LCM - men's fashion market now growing faster than women's

London Collections Men (LCM) starts today with 65 designers showing on the catwalk schedule and 65 in the "Designer Showrooms". The event, which was first launched by the British Fashion Council in June 2012, is testament to the burgeoning interest in menswear, which is now growing at a faster rate than womenswear.

According to Mintel the men's clothing market is now worth £13.5bn in the UK and has grown by 22% over the past five years.

In 2014 the global market was valued at £298bn, which represented a growth of 4.5% year-on-year (womenswear grew by 3.7% to reach £448bn).

In further encouraging figures for LCM, Mintel also reveals that 27% of male shoppers have a preference for purchasing British clothes, shoes and accessories. And they seem to prefer online to in-store purchasing.

Between 2010 and 2015 there was a 17.4% growth in menswear online, out pacing all other categories, and IbisWorld expects this trend to continue and predicts an annual average growth in online sales of 14.2% between 2015 and 2020.

Highlights of LCM, which runs from today until 11 January, include shows by Alexander McQueen, Christopher Kane, Paul Smith, Burberry and Tom Ford, which are all scheduled for Monday.

The event also features many aspects to engage consumers as well as trade, including highlights screened at London's Piccadilly Circus throughout the event, live-streaming of selected shows on the LCM website, and a series of talks at The Century Club with leading industry figures including Lou Stoppard, Nicola Formichetti, Ashley Heath and Kim Jones.

LCM is chaired by Industry member Dylan Jones of GQ. The event will take place across two new venues this season, Victoria House in Bloomsbury and 180 Strand. BFC NEWGEN men's shows will take place at the Topman show space at Westminster University.

The Industry's Editor at Large David Watts will be covering the shows. Follow our feed and David @INDLondon and @David_M_Watts