All of the best designers have interesting pasts that they can bring to life in their work. Alexandre Plokhov’s past is much more interesting than most. The Russian born designer was best known as one half of design duo Cloak. When that collapsed, he set up his own label in 2011 after a brief sojourn as the head designer at Gianni Versace. His autumn winter collection features of all his style trademarks – a sombre colour palette that is entirely black in tone, with everything in the collection tailored to perfection. Plokhov manages to bring beauty into the simplest of pieces, through the use of artful draping and with the long lines he creates. Plokhov knows how to use colour – you only need to look at his spring collection, but it is when he plays with black in all of its forms that he creates his most beautiful menswear pieces.