Men's Fashion's Coming Home! - London's Men's Fashion Week 2013

This week saw the start of only the second ever London Collections:Men, fashion week, after a hugely successful inaugural show, back in the summer of 2012,  which was far more sucessful then first anticipated.

London kick started the menswear calendar, last Monday, 7th January  with a biannual showcase of British brands and businesses embedded in a cultural programme.

London Collections: Men. Emphasises both the creative and commercial importance of Britain’s brands and emerging talent, of what we see on a regular basis with young apprentices phoning up quite regualry to ask questions that will help them with their various fashion based courses and also CV's that are sent to us looking for apprenticeships or a push in the right direction to help them get on the correct road for their ambitions and skill levels.

All events on this weeks schedule are designed to showcase the breadth of British fashion talent, from the world’s most innovative emerging talents to global menswear brands and of course Savile Row tailors!

What we are starting to see over the last couple of years and will do much more in the future is the transistion of Men's fashion from being a background feature to being at the forefront of many designers minds with a huge shift in mentality from "The Modern Man" who as a whole are spending much more money on themselfs to look and feel great in everyday life.

Menswear is actually the only sector in Fashion that is growing at a substantial rate, from the High-Street, to Mid-Market level to the Luxury level such as ourselves and the rest of The Row.

London is becoming a big part of this trend and just walking around our amazing city, you see a huge blend of creativeness and imagination in regards to what men are wearing, what can sometimes seem as strange combinations being put together but somehow they just work.  Along with the more classic looks with a hint of extra creativiness and have that edge, men are now looking for to put them ahead of the competetion.

There is also a growing feeling that London can start to compete on the Fashion stage with the big hitters such as, New York, Milan & Paris and this is shown by two of the top designers in Tom Ford & Alexander McQueen's decsion to leave the Milan show and opt to join what I like to think of "The London Men's Fashion Revolution!"

Tom Ford expressed his love for the British capital as he presented his autumn/winter 2013 show during the final day, yesterday. (Wednesday, 10th January)

Hosting a series of intimate presentations, featuring groups of models in his latest designs, Ford provided running commentary, kicking off with a statement that set the tone for the show:

"I like women in fashion and men in classics."

Afterwards, Ford, whose design studios are based in London, confirmed that the British capital is his favourite European city. "I've just had a young son, I would like to send him to school here," he said. He also revealed that he'd like to dress the young princes. "Though, I understand they have to wear British designers, and I'm an American."

With over 60 scheduled events in venues across the capital – from the crypt at St Paul's to 10 Downing Street – London's menswear has proved that it can more than hold its own against Milan and Paris.

Playing to its strengths, the British fashion council, with GQ Fashion editor Dylan Jones as Chair, had created a lineup that took in stalwart British brands, such as Hackett and Margaret Howell, and showed them against buzzy designers like JW Anderson and Agi & Sam. Tuesday also saw a triumphant show from Alexander McQueen, who swapped their usual presentation from Milan to a full catwalk event in London as previously mentioned.

While watching the news this morning there was an interview with, design director of Topman, Gordon Richardson, stylist Matt Moxham and GQ editor Dylan Jones.

You can see the interview by clicking through on the link below. (Apologies if this does not work outside of the UK)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p013l422

One great quote from Dylan this morning was,

"London is the home of Menswear! We invented Menswear, we invented the suit, we are the home of Savile Row and this fashion week has shown that London can compete with the rest of the world!"

However the best quote from our perspective and goes for all generations of men, came from Gordan Richardson when he stated:

"Buy a good suit! That's the starting point for EVERY male wardrobe! Whatever you do, buy a great suit and build it from there!"

I think we can end the article on that note....

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