It’s a big year for London. From the upcoming summer Olympics to Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee, the Brits have a lot to be excited about, and the excitement hasn’t skipped the fashion world.

This past weekend, English fashion designers presented their spring 2013 collections in the first-ever men’s fashion weekend in London. The event was blandly named London Collections: Men, but despite its lackluster title, many of the weekend’s shows presented a fun, light-hearted approach to menswear.

The British Fashion Council organized the event in response to the growth of the men’s day during London Fashion Week in the past few years. According to the British Fashion Council website, the new showcase emphasized “both the creative and commercial importance of Britain’s brands and emerging talent.”

Christopher Shannon’s collection featured simple street wear with exuberant, colored accents. Panels of striped or embroidered blanket fabric spiced up basic T-shirts, sweatshirts and short-sleeved button-ups. There were a number of garments crafted from hundreds of neckties that were just runway spectacles, but the majority of Shannon’s clothes could easily be translated to the street. The pop-of-color look was prevalent in the collection and will hopefully find its way into more affordable retailers next year.

Another designer who used color to bring cheerfulness to his collection was Patrick Grant of E. Tautz. Grant’s designs were suited to a younger generation of English gentlemen. The clothes were carefully crafted with traditional British tailoring, but each outfit featured one garment in a vibrant yellow, pink or blue, which kept things youthful and fun. A simplified graphic in the shape of a man’s head wearing sunglasses and a fedora appeared on a number of shirts. Next spring will be a great time to get adventurous with color and the ever-trendy graphic T-shirt.

Richard Nicoll also included graphic T-shirts in his spring collection. His ultra-simplified shirts featured a plain rectangle in a bold cobalt blue. Nicoll’s emphasis on fun, bold color continued the trend of the week. Apparently, boys just want to have fun.

But while the clothing was exuberant, the event itself seemed to lack the verve of the men’s fashion weeks in Milan or Paris. Obviously, the event was not going to be perfect in its first year, but I expected it to be more exciting. There seemed to be minimal media coverage of the weekend, save for some mild tweeting from Style.com. American GQhardly covered the event at all.

What really surprised me, however, was that Burberry—the most recognizably British of all fashion brands—did not present a runway show during the weekend. Paul Smith, another notable British designer, was also absent. Smith usually stages his fashion shows in Paris, so he chose not to present in London because of the cost of moving his showroom and employees, according to a June 16 New York Times blog post. Burberry may have had the same reason for not showing in London since its past menswear shows have been in Milan.

On the other hand, the company does not seem strapped for cash. Burberry recently reported increased profits and a plan to invest 200 million pounds in expanding business, according to a May 23 CNBC article. Considering the positive news about Burberry’s finances, it seems a runway show would have been feasible and would have bolstered the success of the new men’s fashion weekend.

Despite the weekend’s modesty, it seems London Collections: Men has a bright future. If designers like Shannon, Grant and Nicoll are any indication, we will continue to see innovative and fun menswear strongly rooted in the English tailoring tradition.

Ian Simon-Curry is a junior public relations major. His column appears online occasionally. Follow him on Twitter at@incrediblyian. He can be reached at insimonc@syr.edu.

Published on June 19, 2012 at 12:35 pm

Contact Ian: insimonc@syr.edu