Taylor Thompson explored the complicated meaning of home, belonging and identity as he made his London Fashion Week debut with 5000's Spring/Summer 2027 collection. Titled 'Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out', the presentation brought together fashion, music and literature to examine how a person's origins, memories and experiences shape who they become.
The collection was particularly personal for Thompson, who had recently relocated from Oakland, California, to London after being named Designer in Residence at the Paul Smith Foundation. His move to a new city prompted questions about displacement and belonging, including whether home was somewhere people inherited, somewhere they built or something they carried within themselves.
The designer found an unexpected starting point in Gil Scott-Heron's 'Home Is Where the Hatred Is', a track from the musician's 1971 album Pieces of a Man. 'Home is where the hatred is,' Thompson recalled answering when someone close to him asked how he defined home, establishing the central contradiction behind the collection.
'Home Is Where the Hatred Is': The Inspiration Behind 5000 SS27
Scott-Heron's song explored drug addiction and the complicated relationship between a person and the place they repeatedly returned to. Thompson drew on its underlying message to challenge the conventional idea of home as an unquestionable source of comfort, considering instead how familiar surroundings could also become places of confinement, pain and difficult memories.
Remembering the late great GIL SCOTT-HERON — who left us 15yrs ago today, aged 62.
— Michael Warburton (@For_Film_Fans) May 27, 2026
HOME IS WHERE THE HATRED IS (1971) pic.twitter.com/lW5VYaxLRs
The collection also drew on Simone de Beauvoir's The Ethics of Ambiguity and James Baldwin's Go Tell It on the Mountain. While de Beauvoir's existentialist philosophy informed its exploration of freedom and personal responsibility, Baldwin's examination of family, faith, inheritance and redemption added another dimension to Thompson's questions about identity and the past.
The Ethics of Ambiguity
— Petersfield Bookshop (@The_PBS) October 4, 2025
By Simone de Beauvoir
The Philosophical Library, New York: 1948. First edition
One of the foundational texts of Existentialism and one of the first to be published in English. pic.twitter.com/JnQDgQPcvs
'There are people in the world for whom "coming along" is a perpetual process, people who are destined never to arrive.'
— Therese Taylor (@ThereseTaylor12) July 8, 2026
James Baldwin, Go Tell It on the Mountain#AmericanFiction #WordsOnWednesday pic.twitter.com/NzPT4XzKYf
Together, the three works informed a collection concerned with the tension between leaving behind the circumstances that shaped someone and confronting them to determine what deserved to be carried forward. Rather than offering a straightforward answer, Thompson explored becoming as an ongoing process involving self-reflection, freedom and reconciliation.
From Oakland to London: A New Chapter for Taylor Thompson
Thompson's relationship with London predated his move to the British capital. During an earlier visit around 2013, he discovered Pieces of a Man in a Soho record shop, an encounter that became part of his personal connection to the city and eventually influenced the collection he presented there.
His fashion career had already taken him beyond California. After moving to New York at 18, Thompson assisted artist Desi Santiago and designer Zaldy before joining Hood By Air. He later relocated to Paris to work with designer Marine Serre before eventually establishing his creative base in Oakland, where his experiences and connections to the local creative community helped shape 5000.
His London residency marked another significant step, following his selection as the inaugural American recipient of the Paul Smith's Foundation x CFDA Designer-in-Residence opportunity. The programme provided studio space, mentorship from industry figures and business-planning support as he developed his label in the UK.
Experimental Tailoring Meets Music and Memory
The philosophical ideas behind the collection translated into unconventional silhouettes and reworked tailoring. Thompson experimented with traditional menswear codes through dramatic proportions, utilitarian references and unexpected construction details, including a long black double-breasted coat with a skirt-like shape and washed-grey nylon suiting inspired by MA-1 bomber jackets.
Other looks included camouflage separates, black jacquard tailoring and generously proportioned trousers inspired by traditional Japanese hakama. A houndstooth evening gown with a structured corset and tailored neckline further demonstrated how Thompson moved between familiar tailoring and more experimental forms.
The presentation took place at 180 Studios in London's Devon Turnbull OJAS Listening Room, where music curator Zakia Sewell provided a soundtrack that reinforced the collection's connection to sound and memory. Rather than treating music as background accompaniment, the experience positioned it alongside clothing as another way of exploring personal history and belonging.
Through 5000's SS27 collection, Thompson turned his London Fashion Week debut into a reflection on the places people leave, the experiences they inherit and the identities they continue to build. His presentation ultimately suggested that home was not necessarily a fixed destination, but something people could spend their lives trying to understand and create.
