Late Checkout, the flamboyant menswear label based out of Madrid, is one of my favorite brands right now for a plethora of reasons.
Firstly, Late Checkout’s clothes are sublime. They’re the kind of clothes that would look at home in a Wes Anderson movie. They’re colorful, beautifully designed, and inherently luxurious.
However, this opulent aesthetic is then juxtaposed with Late Checkout’s reverent tongue-in-cheek approach to fashion whereby it showcases each of its collections in a conceptual hotel in the form of characters.
Late Checkout’s latest collection, “The Painter”, tells the story of a resident that was only meant to only stay for a couple of days but has been holed up in room 202 for as long as anyone remembers and spends his days wandering aimlessly.
“This collection pays tribute to these eclectic characters in the world of Late Checkout,” says Alex Turrion, the brand’s creative director. “Imagine an artist living in a rundown hotel, constantly seeking inspiration.”
Despite its humorous outlook on fashion, Late Checkout is serious about clothes, often seeking inspiration from the even more serious world of fine art and the style of the painters behind it.
“Since our brand's inception, art has played a major role in shaping every collection and campaign,” says Turrion.
“Among our favorites are painters like Hockney, Robert Colescott, Rothko, Picasso, Dalí, Leger, Malevich and Mose Tolliver, whose works consistently inspire us. It's not just their art that influences us, but also their personal style and workspaces.”
Late Checkout’s ineluctable je ne sais quoi is perhaps what’s most appealing about the brand in general. It continues to make fashion fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously. And, at the same time, is making objectively lovely clothing.
