Groupe international de Newport

Avec la finde la New York fashionweek, l'attention du monde de la mode est sur la capitale britannique. Un

mélange coloré de jeunes designers renommés, mais aussi de style britannique fantaisie composent la fashion week londonienne.

La fashion week londonienne commence aujourd'hui, vendredi. Jusqu'au 17 septembre, la ville est sous le signe de la mode. Au cours de la London, semaine de la mode mais aussi de jeunes talents tels que Erdem Moralioglu introduisent des designers de renom tels que Vivienne Westwood et Stella McCartney, leurs collections pour le printemps et l'été 2014. Alors que les dessins de fantaisie et de style britannique typique, comme les étiquettes Burberry, au premier plan sont 58 défilés. Le site « londonfashionweek.co.uk » offre un calendrier précis.

Icivous pouvez lire des choses intéressantes sur le métier de designer

Mais non seulement les spécialistes de podiums, acheteurs et les fans de la mode vous incitera à Londres. Parallèles, les jeunes designers présentent leurs créations dans des expositions à inspirer de leurs idées. Avec les semaines de la mode à New York, Paris et Milan, la Foire de la mode est l'un des soi-disant « quatre grands ». Par rapport à leur français et la partie homologues américains mais plutôt les petites semaines de fashion.

London Collections: Men – why fashion shows are relevant to your life

Menswear fashion shows might seem a world apart from what we wear on a daily basis but, as Stephen Doig discovers, there’s plenty that works into your real life wardrobe.

Ask your average metropolitan, style conscious guy what he’s excited about seeing in this season’s London Collections: Men catwalk presentations, which kick off today, and even the most well-heeled gentleman will most likely shrug his shoulders. Even if you’re a chap who knows your Acne from your Ami or your Drakes from your Dries, the curious fantasia of fashion presentations can seem wildly disconnected to real lifestyle.

As much as the fashion industry might try to shrug off accusations of insularity, closed-ranks cliquishness and occasional ridiculousness, there are times when even the staunchest defender can’t help but acknowledge the high camp Zoolander-ness of it all. Models’ faces obscured by a splintered mash of wooden planks, knitted crop tops with nipples coyly peeping out, and grown men in leather dresses and riding boots (all of which featured in last season’s LC:M shows): when what’s happening on the catwalk looks like dream sequence from 1920s Italian surrealist cinema spliced with a Berlin sex dungeon, you’d be forgiven for thinking it has very little to do with what you’ll be wearing down the Crown and Anchor.

But that’s not the whole story. The catwalk theatrics might be what garners headlines – or at least the snigger of joke-makers on Twitter – but a lot of the ideas on the catwalks of London Collections: Men are viable, relevant ways to inject your wardrobe with a bit of pep and vigour. It might seem like there’s a disconnect between what the average fellow wears and what comes down the catwalk to a blaze of flashbulbs, but the gap isn’t as yawning as you’d think.

"The challenge is in balancing Savile Row tradition with relevant fashion", says Gieves & Hawkes Creative Director Jason Basmajian of how a tailoring institution as august as theirs can work fluidly into a man’s lifestyle. The label’s tailoring, from handsome tuxedos and impeccable suiting to rakish peacock blue velvet smoking jackets, might seem like the stuff of sartorial dreams (or at least the kind of thing you’d reserve for your wedding suit), but as Basmajian points out, a good designer should be able to offer pieces that build on what you have. "Gieves & Hawkes is a brand that is always about style and quality. The collection is very wearable and most of the looks can walk off the runway and onto the street or office without seeming intimidating. However, I always want to show new cuts, textures, colours, fabrics and ways of breaking a Gentleman’s wardrobe down and putting it back together."

Basmajian is perhaps the best advert for how to incorporate something that could be relegated as ‘precious’ – that masterful suit that you keep for Sunday best – into an everyday uniform; a casual bomber jacket with some tailored trousers, a formal jacket worn with a wool roll-neck for 50s matinee idol élan.

Often, it’s the subtlest of suggestions that can have an influence on how we dress. The idea of ‘experimenting’ with your tie might have once conjured images of novelty horrors bought in museum gift shops. But designers like E. Tautz, Richard James, and Gieves & Hawkes have shown how textured ties in knitted wool or raw spun shantung can add depth and richness to your business suit and lend a touch of individuality, without frightening the horses around the conference table.

Similarly, the idea of tampering with the DNA of a well-made suit might seem like sartorial heresy, but designers like Casely-Hayford, the London-based father and son duo who make their impeccably tailored suit jackets in Japan using experimental, lightweight fabric technology, show how deftly it can be done. They've piqued the interest of many a tech geek too; there’s more engineering in these suits than at NASA, with the fabric designed to mold around your frame.

"The average guy on the street might not be au fait with what’s shown on the catwalk beyond seeing something in a newspaper column, but often there’s a way to take elements of what goes on in menswear and apply them", says Other Shop co-owner Matthew Murphy, who runs fashion brand Other and whose store stocks London’s more cutting edge young designers. In fact, Craig Green (the designer who sent models down the catwalk with shards of wood around their head) and Matthew Miller (who showcase psychedelic tie-dye suits) both feature in his boutique. But, says Murphy, look beyond the high jinx and you’ll find wearable offerings too. "What actually filters through to the customer – the really great soft cotton black T-shirt or perfectly fitted shirt – will be the thing that’s totally relevant to them."

And what makes menswear designers so in tune with what we actually want from our clothes is that they appreciate longevity above trends. "Trends don’t really feature in menswear any more", says Murphy. "Which makes it much more appealing to men. Instead, it’s just about finding a way to update a guy’s uniform. The consumer wants to be challenged a bit, they want something different, but they’re often surprised how wearable the clothes are too."

Menswear fashion shows might seem a world apart from what we wear on a daily basis but, as Stephen Doig discovers, there’s plenty that works into your real life wardrobe.

Ask your average metropolitan, style conscious guy what he’s excited about seeing in this season’s London Collections: Men catwalk presentations, which kick off today, and even the most well-heeled gentleman will most likely shrug his shoulders. Even if you’re a chap who knows your Acne from your Ami or your Drakes from your Dries, the curious fantasia of fashion presentations can seem wildly disconnected to real lifestyle.

As much as the fashion industry might try to shrug off accusations of insularity, closed-ranks cliquishness and occasional ridiculousness, there are times when even the staunchest defender can’t help but acknowledge the high camp Zoolander-ness of it all. Models’ faces obscured by a splintered mash of wooden planks, knitted crop tops with nipples coyly peeping out, and grown men in leather dresses and riding boots (all of which featured in last season’s LC:M shows): when what’s happening on the catwalk looks like dream sequence from 1920s Italian surrealist cinema spliced with a Berlin sex dungeon, you’d be forgiven for thinking it has very little to do with what you’ll be wearing down the Crown and Anchor.

But that’s not the whole story. The catwalk theatrics might be what garners headlines – or at least the snigger of joke-makers on Twitter – but a lot of the ideas on the catwalks of London Collections: Men are viable, relevant ways to inject your wardrobe with a bit of pep and vigour. It might seem like there’s a disconnect between what the average fellow wears and what comes down the catwalk to a blaze of flashbulbs, but the gap isn’t as yawning as you’d think.

"The challenge is in balancing Savile Row tradition with relevant fashion", says Gieves & Hawkes Creative Director Jason Basmajian of how a tailoring institution as august as theirs can work fluidly into a man’s lifestyle. The label’s tailoring, from handsome tuxedos and impeccable suiting to rakish peacock blue velvet smoking jackets, might seem like the stuff of sartorial dreams (or at least the kind of thing you’d reserve for your wedding suit), but as Basmajian points out, a good designer should be able to offer pieces that build on what you have. "Gieves & Hawkes is a brand that is always about style and quality. The collection is very wearable and most of the looks can walk off the runway and onto the street or office without seeming intimidating. However, I always want to show new cuts, textures, colours, fabrics and ways of breaking a Gentleman’s wardrobe down and putting it back together."

Basmajian is perhaps the best advert for how to incorporate something that could be relegated as ‘precious’ – that masterful suit that you keep for Sunday best – into an everyday uniform; a casual bomber jacket with some tailored trousers, a formal jacket worn with a wool roll-neck for 50s matinee idol élan.

Often, it’s the subtlest of suggestions that can have an influence on how we dress. The idea of ‘experimenting’ with your tie might have once conjured images of novelty horrors bought in museum gift shops. But designers like E. Tautz, Richard James, and Gieves & Hawkes have shown how textured ties in knitted wool or raw spun shantung can add depth and richness to your business suit and lend a touch of individuality, without frightening the horses around the conference table.

Similarly, the idea of tampering with the DNA of a well-made suit might seem like sartorial heresy, but designers like Casely-Hayford, the London-based father and son duo who make their impeccably tailored suit jackets in Japan using experimental, lightweight fabric technology, show how deftly it can be done. They've piqued the interest of many a tech geek too; there’s more engineering in these suits than at NASA, with the fabric designed to mold around your frame.

"The average guy on the street might not be au fait with what’s shown on the catwalk beyond seeing something in a newspaper column, but often there’s a way to take elements of what goes on in menswear and apply them", says Other Shop co-owner Matthew Murphy, who runs fashion brand Other and whose store stocks London’s more cutting edge young designers. In fact, Craig Green (the designer who sent models down the catwalk with shards of wood around their head) and Matthew Miller (who showcase psychedelic tie-dye suits) both feature in his boutique. But, says Murphy, look beyond the high jinx and you’ll find wearable offerings too. "What actually filters through to the customer – the really great soft cotton black T-shirt or perfectly fitted shirt – will be the thing that’s totally relevant to them."

And what makes menswear designers so in tune with what we actually want from our clothes is that they appreciate longevity above trends. "Trends don’t really feature in menswear any more", says Murphy. "Which makes it much more appealing to men. Instead, it’s just about finding a way to update a guy’s uniform. The consumer wants to be challenged a bit, they want something different, but they’re often surprised how wearable the clothes are too."

Clerkenwell

The Vibe: Fashionable tech. Clerkenwell attracts companies that have outgrown their space in Shoreditch – or are put off by the area’s escalating prices – but want to remain close to the buzz of Silicon Roundabout.

Local Heroes: Warner Yard is a tech co-working space and home to the London base of Techstars, a US accelerator programme, which nurtures early-stage ventures. White Bear Yard is a hub for technology start-ups, founded by angel investors Stefan Glaenzer, Eileen Burbidge and Robert Dighero.

Ones to Watch:

Farfetch is an online clothing retailer that provides a single shop window for dozens of independent fashion boutiques from around the world. It aspires to match the success of Net-a-Porter. EDITD, a data mining business for the fashion industry, provides real-time information on trends and shopping habits. 

King’s Cross

The Vibe: Well-connected new media quarter. The renaissance of King’s Cross and St Pancras stations has brought business, culture and improved transport links to the area.

Local Heroes: Central St Martins, the world-renowned art college has moved here, bringing creative talent to the area. The British Library, a long-term local resident, houses the Business & IP Centre, providing work space and advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Ones to Watch: Facebook is setting up shop in the area after agreeing a lease on a 90,000 square foot office building. Twitter, the microblogging service, will have its own 18,000 sq ft office in the same development. Google is also due to relocate its UK operations to King’s Cross, although it has delayed the move until 2017 because its original office design was not sufficiently ambitious. Other tech businesses are likely to be attracted by the arrivals of these giants.

Tottenham Court Road

The Vibe: A crossroads: the glamour of the West End meets intellectual stimulation of Bloomsbury. Tottenham Court Road used to be the rougher end of Oxford Street but it is raising its game with the help of a major investment from Crossrail.

Local Heroes: University College London is actively involved in nurturing entrepreneurship among its students and, through its UCL Advances programme, providing research and development resources for start-ups.

Ones to Watch: HouseTrip is one of Europe’s biggest holiday rental booking sites, enabling travellers to book a stay in one of more than 270,000 houses around the world, just as they would a hotel room, and homeowners to make money from their property when they are away. Kingis a mobile games developer, whose biggest hit to date has been Candy Crush Saga. It has six game studios in Stockholm, Barcelona, Bucharest, Malmö and London, along with offices in San Francisco and Malta.

Southwark

The Vibe: Shoreditch on a shoestring. Like the East End, Southwark has plenty of interesting warehouse conversions. The entertainment is world class, including the Tate Modern, the National Theatre and the South Bank.

Local Heroes: Ian Merricks, founder of White Horse Capital, founded in 2008 to provide support and capital for high growth technology start-ups. Nick Jenkins, founder of Moonpig, the online card retailer sold to Photobox for £120m in 2011.

Ones to Watch: Zoopla, a searchable directory of UK residential properties, was founded by Alex Chesterman, co-founder of online video business Lovefilm, and Simon Kain, a senior developer at Amazon UK. Audioboo is a website and smartphone app that allows people to share short audio files on social media. It was founded by Mark Rock in 2009 and gained early endorsements from writer and broadcaster Stephen Fry and The Guardian newspaper, which used it to cover the G20 protests.

Croydon

The Vibe: Edgy. The farthest edge of town, but also edging up, after a £3.5bn regeneration plan. West Croydon is 15 minutes from London Bridge and Gatwick airport by train.

Local Heroes: Croydon Tech City is a community-led movement to rebrand the area as a Shoreditch for the southern suburbs. Croydon Borough Council has encouraged developers to build new homes and BT to improve broadband speeds.

Ones to Watch: DotMailer was launched in Croydon in 1999 and is now the largest email marketing company in the UK. It listed on Aim, London’s junior market, in 2011 and has a net worth of £5.8m. VideoGamer is Europe’s largest independent video gaming reviews website, which publishes news and features on the latest titles as well as high definition videos and a weekly podcast. It was founded in Brighton in late 2007, but moved to Croydon three years ago.

Notting Hill

The Vibe: Posh boys with smart ideas. Notting Hill offers the pleasures of Hyde Park and the Portobello Road market with the chance to bump into experienced tech business founders with money to invest.

Local Heroes: Brent Hoberman, co-founder of Lastminute.com, the online travel website, which listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2000, just before the dotcom bubble burst. He is now an active angel investor. Jay Bregman, co-founder of Hailo, the taxi booking app, which in a little over two years has become a global business available in 16 cities. Mr Bregman divides his time between London and New York.

Ones to Watch: Made.com is an online furniture retailer, whose business model minimises overheads by selling online, grouping orders of the same item, not owning its factories and building close working relationships with factories and designers. Secret Sales is a free members only club which organises online private sales of exclusive designer brands. New sales are held each day but last for a limited time, offering shoppers up to 70 per cent off the recommended retail price.