Since its original incarnation of the single “MAN” show on the LFW schedule; The British Fashion Council’s designer support initiative NEWGEN MEN, sponsored by Topman, has successfully expanded throughout the years to now include catwalk shows, presentations and installations.
The scheme, which is instrumental in raising the profile of new British designers by offering them business support and showcasing opportunities at the dedicated Menswear day at London Fashion Week; has helped support some of the most innovative names in men’s fashion today.
Image: Carolyn Massey and James Long autumn/winter 2010 at London Fashion Week February 2010.
This morning, the council announced their hotly anticipated list of recipients of NEWGEN MEN Spring/Summer 2011, which are as follows:
Catwalk Sponsorship:James Long, Christopher Shannon and J.W. Anderson.
Presentation Sponsorship:Carolyn Massey, Lou Dalton and SIBLING.
Installation Sponsorship:Christopher Raeburn, James Small, Katie Eary ad Omar Kashoura.
Image: Christopher Shannon, J.W. Anderson, James Long and Carolyn Massey autumn/winter 2010 at LFW February 2010
As the number of designers receiving NEWGEN MEN support has risen from four to ten; this is, without any doubt, testament to the growing interest and strength of menswear talent in the UK today. Says Tim Blanks, Contributing Editor, Style.com and a member of the British Fashion Council's Menswear Committee;
“Menswear is on the move all over the world. It's almost as though some kind of group mind dictated that here was an opportunity to do something new, and that seems to have sparked the creativity of young designers. London has a long and honourable tradition of breeding this species, so there's an air of inevitability about the coming together of medium and talent under the menswear umbrella. That air is thickened by the knowledge that London is also, in many ways, the home of men's fashion as we know it. Which means that the menswear community here embraces all sorts, from the Savile Row traditionalist to the Hackney rebel, with a platoon of jewellers, hatters, knitters and cobblers as artisanal satellites. We're at that protean turning point where no one knows what happens next, though everyone knows what they'd LIKE to happen. Yes, there are boomlets in men's fashion in other cities, but none with quite the personality, the appetite, the APTITUDE of London. The tribe is ready for the world. And, after Paris, the world will be ready for the tribe - if it knows what's good for it.”
Judging from the latest collections from these NEWGEN MEN designers; we have a lot to look forward to this Spring. For more-
Click here.
Lou Dalton
