Men’s London Fashion Week 2018

Men’s London Fashion Week happened this week, celebrating and discovering a vision of modern British menswear.

the usual ‘shocking’ nonsense at London Fashion Week

David Beckham, Essex boy, football captain, dad, style setter and outright brand, has been a pin-up of mainstream masculinity for two decades now. Kent & Curwen, a brand founded on Savile Row in 1926, has been working with the Beckham since 2015, when he became majority owner. To celebrate a new store on Floral Street – a move from Savile Row – Beckham hosted a lunch on Sunday. The menu was appropriate: pie and mash followed by sticky toffee pudding.

Kent & Curwen feature striped knitwear, duffel coats and checked jackets. There were also bomber jackets and a T-shirt with the emblazoned with “no guts, no glory”. Other repeated motifs included the rose, as seen on the brand’s signature rugby shirt, and the familiar Three Lions crest.

Beckham, sporting a neat man bun, commented that it’s multi-generational. “I can go in the store and find something great and my 15- or 18-year-old kid can go in the store and find something great too.”

Over the course of the weekend, the British Fashion Council showcased a parade of cutting-edge talent, both home-grown and international. Here are a couple of designers who caught our eye, here at Zips It Up.

What We Wear

In only its third season, What We Wear might be considered a relative newbie on the schedule, but the latest collection proved to be one of the most anticipated shows.

 

Created under the guise of chart-topping rapper Tinie Tempah, the brand has become known for its signature tracksuits, which took on a whole new form for autumn/winter 2018.

Here, the south Londoner cited the capital’s public service workers and manual labourers as the influence behind a collection that offers a contemporary take on uniforms.

Shapes were slimmer and more structured, as sportswear elements were combined with more formal aspects, such as traditional suiting, for added sleekness. The colours were more muted than we have come to expect – with shades like olive green, black and royal blue vivified by sporadic bursts of orange.

Knitwear also made an appearance in the collection for the first time, while trim cargo trousers and Breton shirts formed part of what could easily make up a hardworking day-to-day wardrobe.

These were the more wearable collections, amongst the predictable host of ridiculous offerings, more suited to a stag night in Ibiza, than an evening at Soho House or The Ned.