London is the home of menswear
Menswear is booming in the UK. The industry is worth £10bn to our economy according to Mintel. By 2016, men will be spending more than women on clothes.
London is the home of menswear
Since the days of Beau Brummell, London’s gents have had a reputation for snappy dressing. This great city is home to the world’s oldest hat makers – Lock & Co. on St James’s Street. It's the birthplace too of such iconic styles as the brogue, 3 piece suit, floral shirts and even bondage trousers. From the royal family to Hollywood royalty, politicians to pop icons, punks and military generals, the capital has dressed them all.
Today London is the beating heart of the country’s fashion industry. It hosts international leading men’s fashion event London Collections: Men which showcases the best British brands, new independent London labels and designers as well as new up-and-coming creative talents.
For all these reasons and many more, it's why London is the home of menswear.
Fix up, look sharp!
London Collections: Men kicks off the global fashion calendar in January. For four days it will showcase fresh design talents like Agi + Sam, Christopher Raeburn, Lou Dalton and Londoner Craig Green. Then there's international menswear brands like Burberry, Belstaff, Tom Ford, Topman and Britain's traditional heritage tailoring like E Tautz, Richard James and Hardy Amies.
The event showcase emphasise not only the creative and commercial importance of the menswear fashion industry but also the rich cultural landscape that contributes to the inspiration of this sector and its contribution to London’s reputation as an enduring centre for creativity.
London Tweed
Museum of London has teamed up with Savile Row tailors, Norton & Sons to create a bespoke suit for London Collections: Men ambassador Tinie Tempah. Following London Collections: Men, the three piece suit will be added to the museum’s extensive fashion and textiles collection to help the museum document contemporary menswear in London today. The suit has been created in ‘London Tweed’ designed by the Museum of London and is inspired by Sherlock Holmes, subject of the museum’s current major exhibition.
Top tips for men's shopping around London
See the guest blogs on VisitLondon.com by Dylan Jones, editor of British GQ and chair of London Collections: Men and his recommendations of some of the best places to shop for men’s clothing in London.
Did you know…Piccadilly Circus gets its name from its menswear heritage?
The name first appeared in 1626 as ‘Piccadilly Hall’, named after a house belonging to one Robert Baker, a tailor famous for selling piccadills, a term used for various kinds of collars.
When the site was developed in 1743, the name was kept and is now known around the world as Piccadilly Circus. And, in the words of Michael Caine, ‘not a lot of people know that’.
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