Purple Mountain Observatory AW26 imagines a city silenced by nature

If you’ve ever wandered through a big noisy city and secretly wished for it to miraculously change into a post-apocalyptic nirvana where rabbits play between the roots of the towering oak trees of Piccadilly Gardens whilst herds of deer drink from the babbling brook that runs where Market street once stood, then read on. ‘When The City Went Quiet’ imagines an Earth after departure, at a point where manmade structures have began to erode into something organic and new ecosystem have forms amongst whatever else has been left behind. Into which enters a group of explorers who move through the remnants of the old world, searching for signs of life whilst all decked out in the new AW26 collection from Purple Mountain Observatory. Who, I guess, thought this utopian dream was the perfect hook to hang their excellent new outerwear upon. Which this season features an expanded fleece offering, alongside explorations into more natural fibres (including Polartec Alpha Wool), as well as technical waterproof layers that sit alongside softer fabrications, all of which have been designed to come together in one seamless system. Maybe PMO really stands for ‘Post-Metropolitan Optimism’?