London Collections A/W 13 schedule

I was fortunate enough to be granted press accreditation for London Collections: Men, which means the British Fashion Council now recognise me as a journalist rather than a blogger. (I will still be a blogger at heart!) As such, I was excited to receive a book that details all the designers, venues and nearby places of interest, and includes an orange pin badge to recognise my accreditation.

My show schedule for London Collections is not as heavy as London Fashion Week, but I am happy to have been offered invitations to ten shows over three days, with plenty of time in between to take street style photos and interview guests.

PERSONAL SCHEDULE:

Monday 7th January

Hentsch Man, 3pm-5pm, 53 Monmouth Street
A La Disposition, 3:30pm, 35 Neal Street

Tuesday 8th January
Nicole Farhi, 9:30am, 36-37 St George Street
YMC, 12:15pm, 21-23 New Oxford Street
Martine Rose, 2:15pm, 24 Endell Street
Savile Row, 3:30pm, Spencer House

Wednesday 9th January

Baartmans and Siegel, 9:30am-11:30am, 135 Shaftesbury Avenue
Jaewan Park, 12:45pm, 35 Neal Street
Jenny Schwarz & Orschel Read, 2pm-8pm, 336 The Strand
Quasimi Homme, 3pm-4:30pm

Cameraman

London Collections: Men is the crux of my multimedia feature, hence I have acquired a new gadget to assist me in my project - a Sony Z7 HD video camera. Next week, I will be both filming and photographing the menswear presentations to which I have been invited, plus recording interviews with designers, bloggers, journalists, and whoever else I can take to one side for a spare few minutes.

The camera also allows me to introduce a new feature to the blog - street style videos. This will not be a frequent feature, but I hope to produce a short series from London Collections to share across the following weeks. My inspiration is The New York Times' "Intersection" series, which observes the differing street styles and cultures in New York.

And if I somehow find a space on my list of a hundred things to do, I shall also produce a mini-documentary of London Collections as a whole, which I hope will encapsulate the atmosphere and excitement of the UK's biggest menswear event. But with a dissertation to write and a magazine to edit, you may have to be patient.

Importance of a Well-Dressed Man

From my interview with Hilary Rushford

Speaking with Dean Street Society's Hilary Rushford, I asked for her thoughts on the importance of a well-dressed man. In her role as a personal stylist, Hilary aims to build confidence and happiness through the clothes her clients wear - it is as much about feeling good as looking good. And hence she understands that if a man dresses well, there is a positive change in attitude that can lead to new opportunities.

"I think it's important everyone dresses well. It's more important for some perhaps than for others. I completely validate that there are people who put on coveralls every day and go to dig the ditches in our streets, so we can drive better.

"But nonetheless, those men go home and take their wives on a date night. And I think it can be in those small ways, like showing your wife you respect her, by getting dressed up for date night.

"Or it can be that you work at a law firm, where they work with really high-end clients, and it does matter that you'll be able to walk into the meeting or courtroom looking like a million bucks, exuding confidence, looking like someone who is at the top of his game.

"We know it matters for politicians, that if you had a politician that was wearing ill-fitting, dated clothes, you would think he was a bit behind the times. And so we appreciate it and understand it in politics, but I think there are so many different career choices that it applies to as well."