Circle Park’s ’Sons of Leisure’ launch signalled the start of Australia’s premier fashion season being one of the first brands to show prior to Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia. Hosting a media launch designer Tim Turner-Sutton presented the first collection of his new street wear label (well new as in he has been developing it since 2008 anyway!)

A collection of separates, Circle Park reworked classic garments into new contemporary designs with shirts having alternating panels of different prints and fabrics which made a nice contrast to each other. The purple chinos are particularly interesting, with an extra low crotch with visible buttons blurring the lines of a smart chino with a pair of long johns.

Between fitted shirts and pants paired with a relaxed cardigan it is obvious the collection is about contrasts. The clothes bridge the office and the street as a sort of professional come street wear look. Casual outfits are dressed up through the simple layering of a cardigan or jacket, just an extra step for men who live in jeans and a t-shirt. It is this subtle layering that helps push this streetwear brand further than most and the attention to detail in all the pieces give the collection a unique edge in an already saturated market.

Sutton started making clothes for himself in 2006 and soon started making clothes for friends. In 2008 he left his job at an advertising agency to start his label, travelling to Asia to source fabrics, suppliers and manufacturers knowing nothing about textile production. Now in 2012 he has his own label at a time when retail sales have been famously low. Talking to Sutton last night he doesn’t have a negative attitude about the timing of his launch, rather he is happy to be putting all he has into it in an all or nothing attempt to make it and we here at On The Streets of Sydney have a feeling he will.