the company. The company plans to continue without Simon and is looking towards a bright future as its business continues to mature." Nydes and Spurr also offer a little more insight into why Spurr decided to leave his namesake company.

Since the departure of its namesake designer, the label Simon Spurr has been in quite an awkward place, to say the least. Spurr's abrupt exit, just days after he was nominated for the CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year award, came as an unpleasant surprise to the fashion industry, us included (though he'll still be eligible for a CFDA award, according to The Cut). And apparently we weren't the only ones baffled: WWD reported yesterday that, according to a "financial source," the label's co-founder Judd Nydes and other members of the team were also “shocked." And while the company has declined to comment on the designer's departure, an in-house PR rep, Sarvie Nasseri, confirmed to WWD today that "at this time all p.r. is on hold.”

Another day, another designer is out of a job. And we never saw this one coming. Simon Spurr has confirmed that he left his namesake label on Friday, WWD is reporting. The announcement is particularly bizarre given that Spurr was just last week nominated for CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year alongside Patrik Ervell and Billy Reid. WWD also notes that back in January, Spurr won the Fashion Group International Rising Star Award in men’s wear. Adding to the mystery of this unexpected announcement is Spurr's cryptic comment on his departure:

Simon Spurr, whose expert tailoring is often showcased alongside denim, had a surprise for us, just minutes before his show began at Milk Studios on Sunday: “There’s not a single jean in the collection this season,” he revealed. Instead, Spurr offered a crisp, business-like selection that took its cues from a Robert Frank photograph of London in the 1950s. Spurr said he was striving for “a more elevated look.” Spurr achieved his aim. With Joe Jonas and Kellan Lutz seated in the audience, the show began with pieces tinged with mauve, and small, glistening touches. Silver buttons on his jackets glimmered along with umbrella handles, helping his looks cut a cool, collected path down the runway. The designer keenly focused on fabric this time around, flaunting his new found love of mixing materials (leather sleeves on a wool suit) and patterns (a check meeting a hound’s tooth). The British proclivity for overbearing checks, stripes and prints came to fore only rarely, and these instances were easily surmounted by the conservatism displayed by the resolutely “elevated” items that far outnumbered them.