Liam Hodges turns to Mr Blobby and Noel Edmunds for his AW18 campaign inspiration

Liam Hodges, one of contemporary British menswear’s most up and coming designers, has wrapped his forthcoming Autumn/Winter 2018 collection in a deliciously colourful campaign styled by Sam Thompson and shot by Ryan O’Toole Collett.

Liam has also, in his infinite wisdom, worked with regular collaborator Dale Slater on a Noel Edmunds themed installation at London’s Dover Street Market. Yep, you read that right: amongst the Michelin Man-style Moncler x Craig Green jackets and the stacks of super-technical Cav Empt trousers, you’ll find a portrait of Noel Edmunds. Next to a sofa upholstered to look like someone had ripped into poor old Mr Blobby with a barbed wire wrapped stick.

Having transformed the shop space into a creepily nostalgic space in which to contemplate just how real the Banker in Deal Or No Deal is, Liam then got Ryan to shoot the AW collection amongst the 90s-style debris. The result is a shoot as engaging and inventive as Liam’s approach to fashion.

Being inquisitive sorts, we asked Liam how he reckons he’d fare on a weeklong road trip with Noel. The answer is, he thinks, very, very well. “It would be amazing,” he says. “We could get Channel 4 to film it. It could be a search to find and resurrect Mr Blobby. We’d visit his old theme parks and do some colourful TV seance. Imagine The Trip and Ripley’s Believe it or Not all at once.”