Yesterday evening London Collections: Men, the UK’s biggest showcase of menswear, was opened with events including a Superdry presentation on Regent Street and a Rake magazine party at Claridges before commencing today with the TOPMAN show. Chair and Editor of GQ, Dylan Jones OBE welcomed guests who turned up in force from all over the world at The Hospital Club in London today with a speech that marked what is the beginning of a four day showcase set to start the menswear season across the world. Guests included Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy, Ed Vaizey, industry figure heads, press, buyers, committee members and official London Collections: Men ambassadors including David Gandy, Dermot O’ Leary, Douglas Booth, Nick Grimshaw, Oliver Cheshire, Robert Konjic and Tinie Tempah.
Dylan Jones OBE said: "It’s with pleasure to welcome you all to the sixth edition of London Collections: Men - our biggest and most impressive to date. Before I continue, I’d like to briefly express sympathy to the family and friends of the victims of the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris. Expression is at the heart of everything this industry stands for and without this freedom of expression none of us would be here today. Ideas can be captured in ink, speech, paint, film, music and of course in cloth. As a major creative industry it’s our responsibility to encourage and support a free and expressive social environment. It is encouraging that as the next few days will show, ideas cannot be broken and today there is not a better time to celebrate creativity and its free expression.
I always said we’d stick to three days, but with so much interest from the UK and international menswear industry it was becoming impossible to fit any more onto what was already a very impressive, yet very packed schedule. This season we have returning global brands Alexander McQueen, Belstaff, Burburry Prorsum, Margaret Howell, Moschino, Paul Smith, Tom Ford and TOPMAN not to mention new additions including Aquascutum Men's, Barbour, Coach, Kilgour and Todd Lynn to name but a few.
You may have already noticed but the Designer Showrooms here at the Hospital Club have had so much interest from UK and international brands we’ve expanded to take over The Annexe next door – you must makes sure you take a look. I hope all of you have had a restful holiday – the schedule most definitely promises to be the perfect wake-up call and a fantastic way to kick off 2015. I’d like to thank you all for being here – the success and global reputation of our designers is in part down to the fantastic people in this room. Last but not least, a big thank you to our ambassadors, press committee, patrons and to the sponsors whose generosity makes London Collections: Men possible.”
The generosity and commitment of our sponsors is more vital than ever. Please help us by acknowledging their support for London Collections: Men, January 2015: Official Sponsors Fudge, GQ, The Hospital Club, Lavazza Coffee, Penhaligon’s, Mercedes-Benz, Radisson Blu Edwardian London, Swatch, TOPMAN, The Woolmark Company Official Suppliers Fashion Monitor, Rightster, Warsteiner.