January 3, 2020 |
Craig Green SS20
Yes, your Out of Office may have sadly been switched off but it’s not time to put down the bubbly just yet. Starting with tomorrow, a month of fantastic new menswear is kicking off in the big smoke, as the perfect opportunity to carry on the festive partying, just now without your gran asleep in the corner. But it’s also a key opportunity to see what all your frenemies will be wearing in a year’s time. A quick glance at the show schedule reveals the autumn/ winter 2020 season will see more departures than a Coronation Street Christmas special, with an increased number of designers fleeing their beloved cities to enter uncharted territories. It will also be a humble moment where we give a symbolical welcome back hug to the designer’s making their triumphant return to the menswear catwalk. So grab a pen and paper – this is your itinerary of what to keep your eyes peeled on for the next month, courtesy of the menswear fashion circuit:
1. Two London queens return to take the crown
We haven’t been this excited for a double return since Manila and Latrice entered the werqroom on RuPaul’s Drag Race season 4. After her mammoth BFC/ British Vogue fashion fund win, Grace Wales Bonner makes her return to the menswear schedule. Astrid Andersen also makes a comeback after several seasons of absence from LFWM, and we expect nothing but seriously good fashions from both designers.
2. (Ain’t) Vetements without Demna
They may have lost their leader, but the Vetements army don’t plan on halting their charge any time soon. Fresh from a capsule collection of Star Wars goodies, the brand will show its first collection without Demna Gvasalia at the helm. Who knows, Darth Vader might even saunter down the catwalk? Swallowed by an oversized hoodie of course.
3. Robyn Lynch goes solo
After merging both its menswear and womenswear divisions, Fashion East will now show exclusively during womenswear in a mammoth five-brand show. The scheme’s latest graduate Robyn Lynch will debut her first standalone collection this Saturday. With the luck of the Irish on her side and a knack for making a cracking pair of trackies firmly in her repertoire, this is one collection you certainly shouldn’t let fall under your radar.
Robyn Lynch SS20
4. McQueen heads to Milan
The next stop on the Alexander McQueen menswear tour is Milano where the brand will stage a special presentation. McQueen hasn’t shown in the city since January 2012 and it will be the second collection the brand has debuted since abandoning the catwalk format with its menswear collections.
5. Craig Green and Kiko Kostadinov flee the nest
Two of the capital’s brightest menswear stars are missing from the London schedule this season. Both Kiko Kostadinov and Craig Green are making the big leap to Paris to debut their AW20 offerings. We hate to say goodbye but we couldn’t be happier for both of them. Is this how our mums felt when they dropped us off at university?
6. Seasoned greats flock to Pitti
Never one to do things low-key, the Pitti Uomo schedule this season is rammed with some of the biggest names across the board. Following Givenchy last year, New York unisex brand Telfar will be the Special Project for this upcoming edition of the biannual menswear fair. Other guest designers include Jil Sander and Stefano Pilati’s Random Identities – Florence is set to be the hottest ticket in town.
7. Big hitters everywhere
Although many of the biggest names in fashion have gone co-ed, there is still a fantastic slew of juggernaut houses staging stand-alone menswear shows. From Emporio Armani, Fendi and Prada in Milan to Dior, Berluti and Louis Vuitton in Paris, AW20 is set to be an all-star affair.
Louis Vuitton SS20
8. Botter’s catwalk comeback
At the helm of Nina Ricci, Rushemy Botter and Lisi Herrebrugh have played a deft hand in energising the brand through injecting an off-kilter sense of femininity. Doing things the slightly odd way is a trick both designers learned through their own menswear label Botter, which one the grand prize at the 2018 Hyères Festival. After choosing to display the brand’s wacky-cum-sustainable fashions via a lookbook, AW20 will see Botter back on schedule, and hopefully more inflatable animals than ever before.
9. Daniel Fletcher’s Fiorucci debut
Your disco needs you, and thankfully you’re about to have a new wardrobe perfect for dazzling on the dance floor. The first Fiorucci collection with Daniel W. Fletcher as the menswear artistic director is set to bring some 1960s Fiorucci flare into a contemporary vision – better get your dancing shoes on.
10. A-COLD-WALL* has something up its sleeve
After winning the BFC/ GQ Designer Menswear Fund last June, utilitarian menswear brand A-COLD-WALL* are taking things up a notch this season. Spread across both Saturday and Sunday, designer Samuel Ross will be showcasing a brand new installation. In typical ACW* style, as to what the installation entails has remained a mystery. One thing we are sure of is that it’ll be nothing short of a showstopper.
Photographs by Jason Lloyd-Evans. London Fashion Week Men’s Autumn/ Winter 2020 is taking place from tomorrow, January 4, until Monday, January 6th. Follow LFWM via our Instagram stories at @10menmagazine.
