London Collections: Men kicks off the global fashion calendar on Friday 9th January and will showcase some of the world’s most innovative emerging designers, international menswear brands and traditional heritage tailoring. The showcase emphasises the creative and commercial importance of the menswear fashion industry, the rich cultural landscape that contributes to the inspiration and success of this sector and also its contribution to the UK’s reputation as an enduring centre for creativity.
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: “London Collections: Men is a fabulous showcase of menswear designers, who are not only contributing to our economy, but adding to our city's global reputation for innovation and creativity. In bringing together fashion, music and art these latest shows are also driving home the role that this hugely important creative sector has at the heart of London's vibrant cultural life.”
Dylan Jones OBE, Chair of London Collections: Men and Editor of British GQ said: “The success of the UK's menswear sector is rooted in a very British culture of discourse between the fashion industry and the broader creative industries. The wide net of cultural contexts provides not only an unrivalled resource to support and stimulate ideas at design conception, but as this season's London Collections: Men schedule shows, it is also very important in delivering the unique and imaginative showcases London has become synonymous with."
Caroline Rush, Chief Executive British Fashion Council added: “It’s within the UK’s DNA to draw creativity from all quarters of society and the AW15 London Collections: Men schedule is testament to this. To sustain Britain as this creative centre; one that drives so much productivity and growth, we will continue to celebrate and champion creative collaborations that cross disciplinary boundaries which is not only essential for innovation but is essential for the UK’s creative industries of which the fashion industry plays a key part.”
AW15 highlights comprise:
ADA + NIK will unveil the ‘Narrative Jacket’ - the world’s first leather jacket with in-built camera, in collaboration with the Narrative Clip to capture photos and location data without conscious interaction. Photos taken with the jacket will be uploaded exclusively to Twitter live during the show.
AGI & SAM will be working with renowned set designer and Central St Martins graduate Gary Card to build an installation based on their respective childhoods, the inspiration behind AW15.
ALAN TAYLOR is working with skate videographer Josh Church to create a Larry Clark inspired film that will be screened at London Collections: Men and published by HERO magazine online.
BELSTAFF will present its autumn/winter 2015 collection set to a live soundtrack by English rock band, The Propellers. Images and video from the presentation will be published on Instagram @Belstaff and available online.
CASELY HAYFORD is working with the BFC Fashion Film sponsored by River Island to bring his collection to life in a film that will be premiered at London Collections: Men and available online.
CHRISTOPHER RAEBURN will bring his seasonal inspiration to life by installing fully inflated life rafts within the Old Sorting Office. Raeburn is also partnering with official London Collections: Men sponsor, Lavazza to create bespoke designed cups that will be served over the four day showcase at Victoria House and the Old Sorting Office.
DIEGO VANASSIBARA will develop last season’s water theme into what he describes as a ‘mega storm’, displaying his collection of shoes on a glowing acrylic sculpture of a tornado created by emerging set designer William Murray especially for London Collections: Men.
DOVER STREET MARKET is commissioning MAN designers Alan Crocetti and Bobby Abley to create special installations that will be in-store over the duration of London Collections: Men. Alan Crocetti’s jewellery installation will be situated on the ground floor and Bobby Abley’s will be situated in the basement.
FUDGE PROFESSIONAL will present ‘The Fudge Fix’ a dedicated London Collections: Men pop-up salon at Victoria House where guests will be able to capture their hair looks in the interactive Fudge photo booth and share the results on their social channels using #LCM #FudgeFix. Fudge is also working with designers including Belstaff, Christopher Shannon, Craig Green, James Long, Katie Eary, Lee Roach and Matthew Miller on their AW15 shows and presentations.
HARVEY NICHOLS will host a presentation and party with cult label TRAPSTAR and New York based artist Haculla held in partnership with DAZED.
HENTSCH MAN will be shooting its ‘Peep Show’ presentation staged in an old adult cinema in Soho. The film will be a 4 minute documentary directed by photographer Marius Hansen and shot on a super 8 handheld camera. The film will be developed in a laboratory and published at the end of January. Images will be available on Instagram @hentschmanltd
JAMES LONG is working with a cast of creatives to deliver his AW15 collection including, artist and illustrator James Davidson; Luke Day, Fashion Director of GQ Style and Film Director Menno Fokma who has directed a James Long film set to a soundtrack created by Fufanu that will be screened at BFC Fashion Film sponsored by River Island.
KTZ will showcase its “innovative approach to iconic pieces that look to the future by investing in the ancient," and is creating a film that will be screened at the BFC Fashion Film sponsored by River Island event and available online afterwards.
LEE ROACH will integrate part one of / I / X P, a three part fully interactive design, art and sound project into the catwalk show which has been conceived and art directed by D /ARK with designer, Lee Roach; video and light installation artists, The Butchers and music producer, Alexi Delano. Set to unfold over 2015 in different cities globally, / I / X P will assume changing forms in each of its parts through the predomination of one of the three creative fields over the others.
MUSEUM OF LONDON has teamed up with Savile Row tailors, Norton & Sons to create a bespoke suit for London Collections: Men ambassador Tinie Tempah. Following London Collections: Men, the three piece suit will be added to the museum’s extensive fashion and textiles collection to help the museum document contemporary menswear in London today. The suit has been created in ‘London Tweed’ designed by the Museum of London and is inspired by Sherlock Holmes, subject of the museum’s current major exhibition. To watch the video visit: http://youtu.be/1sL2NIe2hP0
PRIVATE WHITE VC will have live machinists from its over 100 year old Manchester factory and hand-weavers working on a traditional loom performing at its presentation.
RICHARD JAMES has collaborated with Woolmark and will be showing at a Park Lane car showroom. Managing Director, Sean Dixon has commented that guests should “look out for something spectacular this time around!” and on music, added: ‘We have our music man Kevin Medley. Kevin works in the bespoke store so he understands exactly what we’re about as well as having an encyclopaedic knowledge of music. Clothes are designed to be moved in and no-one makes you move quite like Kev!”
SELFRIDGES will celebrate London Collections: Men by teaming up with one of its Bright Old Things, eyewear designer Robert Roope with MAN’s Nicomede Talavera. Roope has designed three pairs of exclusive styles which will be on sale at Selfridges in March 2015.
SENHOR PRUDENCIO has collaborated with photographer Thomas Giddings and stylist Toby Grimditch on a short film that will be screened during London Collections: Men and will later be available online.
SIBLING will work with Central Saint Martins graduate, award-winning artist and illustrator Clym Evernden after a successful collaboration on its SS15 womenswear collection.
SIR TOM BAKER will present his AW15 collection at London’s renowned 100 Club. The show will feature collaborations with milliner Stephen Jones and footwear designer Jeffery West set to live music by UK rock and roll band Pink Cigar.
SOULLAND will bring a digital first to its presentation by allowing guests to download an especially designed app for London Collections: Men that will allow users to film the models, get exclusive online content through the app and then share it on social media platforms. The Soulland app is available for all iPhone users from the App store.
SWATCH will launch its latest collection, Gran Turismo at London Collections: Men with its own Top Gear Scalextric track. Guests will be able to race cars in between shows for a chance to win a Gran Turismo watch. A mini version of the track will be installed at the flagship store at 313 Oxford Street, London.
THOMAS PINK will unveil its London inspired AW15 collection at the Institute of Contemporary Arts presented against a 30ft backdrop constructed entirely of crisp white 315gsm Kendal Manila paper manufactured by James Cropper, the oldest traditional paper mill in the UK. The installation will be created by Flow Creation, a group of skilled paper architects. The installation will echo the blank canvas of a classic white shirt and is inspired by the architecture of the ICA by recreating elements of the interior in paper.
TOPMAN will be working with London based artist, Natalia Stuyk to create a graphic video GIF for the catwalk show which will be live streamed online.
U CLOTHING will present its film, A Celebration of Youth which is directed by Joshua Osborne, styled by Elgar Johnson and has a specially commissioned soundtrack by Boiler Room. The film will be screened during London Collections: men and will be available online.
UNIVERSAL WORKS is working with Billy Craigan-Toon, a Fine Art graduate from Nottingham Trent University who works in video, performance and sculpture to present ‘Pass’ a choreographed performance that will showcase the AW15 collection.
WOOLMARK has collaborated with five designers from around the world who have each created an AW15 collection made from merino wool. The designers will present their collections to a panel of judges which comprises Dylan Jones OBE, Nick Wooster, Sir Paul Smith CBE, RDI and Tim Blanks who will select the winner of the International Woolmark Prize.
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.
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For press enquiries regarding London Collections: Men, please contact:
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