London Collections Men SS17 - Day 2

And I'm back! Just a long weekend in Iceland, amazing place!

But I still have 3 more days of LCM fun to share with you, so here goes with day 2! And how perfect because today in the UK is the vote whether the UK should stay or leave the EU, and on my 2nd day of LCM I had the pleasure of seeing new designer Daniel Fletcher whose collection definitely took a stance on staying in the EU. As many of the designers at LCM, I have never heard of Daniel Fletcher. He graduated in 2015 from Central Saint Martin, one of the schools churning out amazing designers, and has held internships at Louis Vuitton and Lanvin. For his SS17 collection he hoped to communicate how he felt about the Brexit issue through his clothes. Obviously Fletcher wants to stay, saying that without the relationship with the EU he would not have had the opportunity to perfect his skills outside of the UK. And has said that the current relationship with the EU allows for freedom of movement of all creatives providing a diverse cultural exchange across the whole of the EU.


The presentation was held outside the main show space and almost looked like a protest. It worked so well to have this outside. I love it when the clothes have a meaning or a story and I think that is why I love this collection so much, it's more than just clothes on the body, the designer has really thought about it! The collection is influenced by European souvenir tees and staples in a Brits holiday wardrobe like printed rain jackets and shorts. I love that the collection is casual including track suits, sweatshirts, and baseball caps. I am so curious now to see what Daniel Fletched will do next season!


Photos I took during the presentation.

Next up was the Matthew Miller show!

The Matthew Miller collection was a bit darker with lots of edge and a bit of a soft side in the form of clouds and butterflies. His collection was inspired by the dying skinhead movement and you could see this come through, especially in the models. I love all of the details from the large patches on the back of jackets to the butterfly buttons. There were lots of loose fitting suits and pajama inspired tops and bottoms.

Photos I took during the show.

You can check out the whole collection here

London Collection Mens SS17 - Day 1

This week the blog is going to be all about menswear!  I actually really like menswear and the more I read menswear magazines, put together menswear themed moodboards and shoots, and see menswear shows I grow to love it more.  I have actually been invited to quite a few shows for LCM SS17 so Im excited to share with you trends I see emerging and designers that you may not have heard of.

First for day 1 I attended the Barbour presentation located at the Royal Institute of British Architects.  I had never been to this space before, but it is quite amazing.  The presentation was held in room with tons of floor to ceiling windows and a large outdoor space.  The weather was quite good, so it was nice to have the outside space.  And the crowd was quite trendy, with a few reality TV celebrities, JP from Made in Chelsea, bloggers, and then you had the fish loving, khaki wearing set. I never felt  Barbour as a brand was ever super exciting, it's composed of mostly basics, outdoor feeling, great coats.  But this season they really stepped it up offering great accessories, hats, comfy socks, boots, and bags.  I definitely felt a festival theme going on, for spring festival wear was really big for women and I think that is seeping over into menswear as I have actually seen it come through from a few other designers.  They had some great distressed jackets that will be exclusively at Selfridges, a collaboration that I don't think they have had in the past. 

Check out the full collection at deFUZE Magazine here .  Here are some photos that I took during the presentation.

Next was a presentation by Phoebe English.  I had known her to design womenswear but not menswear, and I had actually heard a lot of buzz around her SS17 menswear collection, so I was really excited for this presentation.  Per the press release that the PR puts together for each designer's collection, the focus for this collection was around fabric, form, and silhouette.  All the garments were made of natural fibers and were all made in the UK.  From this collection I loved the shape and the fit of the clothing, I particularly liked the way the backpack was constructed and laid on the back of the model.  It was a modern take on an old style, using really young models and hand sewing, which is such an "old" thing to do, no one was hand sews like this.  I could see these boys by cliffs, running on the seashore in Scotland.  There was no fuss with the clothing, but really great details in the form of ties, pockets, and closures.

Check out the full collection at deFUZE Magazine here.  Here are some photos that I took during the presentation.

AW16 London Collections Men - Day 3

The third day of my LCM experience was the fullest of them all, it consisted of dressing 2 shows, Belstaff in the morning and KTZ in the evening.  Belstaff was a presentation, I wasn't sure how it would go, usually with a presentation models have to stand for up to 3 hours, so I wasn't sure if we could get them dressed and then leave, or would we have to stay the whole time while the presentation was going on and then undress the models after.  A bit disappointed, it was the later, sit around and wait for them to finish.  The presentation was inside a car park, so it was a bit cold, but the stuff from Belstaff is amazing, super warm, and models had to wear multiple layers.  My model was Look 11, his look was really warm!  I loved all of the leather mixed with shearling, fur, and printed nylon.  The set was really cool making the car park look like a winter wonderland, with faux snow and boulders.

Backstage images that I took

Top 5 Looks, see the whole collection here

The KTZ show was next and it was a big one.  I had heard that there would be 45 models and 45 dressers, a lot of people in one small backstage space.  When we arrived the clothes hadn't arrived yet so it was a bit of standing around and waiting.  I was assigned to the quick change room where I would get a model that had 2 looks, there were about 10 models that would need to have a change during the show.  My model would be Eliot.  After becoming familiar with her 2 looks, I got her in the first look, there was a rehearsal where we went through the quick change, which went really great.  This was Eliot's first fashion show, she had a good energy, excited but a bit nervous!  She was really nice and we worked great together to be sure she was ready on time.  Because there were some many models, dressers, and KTZ team members, there was a crazy energy backstage.  We were not able to take photos backstage, so sadly I only have a few photos from after the show.  But again KTZ delivered a great show with great clothes!  There were ton of sports references from the helmets to the stitching design, mixed with leather, and oversize shorts.

Top 5 Looks, see the whole collection here, the first model is Eliot

Photos taken backstage, I only learned at the end of the show that Eliot was actually the daughter of Sting and is a great musician in her own right.  These 2 guys below are the designers.

AW16 London Collections Men - Day 2

I was so excited for Day 2 of the menswear shows, because on day 2 I would be dressing for the YMC show and going to watch the Maharishi show.  Both brands I had never heard of, so it was also exciting for me to get to know these brands through the shows.

First up was YMC (You Must Create).  On Friday I was asked to head the dressing team, which would be to manage a team of 16 dressers.  What an opportunity and one that definitely brought me back to high school and college when I worked as wardrobe head for several shows and as a stage manager for large productions.  It was really great, but also a bit nerving to be in this position again!  When I arrived I met with all of the necessary people, the creative director and the head stylist of YMC.  Both were so nice, everyone was so nice really.  After getting familiar with all of the outfits, assigning dressers to each specific look, and letting the dressers know what was going on we were ready for the models.  The models were really great.  I had Chi, a lovely guy from Hong Kong, we chatted a bit, he tried on his shoes, and went off to rehearsal.  Music during the show was provided by a live band, which meant a bit more rehearsal time in order to get the timing right.  After the rehearsal it was only a short time before the start of the show so Chi got into his first look.  

The whole collection had a very seventies vibe.  Almost every model had a hat and long hair. 

Below is my model Chi looking great in his second look!

Some backstage pictures

Favourite looks from the show, view the full collection here

Next up, in the evening was the Maharishi show.  Between the shows I had plenty of time to go home and get ready.  With invitation in hand I made my way back to the same venue as the previous show, this time entering through the main entrance instead of the backstage entrance.  I got some water before the show and waited to be let in.  Once able to go in I took my seat and waited for the show to begin.  The show began and the music was pumping, a great mix of hip hop.  Models were quite swift walking the runway.  There was a definite military/jungle vibe showing camo prints, greens and browns.  I loved all of the hoods, and the use of red.  They also had these great alligators on some of the looks, see below.

Below are pictures I took during the show

These are some of my favourite looks, view the whole collection here