While the menswear sector accounts for 27% of the total UK clothing market, it is growing at more than twice the rate of the women’s clothing market (Mintel, 2017). Showcasing British heritage brands to emerging international and national labels and vibrant street-wear brands, the twelfth edition London Fashion Week Men's ran last week with catwalks and presentations across the city. Showrooms at the striking Brutalist building, 180 The Strand featured over 40 menswear brands.
Ben Sherman and Henry Holland capsule collection FW 2018
Collaborations between brands continues to be a strong trend, including a new capsule collection from casual menswear brand Ben Sherman with House of Holland. Musicians have been fans of Ben Sherman since the brand launched in 1963 with Ben Sherman shirts worn by members of The Who, The Specials, Oasis and Blur. So it was fitting that the fall/winter 2018 collection was spectacularly displayed on a catwalk transformed into a 1970s dancehall. Models walked the catwalk and dancers boogied while legendary DJ Eddie Piller spun Northern soul records. The parquet floor patterns of the dancehalls and retro badges, patches and pins worn by 1970s Northern Soul dancers feature in some of the fall/winter 2018 designs.
Velvet and corduroy are strong trends for Fall/Winter 2018 and can be seen in the collections of Lou Dalton, Oliver Spencer, Gloverall and John Lawrence Sullivan. Lou Dalton's presentation featured a stunning blue velvet coat teamed with dark brown velvet trousers. She chose an autumnal color palette of earthy colors, gray, green and bronze and she continues her knitwear collaboration with John Smedley, showing bobble hats and chunky sweaters. Gloverall, famous for their launch of the original dufflecoat in 1950, will also offer gorgeous corduroy jackets and coats in dark green, mustard and red this fall.
John Lawrence Sullivan's FW 2018 collection combines traditional elements of suiting in wool, velvet and corduroy with more edgy silhouettes. The man behind John Lawrence Sullivan is former professional boxer Arashi Yanagawa and the label's name ‘John Lawrence Sullivan' pays homage to a 19th century Irish-American heavyweight champion boxer by that name.
Daisy Lowe modelling Oliver Spencer FW2018
Oliver Spencer uses a color palette of charcoal, light grey and blue plus wide leg corduroys and chocolate and mustard velvet suits.Kent & Curwen's fall 2018 collection was inspired by photographer Perry Ogden who was commissioned to produce a series of 34 photos of real professional boxers, artists, writers, actors and musicians. The photos hang alongside the newly designed jackets, overcoats, shirts and knitwear.
Belstaff's legendary jackets are immediately recognisable. Over the past 90 years of the brand's history, the field jacket, parka, biker and bomber have been worn by popular culture icons like Steve McQueen, Che Guevara, Kate Moss and David Beckham. The Fall/Winter 2018 collection features leather jackets in khaki, blue and black alongside a new version of the classic trialmaster winter parka featuring a new built in heat mapping technology. The parkas, made in three layer stretch nylon with a waterproof, windproof, breathable membrane and a heat mapping thermoregulation system that has been engineered to ensure insulation while a vent system releases warm air where the body produces more heat.
Japanese designer Michiko Koshino is known for her clubwear designs of the early 1990s and her use of inflatables in her jackets. For her fall/winter 2018 collection Michiko Koshino introduces a range of textures from silks to knitwear alongside her classic PVC pieces.
Designers who showed for the first time at London Fashion Week Men's included established brands like Wood Wood from Copenhagen, along with emerging designers like JAMES, whose debut menswear collection for Spring Summer 2018 focused on deconstructed knitwear, traditional and contemporary tailoring, denim and light weight cottons and linen. All pieces are made in England from European fabrics with an emphasis on natural fibers, organic cottons, recycled yarns and small production chains to reduce environmental impact.
The young duo behind Oiboy follow the idea that "talent borrows, genius steals" by adapting well-known corporate and brand names by changing a few letters or amending the logo. The humorous line includes T-shirts, sweatpants, shorts and bags with a retro Carling beer logo changed to "darling" and the preppy Lacoste name reconstructed as 'Lowcost".
London based menswear designer Khalid Qasimi draws inspiration from his middle eastern roots and from his UK upbringing in his brand Qasimi. His strong collection for Fall/Winter 2018 features chunky knitwear and voluminous trousers, oversized coats, cropped jackets in khaki and pine green, browns, burgundy and bright yellow, checks in gingham and madras plus hand drawings of wildlife by Zoe Keller.
Kirk Originals continue to build on their strong English heritage which dates back to 1919, with the "Made in England Collection", glasses and sunglasses in vintage shapes, in tortoiseshell and black, all designed in the UK and manufactured in Europe.
