If the film industry marks the passing of summer with one final blow-out at the Venice Film Festival, fashion goes several steps further with a month’s worth of shows and parties. Expect your Instagram feed to go full The Devils Wears Prada over the next few weeks, as editors, stylists and celebrities city-hop between the fashion capitals to see what will be on the rails come spring.
Traditionally, these collections are for the ladies; the men’s spring/summer shows are held in the heat of June. But with the boundaries between menswear and womenswear blurring, you can always expect to see a sprinkling of mens looks in September. At London Fashion Week, which declared itself as a gender-neutral fashion week back in 2020, that notion is dialled up several notches. While this season sees plenty of menswear mainstays – Burberry and JW Anderson, to name two – there’s a selection of up-and-coming talent to feast your eyes on. From tailoring treats to gorpy technical gear on offer, here are a list of shows that should be marked on your calendar.
Stefan Cooke
If you’ve been following London’s fashion scene long enough to remember when the Truman Brewery played host to LFW Men’s (RIP) – a menswear-only fashion week showcasing the best of British designers – you’ll likely remember the stir LVMH Prize-nominated Stefan Cooke caused.
Since the brand’s spring/summer ’20 debut, the design duo, Stefan Cooke and Jake Burt, have been portraying British masculinity with a playful and slightly feminine sensibility, presenting cut-out Argyll jumpers, collarbone-exposing necklines and pleated miniskirts over bottoms – the latter igniting the men-in-skirts trend we’ve see all over the catwalk and red carpet since. But after eschewing a show for a Parisian showroom last season, where they presented a men's collection after dabbling with womenswear the season prior, the London-based label is back in its hometown. A welcomed return, at that.
Olly Shinder
Few have had such an exciting post-grad year as this 23-year-old designer, yet when they do, they tend to become a bit of a big deal. It seems Olly Shinder is on that trajectory, with a pathway emulating that of British legends Alexander McQueen and John Galliano, who were discovered through their final student collections. After graduating from the reputable Central Saint Martins last June, Olly Shinder's collection was quickly snapped up by the likes of Ssense, Machine-A and Dover Street Market. Now he's debuting on the catwalk as part of talent incubator Fashion East. (Only time will tell if he has the same fate as the aforementioned).
Still, while equally as unique as the former greats, Shinder’s designs differ massively. Using technical performance gear as a base, the designer subverts its macho and rigid connotations into something softer. The result: sheer combat shirts made of crepe, trousers with mesh windows that unveil skin underneath and hooded jackets with poppers to create a slimmer silhouette.
Derrick
You would think that an internship at Rapha, aged 16, would be a creative launchpad into the sportier side of men's fashion. But despite being an avid rower at school, that wasn’t the case for Luke Derrick. After completing a BA and MA in Fashion at Central Saint Martins and internships with Saville Row, Dunhill and Alexander McQueen, the now 26-year-old has tuned his aesthetic into a more subversive approach to traditional menswear; taking a white shirt or a suit, for example, and modifying its uniformed meaning. “Everything has a very bloke logic, doesn’t it?” he said in an interview with The Face. “Bloke justifications and bloke idiosyncrasies – it’s endlessly amusing to invert and play with that, and it massively informs everything I do.”
Now part of the BFC’s Newgen program, Derrick will be sending his dethroned chap down the catwalk for his first on-schedule film. With no briefcases in sight, expect to see distorted tailoring, slimline knitwear and contemporary takes on menswear staples.
Labrum London
With nearly a decade under his brand's belt, Foday Dumbuya of Labrum London has become one of the most anticipated designers to see at London Fashion Week over the last few years. It’s hardly surprising really; many show attendees can be found instinctually smiling as his dopamine-inducing prints and eye-catching tailoring glide past their seats.
Dumbuya draws upon his Sierra Leonian heritage for his pieces, creating a bridge between West African and British cultures through the medium of clothes, and to great, brand-expanding success. The BFC awarded Labrum with the Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design this year, while the London-based label has dressed the likes of Idris Elba, Bukayo Saka and Paapa Essiedu. And as if this burgeoning brand wasn’t already enough of a pub talking point, his latest collaboration with Guinness – printed shirts visualise glasses of the black stuff being drunk around pub tables in Dumbuya’s hometown – will be.
Holzweiler
Copenhagen Fashion Week is one of the few fashion weeks that will entice attendees from just going to New York, London, Milan or Paris during show season. As a street style capital, the brands that show there are instantly knighted as being undeniably cool. Still, it seems the big smoke’s charm is equally as alluring, as one of the most loved brands on the CPHFW calendar is crossing the North Sea this season.
Maria Holzweiler, creative director of the eponymous label, has opted to show the brand’s co-ed collection in slightly warmer climes this season, and London locals are rather happy about it. Since the brand’s inception in 2012, Holzweiler has created pieces that are fit for purpose; whether that’s to keep you warm as you embark on a walk in the Swedish countryside, or dressing to impress a date at a London wine bar. The perfect balance of Scandi minimalism and utilitarianism, a Holzweiler garm will have you falling back in love with it season after season.
Aaron Esh
After spending lockdown finishing up his CSM MA Menswear course, it’s hardly surprising that East London’s gritty nightlife culture – a right of passage stripped of recent graduates who studied in the capital – would become the focus of his grad collection. Launching shortly after, the brand’s first proposition was quickly brought up by Ssense, which was later followed by a finalist nomination for this year’s prestigious LVMH Prize.
Now debuting at LFW as part of BFC’s Newgen programme, the London-born designer will present the next iteration of clothes for Dalston socialites. Still, his vision is a lot more refined and appropriate for non-E8 postcodes than you may think. His tailoring expertise nods to the Alexander McQueen scholarship that he won and used for his studies, but a contemporary viewpoint sees pieces adapted into new silhouettes – think: a button-down formed into a halterneck, cropped bombers with a ruffled hem and slim trousers with a wraparound detailing. Too beautiful to wear at warehouse raves, but certainly suitable for an aperitif in a lauded small-plates restaurant.
