This hands-on designer's aesthetic is rooted in German worker wear and traditional fabrics

When people today mourn the disappearance of clothing from the past, they usually mean that businessmen don't wear suits anymore, or professors don't wear tweed anymore, or opera-goers don't wear black tie anymore. Frank Leder looks back to a different kind of aesthetic. Though trained in London, Leder's background and source material are all German.

The historical Germans that interest Leder the most are not just the aristocrats, the class that defined menswear in Britain and therefore the world, but the whole entourage of German society, all the way down to the humblest workers. 

Frank Leder is as deeply rooted in the history of his country as any designer working today. His work reminds us that no story is ever truly lost.