London Collections: Men finds its cruising speed

London's men's fashion week is definitely here to stay. Season after season, the event attracts an increasing amount of designers: since its very first edition in June 2012, the number of designers present has increased by 67%!

The international press and buyers, who come from some forty different countries, are attending the event, which brings together top name designers and budding young talents, in increasing numbers (+47% since its launch, according to the BFC). And London Collections: Men's (LCM) British roots have remained very strong: 50% of the designers present attended a London fashion school. 20% of them even studied at the famous Central Saint Martins.

After a short period of getting its feet in the ground, the event has found its cruising speed: Topman will kick off the showing of the spring/summer 2016 collections, which will be shown in 32 runway shows and 33 presentations over four days. Highly anticipated, the launch of the very first men's collection from label House of Holland is one of the major new things to follow. All eyes will also be on Lathbridge, the luxury shoewear brand from Canadian designer Patrick Cox launched at the start of the year.

Tommy Hilfiger, Austrian designer Raimund Berthold, and Graeme Gaughan, founder of the label Tourne de Transmission, will be making their first appearance at this fashion week.

And there are many fashion heavyweights returning: Alexander McQueen, Aquascutum, Belstaff, Burberry Prorsum, Coach, Dunhill, Jimmy Choo, Joseph, Margaret Howell, Paul Smith and Tom Ford have all signed on this latest edition. Absent in January due to the opening of its flagship in London, Christopher Kane is also making a comeback.

The British Fashion Council (BFC) also seized the opportunity to organise the presentations of the pre-collections following the event, from 15 to 17 June: "this new organisation makes the work of multi-product buyers significantly easier, as they can kill two birds with one stone and not have to make multiple business trips to the British capital," explained Nathalie Constanty, fashion, beauty and design consultant for Bon Marché. Under the name "The Hoxton Collective", an all-new showroom will also open its doors on 15th and 16th June in London's Holborn area and will host a group of ready-to-wear designers that includes Alexander Lewis, Huishan Zhang, Marques’Almeida, Phoebe English and Zoë Jordan. A double edition that promises to be particularly rich in events.

Stéphanie Salti