PRESS RELEASE 6 TH JANUARY 2017
LONDON FASHION WEEK MEN’ S JANUARY 2017 OPENED BY MAYOR OF LONDON
London, 6 th January 2017 – Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, Dylan Jones OBE, Chair of London Fashion Week Men’ s( LFWM) and Caroline Rush CBE, Chief Executive British Fashion Council( BFC) host the official opening of LFWM at The Store Studios, 180 Strand.
The inaugural event of its name, London Fashion Week Men’ s is the tenth edition of the London menswear showcase. Since its inception as a one day display of menswear at the end of London Fashion Week, LFWM has grown to be recognised as one of the most exciting platforms for menswear in the world. Previously known as London Collections Men, the event was renamed London Fashion Week Men’ s to recognise its equal importance to womenswear and better engage with a consumer audience.
LFWM showcases the very best creative and design talent from around the world through a packed schedule of shows, presentations, installations and events from Friday 6 th to Monday 9 th January 2017.
Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London commented:“ London Fashion Week Men’ s is a truly international celebration of fashion, design and creativity. As Mayor, I’ m proud to be able to provide funding to support this event and the next generation of London designers. Fashion is the largest employer of all our creative industries, supporting almost 800,000 jobs and worth an astonishing £ 28 billion to the UK economy. From Burberry to Stella McCartney, Agi & Sam to Vivienne Westwood, London has been at the forefront of modern fashion, shaping and defining the latest styles and trends for decades. Today, press and buyers from as far away as Beijing, Seoul and Montreal will flock to London Fashion Week Men’ s, showing that London is truly open to business, talent and visitors from across the globe.”
Dylan Jones OBE, London Fashion Week Men’ s Chair commented:“ London has always prided itself on showcasing creativity, particularly when it comes to fashion, and as the city has always been a keen exponent of the traditional and the rebellious, it’ s no surprise that in the last six months, our capital has become even more renowned as a centre of excellence.”
The Menswear Industry by numbers �
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The men’ s clothing market grew by 4.1 % in 2015 to reach £ 14.1billion( up from £ 13.5billion in 2014). This is compared to 3.7 % growth in womenswear – menswear now accounts for 25 % of the total clothing market( Mintel’ s British Lifestyles 2016) Menswear is predicted to grow by 22.5 % between 2015 and 2020 to reach £ 17.3billion( Mintel’ s British Lifestyles 2016) 59 % of men have purchased clothes online in the last 12 months( Mintel’ s British Lifestyles 2016)