Gender Neutral London Fashion Week to Launch With Digital Platform

British Fashion Council (BFC) today announces that for the next twelve months all London Fashion Weeks will merge womenswear and menswear into one gender neutral platform, to allow designers greater flexibility. For this June, London Fashion Week, will take a new form, as a digital-only platform in light of the current environment, and will run from 12th June 2020 through the time period of former London Fashion Week Men’s. The digital platform www.londonfashionweek.co.uk will relaunch and be for both trade and consumer audiences; embracing the cultural commentary, creativity and humorous spirit for which British fashion and London are known for.

Caroline Rush CBE, BFC Chief Executive commented: “It is essential to look at the future and the opportunity to change, collaborate and innovate. Many of our businesses have always embraced London Fashion Week as a platform for not just fashion but for its influence on society, identity and culture. The current pandemic is leading us all to reflect more poignantly on the society we live in and how we want to live our lives and build businesses when we get through this. The other side of this crisis, we hope will be about sustainability, creativity and product that you value, respect, cherish. By creating a cultural fashion week platform, we are adapting digital innovation to best fit our needs today and something to build on as a global showcase for the future.  Designers will be able to share their stories, and for those that have them, their collections, with a wider global community; we hope that as well as personal perspectives on this difficult time, there will be inspiration in bucketloads. It is what British fashion is known for.”  

London Fashion Week June 2020 will put storytelling at its heart and give a voice to British fashion businesses and creatives, allowing them to tell their stories in these extraordinary times by tapping into London’s cultural zeitgeist and highlighting its position as a global multi-cultural city. Bringing the fashion community together, the platform will host exclusive multimedia content from designers, creatives, artists and brand partners, enabling collaboration and bringing together fashion, culture and technology. 
This new digital experience will be open to a global public and trade audience, and will work as a meet-up point, offering interviews, podcasts, designer diaries, webinars and digital showrooms, giving the opportunity to designers to generate sales for both the public through existing collections and the retailers through orders for next season’s products.

Alongside longstanding brand partners of London Fashion Week, British GQ, Evening Standard, JD.COM, INC, LAVAZZA, LetsBab, Mercedes-Benz, The May Fair Hotel and TONI&GUY, BFC has engaged a number of digital pioneering brands, including Amazon Launchpad, Facebook, Google, Instagram, JOOR, ORDRE/ORB360 and YouTube, who will all be activating content in unique ways, helping British designer businesses reach new public and trade audiences. The generosity and commitment of our partners, suppliers and supporters is more vital than ever. Please help us by acknowledging their support for London Fashion Week June 2020 alongside our Official Suppliers: Fashion & Beauty Monitor, Getty Images, Launchmetrics, S’well and Official Supporters: The Department for International Trade, The European Regional Development Fund and The Mayor of London.

FW2020-21: Best of London Fashion Week Men's

2020 found us in London waiting for Men’s Fashion Week. This season was all about the new talents as many of the big names are not showing in the English fashion capital anymore. Our stylist & editor Martina Ghia was out and around and she has put down all you need about it.

Fall Winter 2020-21 seems to be a new era on men’s fashion with a lot of 90s elements, deconstructed denim and total denim looks, wide trousers, oversized coats and of course the new tailoring - a complete new generation on the classic tailoring, showing the elegance of the trend with a twist.

Below you’ll find the best of looks from some of our favourite shows:

Martine Rose

Per Götesson

Wales Bonner

Charles Jeffrey Loverboy

Pronounce

Astrid Andersen

London Fashion Week Men's: The SS20 Highlights

London Fashion Week Men’s SS20 has already finished; our editors have sent their feedback and favourite collections to post and here are our higlights from London, just before Milan’s celebration of menswear fashion.

Alexander McQueen: with SS20 presentation at #LFWM

Classic & Classy Oliver Spencer

Per Götesson: 3D Romance and Simplicity

Chalayan: Loving stripes and the new tailoring

Robyn Lynch for FASHION EAST: Pastels & Super Shorts

Mowalola for FASHION EAST: ‘Vampire’ is the new trend

WE LOVE: Rirchard Biedul's looks at London Fashion Week.

If you were around London Fashion Week Men’s last weekend ,you probably came across the super stylish model and influencer.

Posing for street style photographers or catching up with his fashionistas friends and followers, mr Richard Biedul always brings out a unique energy and image that you can’t ignore. He has been one of our favourites from day one and he made it once again this season with his notable looks.

Well-respected within the industry, with designer collaborations and guest appearances on runways and fashion events, the IMG model loves and supports London’s men fashion week from the very beggining as he has been part of it all the previous seasons too.

London Fashion Week Men's: Day 2 & 3 HIGHLIGHTS

Another season without ''the big'' British names on the schedule and things were alright - again. Another opportunity for the young designers to 'shine' and attract the international media with their work.

Three days full of shows, presentations and parties…. and before Milan Fashion Week here are the higlights from day 2 & 3.

ALEX MULLINS

Women presented menswear in Mullins’ AW19 show which was one of our favourites.

Mens pieces became Gender fluid in terms of styling with denim and tailoring being the key elements of the collection. The colour pallete consists of blue, yellow, oatmail and graphics in red and black details.

Mullins said his starting point for the lineup happened on his way home one night, when he saw woman getting out of a car wearing a yellow mohair scarf and a coat, except it turned out “it wasn’t yellow mohair, it was just her hair and her jacket was just a really s—t, old shirt.”

ASTRID ANDERSEN

Streetwear meets luxury fashion in Astrid Andersen with blue, red and orange being the main colours of the AW19 collection. An exploration of the classic male silhouette and the pin stripe tracksuit, the Autumn/Winter designs are an ode to 1920s’ American fashion, a step away from the label’s previous inspirations. However, despite its new unexpected design, Andersen remains comfortably rooted in the materials used in even her earliest collections, in particular her signature combination of lace and fur.

PER GÖTESSON

In a celebration of artisanal making and craftsmanship, the designer showcased his signature expressive draping techniques, as well as a unique take on deconstruction. Relaxed silhouettes – as seen for instance in a double-breasted Prince of Wales check blazer with crisp white cuffs peeking out from the sleeves – exercised both precise construction and soft tailoring. The colour pallete was in soft tones with apricot, dusty lavender and off white being the main colours of the collection.

XANDER ZHOU

A very thughtful but playful collection which came from the future for the future. From prosthetics used on models from ‘alien’ eyes to bionic components the Xander Zhou AW19 was the favourite one on instagram.

The clothes were a beautiful paradox too – modern men accessorising with flippers and furry feeding bottles to engineers donning 70s-esque polonecks. The collection overall has a hopeful message, one of belonging. Accepting the ‘other’ is the future..

OLIVER SPENCER

Eco-wools, tailored coats , utilitarian bomber jackets and velvet trousers were some of the statement pieces of the AW19 collection in OLIVER SPENCER show. The earth colours were on top with many blue tones too and the ‘eco-green’ on its best.

We loved the suits and all the tailoring he proposed like every season with the Royal Academy as the show venue being one of our fevourites this year.

FENG CHEN WANG

History and heritage permeates the AW19 FENG CHEN WANG collection through the symbolism, iconography and painting with brush strokes, turning her artistic ideas into design prints and forms. In a collection of 41 looks, Fend Chen Wang’s textures and palettes are as pure as the story their telling – from pale pastels to soft fabrics, there was bold tailoring to portray strength and oversized shapes to show creative power.

London Fashion Week Men's: Day 1 HIGHLIGHTS

The autumn/winter 2019 edition of London Fashion Week Men’s kicked off yesterday in its new home at Brick Lane’s Truman Brewery. Our style editor Martina Ghia and fashion journalist Stephen George have taken over our social media for the weekend and here are all the highlights from DAY 1:

Day one showcased what London has become today: Upcoming and international designer names on the schedule with creativity and diversity on their best.

BOBBY ABLEY

For Autumn-Winter 2019, Bobby Abley takes inspiration from his family and hometown of Scarborough, where he worked on the collection. Abley revisits his childhood; balaclavas, scarves and baby blankets are all replicated, hand knitted by his mother (and other relatives) and incorporated within the collection as one-off pieces. The family team of knitters also created cardigans and jumpers in fluorescent colours – a palette which recurs throughout the collection. The rest of the colours in the collection are inspired by Abley’s favourite characters from Pokémon.

ICEBERG:

90s and modern sport wear references were the main characteristics of ICEBERG AW19 show. Mickey became the protagonist of the apres-ski style of the collection which have been combined perfectly with the bold colours and the british punk references on grooming and styling.

JOHN LAWRENCE SULLIVAN:

Live music from London indie group Wild Daughter, a plethora of leopard print and heavy leather trench coats and trousers were some of the John Lawrence Sullivan’s fashion elements during his underground AW19 show. Strong textures and bold colours have been combined to create the new contemporary menswear.

Qasimi:

Amidst the current uncertain political and social climate, Qasimi’s urban nomad travels to the near future with a vision of hope within a utopian landscapefor autumn/winter 2019.

Utilitarian sportswear, bold colours with burgundy as the protagonist and protective layering are the three main trends that Qasimi is proposing for the next winter.

Concluding Day 1 it is worth to mention the British emerging talents who turned into tailoring with a twist for next winter.

EDWARD CRUTCHLEY


CHARLES JEFFREY LOVERBOY




Richard Biedul x King & Tuckfield AW18 collaboration collection

King & Tuckfield is a new menswear contemporary brand, founded by Stacey Wood just 3 years ago. Its signature aesthetic fuses a distinctly British 1950’s feel, with sharp contemporary styling inspired by the colourful stories of Stacey's family history.

The design team is passionate  with quality and sustainable materials, and their inspiration comes from the British fashion heritage and culture.  They always love to mix everything that looks vintage with something that looks modern creating the new classic. 

Model, Art and Style director, Richard Biedul  joined that team to create his first 5 pieces-capsule collection and with these AW18 pieces makes his debut in the design world. 

The collection consists of pieces which everyone needs all the time and every piece seems to be ideal for your wardrobe. Richard mentioned "We've created almost an off-duty uniform… it is about comfort, it's about function and formality" 

And it's actually true. Everything can go from casual to formal depends on the way you style them on you. Modern, elegant pieces that will always be in fashion. 

During this collaboration Richard has discovered a new found love for quality denim and has merged this new passion on his designs too. Focusing also on 100% fine merino wool in a bold spectrum of Navy, Fiesta Red and Clover Green, the collection is inspired with vintage references and a 1950's notion. 

 . Richard Biedul x King & Tuckfield AW18 capsule collection translates back to the main SS19 collection which we had the opportunity to see during London Fashion Week and we have to admit that we fell in love with...

The AW18 collection is now available on kingandtuckfield.com

London Fashion Week Men's SS19: THE TREND REPORT

The latest London Fashion Week Men's sets the bar for the Spring/Summer 2019 men's shows around the world. Here are the biggest new season menswear trends from the catwalks in the nation's capital.

Between John Lawrence Sullivan’s slim-cut leather biker suits, long-line leather overcoats and tiny nineties-style specs and Daniel W Fletcher’s slim-cut and be-harnessed trenches and skinny black tailored pieces the looks had strong references from 90s movies and trends .

Daniel W Fletcher SS19

From the movie ‘Interview with a vampire’ to ‘Matrix, we have seen it all and especially in Matthew Miller show when the street style looks have been combine with nylon-metallic elements and fabric.

Then it was all about relaxed tailoring.

From tailored tracksuit bottoms and smart khaki pieces to oversized blazers combined with wide trousers or skinny shorts, search Qasimi  SS19 for more of the looks, we have seen from villagers country looks ( see Lou Dalton or Wood Wood presentations) to the vampires and the huntsmen.

Qasimi SS19

Qasimi SS19

More oriental vibes with floral or embelished ''versace'' inspired patterns and aesthetic, and relaxed shirt combinations you could see in shows like Oliver Spencer and Edward Crutchley.  (The music background supported the presentations and the fashion 'journey')

I know we should note all the bright colours and combinations for the spring/summer season but 2019 seems to be quite dark and moody. The strongest colour pallet within the collections was the burgundy - wine red - purple - cloud pink..sh one in all the tones and shades. Designers like Oliver Spencer or Ben Sherman used it in almost all the looks and others kept it more specific but as the colour for the hero pieces. ( check Kiko Kostadinov) 

Ben Sherman SS19

Ben Sherman SS19

Kiko Kostadinov SS19

Kiko Kostadinov SS19

And last but not least.... THE CROPPED TOPS or as we all know ’crop tops’. Yes, crop tops were ‘a thing’ for SS19 presentations and it looks like it will be a strong trends on menswear collections next year. From John Lawrence to Astrid Andersen, the crop top trend has made its strongest entry ever for SS19 ( well, at least for the last 15 years)

London Fashion Week Men's SS19: THE HIGHLIGHTS

Another season without ''the big'' British names on the schedule and things were alright- again. I suppose it was another opportunity for the young designers to 'shine' for another one season.

Three days full of shows, presentations and parties... three days full of fashion; and before the final shows of today and the beggining of Milan's Fashion Week, here are some of our favourite highlights and fashion moments.

DANIEL W. FLETCHER debuts SS19 COLLECTION AT LFW:M

With his first ever runway show in London Fashion Week, Daniel W. Fletcher was one of the names that you could hear everywhere during the weekend.

For SS19, the British Designer chose a luxe palette of grey, brown, black, and white  and he moved considerably further away from the themes of British heritage and schoolboy-nostalgia that have informed his previous designs.

Monochromatic androgyny looks, along with some some gender subversion elements were some of the highlights of the collection, plus THE prints which was a collaboration with artist Caitlin Keogh.

JOHN LAWRENCE SULLIVAN

One of our favourite collections inspired by the societal outliers of the Swiss punk movement, new wave and Dave Gahan, lead singer of synth-pop icons Depeche Mode

Strong contemporary tailoring and pieces in a pallet of black, white, red and a shade of green amazed the fashionistas. Tight-fitting shorts styled with oversized blazers and crop tops giving us some of our favourite looks for SS19.

OLIVER SPENCER

Classy and classic, the SS19 of Oliver Spencer has taken classic tailoring to another level.

The colour pallet was in grey and ice blue tones and the fifty shades of... pink. The  tailored pieces were beautifuly combined with oversized coats or polo t-shirts bringing out a floral-spring mood, without floral patterns at all.. Well except the notable cinematic intro imagery with spring fields and flowers.

 It's worth mentioning the noteworthy model names who walked for Oliver Spencer's SS19 show, with our favourite one, Richard Biedul leading the runway.

Ben Sherman

The Ben Sherman SS19 collection was inspired by young rock and roll icons of the 60s and from the time period when the designer first visited America to build the identity of the brand.

Iconic checks and candy stripes fused together with a unique twist, blending rock and roll style with preppy ivy leagues looks to create the ideal Ben Sherman style. Colour pallets are rooted in different blues, silver pink and tomato cream. Dark Red and Olive Green become the new neutrals and a collaboration with HOUSE OF HOLLAND for the second season has as a result of several colours and prints.

ALEX MULLINS

This season Mullins showcased 27 looks, in a series of 9 triptychs in a perfect symmetry. The SS19 collection opened with a series of suits in khaki, black and tan all with contrasting coloured cut out vests more suited to a 90s rave pulled taut across the jackets, playing with proportion and genre.

Some of the highlight looks consist of ribbed knitted jumpers, white sweatshirts emblazoned with ‘Alex Mullins’ appealed to the logomania trend, metallics (yes; for the summer period!), standout pink and white suiting and Japanese inspired prints. 

London Fashion Week Men's AW18 - REVIEW

Words by Stephen George

The schedule’s short! Menswear is in turmoil!! Fashion week is falling apart at the seams!!! THE BEES ARE DISAPPEARING!!!! The bees disappearing have nothing to do with fashion week but they do share something in common – they represent the current state of the (fashion) industry today. 

We’ve seen the schedules become tighter and smaller - London Fashion Week: Mens neé London Collections: Men was the caped crusader of menswear; at one point spanning five days has been reduced to 3 days for the Autumn/Winter 2018-19 season. Gone are the big hitters – Burberry, J.W. Anderson who have now chosen to follow the same model as Gucci and Balenciaga to show their men’s and women’s collections together. Additionally fashion darling Martine Rose and stalwart are also absent from the schedule.

All together these changes and absences led to a very underwhelming season with a few notable highlights and moments of genius. One plus side of having a very skimpy and light fashion week schedule it makes designers present some of their best work but also the crowd is on high alert for something brilliant and beautiful to come down the runway and take their breath away. For a moment when the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and you put away your phone and enjoy what is being shown in front of you.

John Lawrence Sullivan AW18

John Lawrence Sullivan AW18

John Lawrence Sullivan kicked off the first day of London Fashion Week: Mens by presenting a collection drawing its inspiration from psychopathic thriller movies like Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and Lynch’s Twin Peaks. The Arashi Yanagawa translated this in looks that featured indigo blue jeans mixed with black leather on the legs, worn leather gilets and jackets that tied on the sides like straight jackets. Yanagawa expanded on his signature palette of black and grey with licks of lavender purples and emerald greens. Plaid printed coats and a leopard print overcoat riffed on Hedi Slimane’s Saint Laurent which played into the cowboy western theme. John Lawrence Sullivan is what Vetements wants to be but more authentic and less consumer and appealing to the masses.


The spaghetti western American cowboy inspiration was evident at Astrid Andersen. Despite not being alive for the Buffalo movement she managed to captured and replicate the look with a modern, street wear edge that her brand has been founded on.
All the Andersen signatures were there – lace and logo t-shirts and hoodies, ornate and check printed baggy trousers and shorts sent out to a hip-hop soundtrack and Nike trainers. She added the Buffalo spirit through accessorising looks with Stetson hats, lashings of tweed and shaggy wool.


The standout of day two came at the end of day two from Charles Jeffrey’s Loverboy. Charles Jeffrey is currently riding a momentous career wave. Hailed as London’s contemporary Galliano for this generation he’s coming off the back of winning the award for Emerging Menswear Designer at the British Fashion Awards last month presented by John Galliano himself. He was one of highlights of the MAN show for the three seasons he showed before going it alone. Since then he’s gone from strength to strength with a team comprising of the infamous Gary Card. He’s managed to bring the young gay community collectively together, gave them a space to bring their theatre, drama and performance back to fashion shows, educated the young and unwashed about club kid culture but through it all manage to put a grin on the coldest hearted individual in the room.

Charles Jeffrey AW18

Charles Jeffrey AW18

Jeffrey’s shows have a way of transporting you to another place and making you feel some kind of emotion – this year it was anger and fear. Waiting for the show to start figures dressed in dirty, dusty clothes and chalky white faces came out and began screaming; a woman sat next to me jumped out her skin. No one expected it and for over 10 minutes these figures roamed around the runway screaming and yelling at each other and at guests as they were being seated. Like angry, disgruntle toddlers they threw a tantrum! 


When the show started it kicked off with a live band playing a heavy rock version of The Prodigy’s Firestarter instantly transporting us back to the angsty moody teenagers blaring this song out of our bedrooms angry at the world for no reason. As the drums kicked in and heartbeats raced the face model pounded down the runway in a moth eaten double-breasted navy suit fastened with an oversized safety pin – the most wearable look of the collection. Other looks featured an red and blue argyle sweater ballooned and cinched at the waist and a graffiti swiggle print logo long sleeved tee shirt and high waisted light blue trousers with red side stripe on a male model who’s face was painted to resemble Naomi Campbell and a strut to match. The whole time the figures from earlier berate, applaud and react as they walk past.
New to Jeffrey’s vocabulary was the inclusion of tartan midi length skirt suit cinched at the waist and flared at the knee with beret to match or the long length tartan jacket with cropped trouser. All of which were inspired by Jeffrey’s trip to his hometown in Scotland and his Scottish heritage.

Liam Hodges AW18

Liam Hodges AW18

This feeling of grunge and the 90s rave culture was evident at Liam Hodges. Styled with cartoon flora green hair and extreme makeup featuring X’s on the eyes and a downturned smile on the lips of some of the models. Models took to the checkerboard runway in cartoon graphics of daisies and ghosts t-shirts layered over thin black and white striped long sleeved t-shirts, bleached striped denim matching jacket and trousers complete with FILA sneaker-boots. Hodges drove home his message of youth and enjoying it while it lasted with a finale that had Baz Luhrman’s Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen).

 ‘Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth
oh nevermind;
you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.
But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself
And recall in a way you can’t grasp now how the possibility lay before
you and how fabulous you really looked…’


London Fashion Week: Mens a few years later; older and wiser still manages to intrigue, entertain and tug at the heart strings.