The 14th instalment of London Fashion Week Men’s kicks off in the
capital on June 8, and with menswear booming, up 500 million pounds in the last year alone
according to Mintel’s latest data, there has never been a better time to be
a menswear designer, and FashionUnited has picked out all the highlights
that you won’t want to miss.
The hub of London Fashion Week Men’s (LFWM) will once again return to
the Truman Brewery, in the heart of London’s East End, located close to the
home of many of the British designer businesses, and will feature more than
40 UK and international designers on schedule including Craig Green,
three-time winner of the British Designer of the Year Menswear accolade at
The Fashion Awards, Alexander McQueen, Liam Hodges, and Chalayan.
Truman Brewery will be home to the official British Fashion Council show
space, as well as a curated showroom of menswear brands, the NewGen pop-up
showroom and the DiscoveryLAB, which will introduce emerging menswear
designers to press and buyers.
This June’s edition, which marks the beginning of the menswear fashion
month with Paris and Milan fashion weeks, as well as Pitti Uomo to follow,
is placing London’s community, diversity and culture at its heart with a
new ‘This is London’ campaign featuring a mix of globally established names
and current tastemakers from the worlds of art, music, fashion, film and
sport.
The campaign aims to celebrate the city’s diversity and creativity as
well as highlight the relationship between the creative industries, as
London Fashion Week Men’s looks to place the spotlight away from Paris and
Milan, and show that London’s menswear scene is not just about fashion but
a “melting pot of experiences” across art, design and music.
Commenting on the campaign, Caroline Rush, British Fashion Council chief
executive, said in a statement: “London is a city that is globally
recognised for its creative talent and businesses. We’re extremely excited
to launch this campaign for LFWM June 2019 and to celebrate not only the
designers but also the broader creative community who all play a vital role
in our industry’s culture and reputation.”
Preview of London Fashion Week Men’s – what not to miss
This season’s London Fashion Week Men’s schedule is packed with catwalk
shows, presentations, installations and events, with NewGen graduate Kiko
Kostadinov opening the weekend with an intimate catwalk show on Friday,
while Art School will open the official BFC show space on Saturday with
their first on schedule catwalk show as part of the BFC’s NewGen
initiative, and closing proceedings will be the BFC/GQ Designer Menswear
Fund supported by JD.com winner announcement on Monday.
Other NewGen designers showing at LFWM include A-Cold-Wall*, Charles
Jeffrey Loverboy, Paria /Farzaneh, Per Götesson, and Stefan Cooke who will
host catwalk shows, while Bethany Williams and Nicholas Daley will host
presentations. Ahluwalia Studio and Bianca Saunders will be in the
DiscoveryLAB and NewGen One to Watch, Roker will have a space in the NewGen
Pop-Up Showroom.
There will also be a host of international brands showing including
C2H4, Iceberg, John Lawrence Sullivan, Münn presented by Seoul Fashion
Week, HLA presented by JD.com, 8ON8 presented by 智族GQ and Xander Zhou.
The LFWM’s schedule will also see a number of brands making their debut,
JordanLuca and Studio ALCH will host their first catwalk shows while 1X1
Studio and St-Henri will be hosting presentations for the first time.
5 designers not to miss at LFWM
Edward Crutchley
One of the rising stars in London’s fashion scene at the moment has to
be Edward Crutchley, who won two prizes at the 2019 edition of the
International Woolmark Prize, for menswear, as well innovation, marking the
first time a designer had won two prizes, and he is also a finalist for the
2019 BFC Fashion Fund, which will be announced
on the final day of LFWM.
Crutchley’s work is grounded in an innate understanding and appreciation
of artisanal textiles, where he explores global cultural references, and he
has developed a reputation for pushing a vision of fashion that moves
beyond boundaries or gender, which is still wearable. He has also consulted
for many leading fashion brands including Dior, Louis Vuitton, Supreme,
Kanye West, Pringle of Scotland and Richard Nicoll.
Edward Crutchley’s spring/summer 2020 catwalk show takes place on
Saturday, June 8.
Münn
Korean design talent Münn, founded in 2013 by creative director
Hyun-min Han, will be jumping ship from Seoul Fashion Week to LFWM on a
exchange programme to present his spring/summer 2020 collection. Well known
in Asia, Münn blends formalwear and workwear with a contrasting colour
palette, as well as juxtaposing Korean handbok-style fabrications and
modern, European tailoring techniques.
Commenting on showing during LFWM, Hyun-min Han, creative director, Münn
said in a statement: “I am deeply honoured to show in London as part of the
prestigious London Fashion Week and to be the first designer to take part
in the SFW x LFW exchange programme. British designers Hussein Chalayan and
Alexander McQueen have been my heroes and ever since I was young I have
always looked to the city as the most creative and innovative fashion
capital.”
Münn takes to the catwalk on Saturday, June 8 in the BFC Show Space.
Martine Rose
London-based designer Martine Rose has made fans of Virgil Abloh and
Rihanna for her tongue-in-cheek collections that draw on references from
her teenage years growing up surrounded by a melting pot of subcultures in
south London, including the rave and reggae scenes of the 1990s will be
showing on June 9.
Rose is a cult favourite on the menswear scene as she is known for her
unconventional approach to presenting collections, in previous season she
has shown in venues around north London such as rock climbing centres and
markets, and she even closed off a north London cul-de-sac to host a
catwalk show slash street party – so we can’t wait to see where she shows
this season.
Fashion East
Fashion East’s menswear initiative (formerly known as MAN) was launched
in 2005 and has supported and launched numerous menswear designers
including Kim Jones, JW Anderson, Aitor Throup, and Craig Green, and this
season it welcomes Royal College of Art graduate Saul Nash for his debut
catwalk show, alongside returning designers Mowalola by British-Nigerian
Mowalola Ogunlesi and Dublin-based Robyn Lynch, who are both returning for
their second seasons.
The collective catwalk showcase will see Nash, a dancer and designer
from North East London. showcasing his designs inspired by kinetic body and
the subversion of sportswear via the memories of the different people he
grew up around in London, while Robyn Lynch uses her Irish upbringing and
culture as the base of the brand’s ethos and inspiration, and Mowalola
Ogunlesi who describes her approach to design as “a celebration of the
black African male: his culture, sexuality and desires’ and of pan-African
masculinity”.
The Fashion East catwalk show takes place at the BFC Show Space on June
9.
Bethany Williams
British designer Bethany Williams, who was awarded the Queen Elizabeth
II Award for British Design during London Fashion Week in February for
making a difference to society through sustainable practices and community
engagement, will host a menswear presentation at LFWM on June 10 as part of
the NewGen initiative.
A graduate from London College of Fashion, Williams champions social and
environmental causes and challenges perceptions in fashion and in recent
seasons she has partnered with charities supporting social change across
women’s empowerment, homelessness, successful rehabilitation of offenders
back into society, improving literacy amongst the most vulnerable in
society and education programmes teaching skills and creating employment
for those with the most limited opportunities and prospects.
London Fashion Week Men’s official kicks off on Saturday, June 8 until
Monday, June 10.
Image: courtesy of the British Fashion Council – shot by Markn
