‘Men shop more like women now … it’s wonderful to see them make an effort’
FORMULA 1 star Lewis Hamilton swapped his crash helmet for a fedora to attend a tribute to fashion designer Christopher Nemeth. He posed with supermodel Naomi Campbell at the flagship Louis Vuitton store in Mayfair. LONDON is “the most exciting city in the world” for menswear, according to the driving force behind the capital’s men’s fashion week.
London Collections: Men starts tomorrow and chairman Dylan Jones believes the city has never been better for fashion. He says men care about their appearances now more than ever before.
He said: “London is the most exciting city in the world right now. The marriage of creativity and money has never been as a mpl i f i e d as it is at the moment.
“Go to Colombia Road on the weekend — that scene, all these urban villages around London, they weren’t here 20 years ago and people look great. There is so much invention going on.”
LCM has more than doubled in size since it was established by the British Fashion Council in 2012. This month’s event is set to be the biggest yet, showcasing 77 designers, including Burberry and Craig Green, over four days.
GQ editor Jones believes that a decade ago, the event could not have been a hit. He said: “I don’t think LCM would have been successful 10 years ago. It’s a generational shift — you look at the younger men now and they are really, really interested, because they don’t have any qualms about it. They’re more sophisticated. They shop more like women. It’s wonderful to see men make an effort.”
His views were echoed by the head of a leading London male model agency who says casting directors come here from all over the world to spot talent.
Aicha McKenzie, founder and CEO of AMCK Modelling, said: “The best thing about London is that the designers are looking for everything here. The ‘London Look’ is what you see on the streets. The best casting directors from around the world come to London to find talent. We have boys of all ages, races, skin colours, background and personalities.” AMCK, founded in 2008, is the only high-fashion agency in London which books exclusively male models. It was responsible for the first black male model to appear in a Burberry catwalk show — Jourdan Copeland in the autumn/winter 2014 collection.
Mens we a r traditionally used to occupy a day at the end of Women’s Fashion Week when many buyers and journalists had already flown to Milan. However, the booming success of the sector, even during the recession, has lead to the event’s expansion.
Predictions by Euromonitor show that by 2019, global sales of menswear will pass £3 billion and the industry is growing faster than womenswear.