Today, Dylan Jones OBE, Chair of London Fashion Week Men’s (LFWM) and Caroline Rush CBE, Chief Executive British Fashion Council (BFC) opened London Fashion Week Men’s as a celebration of discovery and the creative diversity that has made London an international hub for menswear. From British heritage to emerging labels and vibrant street-wear brands, the twelfth edition of the London menswear showcase runs from Saturday 6 – Monday 8 January 2018 and pays homage to the ever expanding creativity of the capital.
‘We look forward to starting January 2018 with London Fashion Week Men’s as a celebration of London as a global centre for creativity and innovation. From fashion to art, design, music and popular culture, our international audience use LFWM to experience our city’s melting pot of creative industries and the best of British retail. News that growth in the UK menswear market is predicted to outstrip womenswear and reach £16.2billion by 2021, is promising news for our designers and further cements the UK’s importance as a global business destination.’ Dylan Jones OBE, London Fashion Week Men’s Chair
‘The breadth of talent and diversity of our LFWM designers, contributors and collaborators is a testament to the vibrancy and openness of London. This season sees Craig Green, British Designer of the Year at the recent Fashion Awards, present his collection alongside British Emerging Talent Menswear Winner Charles Jeffrey, New Gen recipient Grace Wales Bonner and British heritage brand Belstaff. Collaborations this season include the co-curation of the LFWM DiscoveryLAB with GQ Style’s Fashion Director Elgar Johnson and live performances by poet James Massiah, graffiti artist Ben Eine and perfumer Timothy Han.’ Caroline Rush, Chief Executive, British Fashion Council
The morning opening welcomed international retailers, press, designers, media outlets, BFC patrons, industry partners and government to the home of LFWM at 180 Strand and featured a specially commissioned performance from the South London poet James Massiah. Massiah’s work explores ideas about sexuality, mortality & ethics through performance writing and visual media. He has performed readings of his work at the Tate Modern, The Courtauld Institute of Art and the Houses of Parliament and past commissions include the BBC, Guardian, Selfridges, Loewe and Nike.
‘Chiswick Church’ by James Massiah
Remember discovering
A new joy
A trick
A new way to pass the time
The day you removed your favourite outfit
(Never knew that one day your street rat tracksuit would be en vogue!)
You'd have never thought that people like those would be down to get involved
But here you are!
Down
Getting involved
Feeling the fire in your bones
That makes you wiggle your toes
In_expensive shoes
A new pair that you can’t afford to lose
The sparkle of to the grime, dirt or muck
(All of which made this city what it is)
Remember the first...
You did what you did with who you did it with
Thought that people from your side of the city
And people from that side of the city shouldn’t mix
Remember the first time you hopped the train barrier
To visit Shakira at Chiswick church
Fresh, clean shirt
Afro hairbrush and grease for the waves
A far cry from your last late night in Hackney Wick
Under the spell of the wise young witch
Who showed you this: (!)
You discovered what it was like
To fly in the night
Whilst still on street level
Side by side with tomorrow’s stars
All anxious about losing their light
Doing what it takes to stay lit
Take a hit
Take a hit
Take a hit
Remember no more
Shed doubts and fears
It is all meant to be
You will be the best (JG)
Dressed in the finest chords
That Lady Luck has allowed you to afford
Set forth on sail in the city-sea
It belongs to me (Anthem)
It is all mine
This life and these times
In London on the underground
Down but not out (!) but always out!
Soon to arrive
Soon to be announced
In the meantime
You're along for the ride
En route to Chapter 5 (Anthem)
Seek and ye shall find if fate is your lover
The chapter is coming when your light is discovered
The LFWM Schedule
London Fashion Week Men’s January 2018 features the very best international creatives and design talent through a packed schedule of shows, presentations, installations and events from Saturday 6th to Monday 8th January 2018.
Craig Green winner British Designer of the Year - Menswear at The Fashion Awards 2017 in partnership with Swarovski will show on schedule alongside British Emerging Talent Menswear winner Charles Jeffrey and nominees A-COLD-WALL*, COTTWEILER and Phoebe English MAN.
The BFC’s NEWGEN initiative will see London’s brightest emerging menswear designers showcase their January 2018 collections. Kiko Kostadinov, Liam Hodges and WALES BONNER will host catwalk shows whilst Nicholas Daley will host a presentation.
This season we welcome Per Götesson and Wood Wood to show at LFWM for the first time on Monday and Saturday respectively. Alex Mullins, Edward Crutchley and MAN, The Fashion East Menswear initiative, will once again hold catwalk shows on schedule, with MAN featuring collections by Art School, Rottingdean Bazaar and Stefan Cooke. British heritage brands Belstaff and Kent & Curwen present their latest collections alongside Bobby Abley and Lou Dalton whose collections are immediately available to buy; while acclaimed brands D.GNAK, QASIMI, Xander Zhou and PRONOUNCE are presented by GQ China.
The main hub of LFWM is The Store Studios, 180 Strand, housing the official BFC Show Space as well as the Designer Showrooms, the NEWGEN Pop-Up Showroom and DiscoveryLAB occupying the West Wing. The LFWM showrooms feature over 40 menswear brands, a co-curated edit from the BFC and Fashion Director of GQ Style Elgar Johnson.
A new addition in 2018, the DiscoveryLAB is a creative space hosting exclusive experiences with cultural relevance underpinning LFWM’s relevance beyond the fashion world. Combining the worlds of fashion, tech, art and performance – the space will be repeatedly transformed establishing new ways for the audience to connect with and discover brands. On Saturday Tonsure, from designer Malte Flagstad, one of the most promising menswear brands to emerge from Copenhagen, fills the space with dynamic projections to create an interactive journey through Manhattan using moving images accompanied by a mix of immersive music and sounds.
Later on Saturday Bethany Williams debuts her fashion documentary, storytelling her ground-breaking project with LCF to support the San Patriano project in Italy, teaching textile production skills to a women’s substance abuse rehabilitation project. Bethany uses her sustainable credentials to recycle the waste materials created by the factory to create sustainable textile solutions with any profits of her collection being re-invested into the project.
On Sunday #COMMUNEPRESENTS by Commune East presents CHEWING THE FAT: The Future forecast of Fashion as a Commune-ity S.T.E.A.M discussion on how the AI landscape will impact how fashion is viewed and consumed. TIMOTHY HAN/EDITION will create an experiential bar with edible perfumes on Monday.
The Menswear Industry by numbers
- The UK men’s clothing market grew by 2.8% in 2016 to reach £14.5bn and although the menswear sector still only accounts for 27% of the total clothing market, it is growing at more than twice the rate of the women’s clothing market (Mintel, 2017)
- Menswear is predicted to grow by 12.43% between 2016 and 2021 to reach £16.2bn (Mintel, 2017)
- 52% of men have purchased designer fashion in the last 3 years compared to 43% of women (Mintel, 2017)
- More than a third (39%) of designer fashion consumers are interested in bespoke services to get items tailored to them (Mintel, 2017)
- 17.4% growth in online sales of menswear between 2010 and 2015 outpacing all other categories. IbisWorld predicts that online menswear also stands to grow more than other selected categories with an annual average of 14.2% between 2015 and 2020 (IbisWorld, 2015)
- $440bn (£298bn) worth of sales in menswear globally in 2014. $40bn (£27bn) further sales predicted in the menswear apparel market reaching $480bn (£325bn) by 2019 (Euromonitor, 2015)
The generosity and commitment of our sponsors is more vital than ever. Please help us by acknowledging their support for London Fashion Week Men’s January 2018 - Official Sponsors: British GQ, Etihad Airways, Lqd Skin Care, Mercedes-Benz, Radisson Blu Edwardian London, TONI&GUY and The Store; Official Suppliers: Bounce Foods Ltd, Digital Domain, DHL, evian, Fashion and Beauty Monitor, Getty Images, Launchmetrics, Warsteiner, Yahoo! Style; Official Funders: The European Regional Development Fund and The Mayor of London; Official Supporters: The Department of International Trade