LC: M Chairman, Dylan Jones, Credits London for Menswear Craze
GQ Editor and Industry member Dylan Jones is quite the knowledgeable chap when it comes to men’s fashion. Ahead of the sixth edition of London Collections: Men —which just wrapped yesterday after a four-day extravaganza across the city— Chairman Dylan Jones credited the importance of London’s ‘cool factor’ and financial appeal as the reason behind men’s fashion week’s ever-growing success.
Coach Spring/Summer 2016 Collection
“London is the most exciting city in the world right now. The marriage of creativity and money has never been as amplified as it is at the moment,” Jones commented in an interview to a London newspaper. “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.”
This season has been bigger than ever, attracting buyers, journalists and talent scouts from all over the world. London Collections: Men was launched in 2012 by the British Fashion Council who saw the necessity to amplify the focus on menswear after sales kept escalating. The menswear industry is quickly outgrowing womenswear and said to be worth £16.4 billion by 2018. Dylan also credits the generational shift towards men’s preening and how new waves of young people no longer stigmatise men taking pride in their appearance.
Belstaff Spring/Summer 2016 London Collections: Men
He said, “I don’t think LC: M 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.”
This year’s LC: M saw 77 designers showing SS16 collections (this number has grown 67% since the first edition in June 2012), 68 designers showcasing their work in the Designer Showrooms and a 47% growth in UK and international press and buyers' attendance since 2012.
