What’s on at London Collections: Men
- 48 designers to show their spring/summer 13 collections across three days
- The Designer Galleries at the Hospital Club will be home to over 30 ready-to-wear and accessories designers
- Menswear designers host showrooms for buying appointments and sales in London
The inaugural London Collections: Men begins today, Friday 15th June, kick starting the international menswear calendar with the best of London’s menswear designers showcasing their spring/summer 13 collections.
London will play host to programme of shows and events over the three day period, celebrating the creative and commercial importance of the heritage brands through to the world leading talent of British menswear. London Collections: Men was officially launched on Thursday 14th June with a reception at St James’s Palace, hosted by HRH The Prince of Wales.
“Fashion continues to play an important role in London's economy, providing thousands of jobs, but also underpinning London's status as a dynamic and creative city that people want to visit and businesses want to invest in. The capital's high streets make clear that men are becoming increasingly dapper and style conscious and from Savile Row to east London, we've got some amazingly brilliant designers. As we welcome the world for 2012, this important new menswear showcase will bring international buyers and press and be a significant boost for our creative businesses - now is the time to stake our claim to a potential global market worth billions.” - Boris Johnson, Mayor of London
The Hospital Club, WC2, is the central hub for London Collections: Men, where, alongside the BFC show space, three floors of showrooms and carefully curated static installations from 31 ready-to-wear and accessories designers will be open to press and buyers.
Caroline Rush, CEO, British Fashion Council commented
“With so much menswear talent on the line-up, and a strong attendance of international buyers expected over the three days it makes strong commercial sense for these designers to sell in London, and London Collections: Men gives them the platform to do this.”
Ready-to-wear installations at The Hospital Club are located in the Designer Gallery on the ground floor, which include collections from design duo Baartmans and Siegel; Berthold; Felipe Rojas Llanos and Prism, amongst others menswear brands. NEWGEN MEN, sponsored by TOPMAN, recipients have all received support to hold a static exhibition for their collections, which will go on display following their on schedule shows and presentations. Designers
Christopher Raeburn,
Lou Dalton,
Martine Rose,
Matthew Miller and
Sibling will all be on the ground floor and jewellery designer
Bunney will show his collection in the accessories collective.
The accessories collective, based on the first floor comprises of bag, jewellery, footwear and sunglasses brands, giving accessories designers the opportunity to curate a unique setting and visual display for their collections. A host of designers are participating in the collective, including Bag designers Chris & Tibor, Jas MB and Pauric sweeny; jewellery by Hannah Martin, Husam El Odeh, Maria Francesca Pepe and Tomasz Donocik; eyewear from Cutler & Gross and English crafted ties and bowties from Marwood.
There are two private showrooms at the Hospital Club: Shoreditch based formalwear label,
Mr Start, is in the Rocket Room on the first floor and ready-to-wear by Joseph Abboud is in the Belini bar on the second floor. All of the designers exhibiting at the Hospital will be available for wholesale buying appointments. The Designer Galleries are an essential development from Menswear Day at London Fashion Week, providing an environment for sales and maximising the opportunity for buyers to interact with menswear designers whilst in London.
In addition to the exhibition spaces at the Hospital Club, designers across London will host showrooms throughout London Collections: Men and beyond. A full list of times, dates and venues for menswear showrooms around town can be found at
www.londoncollections.co.uk/men/showrooms
The line-up for London Collections: Men offers an exciting cross section of shows presentations, digital screenings and events, including dinners, stores openings and parties. The Hospital Club will hold daily film screenings in the Screening Room, as part of the British Fashion Council’s
Fash/On film initiative. All of the shows at the Hospital Club and the Topman Design show will be live streamed in the screening room, which is open to all accredited press and buyers. A press lounge will provide a working space for media and journalists, located in the Loft lounge on the fourth floor.
Savile Row will host an open house between 16:00-18:00pm Friday 15th June. This unique event celebrating the heritage of British menswear sees 15 of Savile Row’s esteemed tailoring houses open their doors to press and buyers. This will be an opportunity to meet the tailors behind the brands and see the back of house production workshops for a first hand insight into their businesses. The open house will be followed by a cocktail reception on Burlington Arcade, co-hosted by the London Evening Standard. For more information on the tailoring houses participating visit the dedicated website,
www.savilerowopenhouse.com
The Fashion East Menswear Installation will be a highlight of the weekend and will see 12 emerging menswear designers present their collections using a combination of static exhibits, live models and multimedia. Located at the Carlton House Terrace, SW1, there will be a show space on the ground floor, where both Meadham Kirchhoff will reintroduce their menswear collection and Lee Roach will hold a presentation, with another two floors dedicated to installations, featuring Fashion East designers and this seasons MAN winners Agi & Sam, Astrid Anderson and Shaun Sampson. The installations will be open to press and buyers 12:30 – 16:30 Saturday 16th June and 12:00 – 18:00 Sunday 17th June.
Events throughout the course of the three days include a party held by
Mr Porter, Esquire and Jimmy Choo, a dinner hosted by
Tom Ford, an event by
Alfred Dunhill and a
Burberry event hosted by Christopher Bailey. The showcase will close with a
GQ London Collections: Men Dinner co-hosted by Dylan Jones, Harold Tillman CBE and Italo Zucchelli. For a full line-up of all the events taking place and to create a personalised calendar of events for London Collections: Men, visit
www.londoncollections.co.uk/men/lineup
London Collections: Men will take place 9:00 – 19:00, 15th-17th June 2012 at The Hospital Club, 24 Endell Street, WC2H 9HQ.
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www.londoncollections.co.uk for the latest news, schedules and information
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For British Fashion Council enquiries, please contact:
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Image: James Long, AW12 at London Fashion Week, February 2012