Geordie Campbell SS27: 15 Steps Turns Cruising Codes Into Menswear

Geordie Campbell presented SS27, 15 Steps, at The Truman Brewery in Shoreditch, drawing on the coded language of cruising and the visual history of queer menswear.

The starting point is Mansfield, Ohio, where, in the 1970s, two police officers used a two-way mirror and hidden camera in a public toilet to identify men and make arrests for so-called “indecent acts”. Campbell takes the codes and signifiers surrounding cruising and translates them into a 24-look collection.

Styled by Alex Kessler, 15 Steps develops its own vocabulary of indicators: multihued trims, exposable sailor trousers, flashes of lining, extravagant feathers and insinuating prints. The references extend through queer image-making, from James Bidgood’s Pink Narcissus and Derek Jarman’s Sebastiane to the graphic language of Tom of Finland.

George Michael provides another central reference. His 1980s wardrobe is pushed into exaggerated territory, beginning with low boat-cut T-shirts before moving into oversized, shoulder-padded military-inspired overcoats worn with extreme short athletic shorts. Rolled-back sleeves reveal contrasting linings, turning construction details into part of the visual language.

The materials maintain Campbell’s focus on luxury: organic cottons, wool woven with silk and 100% cashmere knitwear. More than 92% of the collection is manufactured in the UK, with contributions from British practitioners and small businesses, including a Glasgow School of Art graduate producing the brooches, a London studio creating the prints and a local leather maker crafting the bags.

Campbell also worked with Cruising Archaeology, whose exploration of the remains of cruising locations informs a found-object brooch produced in multiple colourways.

Jewellery from THOMAS SABO Rebel at Heart becomes part of the styling, while L’Oréal Professionnel worked with Campbell on the runway hair, led by Jack Merrick-Thirlway and Neville Hair & Beauty.

15 Steps makes clothing part of a coded conversation: proportion, exposure, colour and detail carrying meaning beyond the garment itself.