The inside scoop on London Collections: Men
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Fashion
As all eyes within the fashion scoop turn to London for the start of the menswear fashion week with London Collection: Men, FashionUnited takes a moment to probe into the growing success surrounding the menswear market in the UK to understand what pushes LC:M to grow each and every season. Offering a variety of events from catwalk shows, to presentations to dinners and speeches, we have compiled the top facts and figures on London Collections: Men this season and its increasing impact on the menswear market in the UK, and abroad.
It is important to remember that London Collections: Men is still in its early stages, when taking the number of designers, events and attendees into consideration. It June, 2012, when the British Fashion Council decided to expand on the one-day-only menswear showcase by launching a separate showcase for menswear. Now the former three day showcase has become a four day extravaganza as the event has continues to grow, which signifies the ongoing importance the marker has to the UK’s economy.
LC:M celebrates eighth season at the Victoria House...
Now in its eighth season, LC:M is set to house its Designer Showrooms under one roof for the first time. Although this may sound trivial to some, it is no mere feat as there are 65 designers presenting their collections on the Designer Showrooms. The designer showroom will be hosted at the Victoria House and span two floors, which together will house ready-to-wear and accessories from the participating designers, alongside the British Fashion Council Show Space. In addition, a new second BFC Show Space will be located at 180 Strand on January 9 and 10, which until recently the location of Louis Vuitton exhibition Series 3. In total, 39 central London venues will host both catwalk shows and presentations.
Newcomers to the showroom this season include Mackintosh, BOY London - who are celebrating their 40th anniversary - and LC:M Ambassador David Gandy, who will present his footwear brand David Preston London. Surprisingly, 46 percent of the designers showing this season have decided to host stage presentations of their collections, over catwalk show, indicating a shift in the way fashion is presented and perhaps a preference to create a closer connection with buyers at LC:M. Speaking of buyers, the quality of buyers attending the male fashion week has improved, with a 14 percent increase in UK and International VIP buyer attendance season on season being highlighted by the BFC.
...with 65 designers presenting their AW16 collections...
This season will also see 65 designers showing their Autumn/Winter 2016 collections on schedule - a little dip from the 77 designers which presented their collections last season. However the sheer variety of designers showing more than makes up for this, with celebrated fashion houses such as Alexander McQueen, Burberry, Coach and Moschino presenting their collections alongside high street favourites such as Topman Design, Barbour and Pringle of Scotland and critically acclaimed designers like J.W Andersen, Craig Green and Christopher Shannon with tailoring from Gieves & Hawkes, Hardy Amies and Richard James. To ensure these designers have sufficient space to showcase their latest creations, the LC:M offers 90 metres of catwalk space at Victoria House and 43 metres at its second main location, 180 Strand.
The growing interest in British menswear, spurred on by some of London’s top designers, has lead to an increase in sales in the UK men’s apparel market of 22 percent over the past five years, reaching 13.5 billion pounds in 2014. Menswear is currently growing at a faster pace than womenswear in the UK, with male shoppers surpassing their female counterparts in terms of luxury fashion purchases according to the latest data from retail research firm Mintel. Menswear fashion sales as also expanding into other channels as the online sales of menswear grew 17.4 percent between 2010 and 2015, outpacing all other fashion categories, reported IbisWorld. The firm predicts that menswear online sales are set to grow larger than any other fashion category over the next 4 years, with an annual average growth rate of 14.2 percent between 2015 and 2020, which further cements the continual importance of events such as London Collections: Men.
...leading to an increase of young male millennial designer shoppers
Other celebrated designers and labels to grace the catwalks in London this season include Christopher Kane, Christopher Raeburn, John Smedley, Lou Dalton, Marques’s Almeida, Sibling and YMC. Once more the BFC’s NewGen initiative, sponsored by Topman will support a number of London’s top emerging designers showcase their AW16 collections, with Agi&Sam, Bobby Abley, Craig Green, Liam Hodges and Nasir Mazhar will each hosting catwalk shows. In addition, the Man show, a joint initiative between Fashion East and Topman take place this evening at the Topman Show space. With such a widespread variety of fashion offerings it should come as no surprise that the event continues to attract visitors from across the globe, with international buyers and press members attending from 42 countries across the globe.
Other events conceding and supporting the fashion showcases and catwalk shows at LC:M include: Mad About the Boy exhibition, London College of Fashion AW16 menswear show, Fashion Film by River Island and Lou Dalton x Jaeger presentation. Events open to consumers this season include: London Men’s Week talk series, hosted by the BFC, the live stream of numerous catwalk shows on at the LC:M homepage and inshore events hosted by retailers such as Harrods, House of Fraser and Liberty.
Image Credit: L-R: Sir Paul Smith CBE, Paul Smith; Stuart Vevers, Coach; Patrick Gran, E. Tautz; Caroline Rush CBE, British Fashion Council; Grace Wales Bonner, Wales Bonner; Gordon Richardson, TOPMAN; Dylan Jones OBE, GQ; Jonathan Anderson, J.W.Anderson.