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.
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.
A photo posted by British Fashion Council
(@britishfashioncouncil) on Jan
7, 2016 at 1:18pm PSTNewcomers 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 . 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
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: , 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: , 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.