DANIEL w. FLETCHER

London Fashion Week Men's starts today. It's anchors the menswear industry and brings everyone together, but there are those that feel it needs a new lease of life. Maybe homegrown talent is the answer.

DANIEL w. FLETCHER

Tailored Panel Jacket

DANIEL w. FLETCHER

Side Stripe Tailored Trousers

DANIEL w. FLETCHER

Striped Drawing t-shirt

DANIEL w. FLETCHER

Bold Stripe Pyjama shirt

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Trends, street style, shows, presentations (and parties I feel rather uncomfortable at) make up London Fashion Week Men’s. It happens twice a year and signals the start of the menswear fashion calendar. I remember my first fashion week feeling like it was a real milestone in my blogging journey – without trying to sound too much like a talent show spiel… it was – but there’s part of me that feels it needs another injection of excitement.

There are those that have lost interest. More designers are starting to go co-ed, meaning they show their menswear offering along with their womenswear show later on in the year and this leaves the men’s schedule lacking. I’m sorting out my own plan of where I need to be and when and it almost has an air of calm about it, rather than mad panic, rush and thrill. When menswear got its own fashion week it felt like a real breakthrough, but now it almost needs a real shake-up to attract another wave. But I'm hopeful. There is something I still very much enjoy about LFWM and DANIEL w. FLETCHER is a prime example of that.

Daniel will be opening the season with his first show. Starting with presentations and before that, protests - yes protests - it’s been so interesting to see Daniel’s eponymous brand progress. His style is clear, his collections are interesting and most of all, he’s someone whose approachable to talk to. After all, isn’t that what we all want? To attend a show we like and be able to feel like you can talk to the person that made you attend in the first place? 

I feel that the fashion space is starting to become more inclusive, more accepting of people outside of the cliques. None of this hierarchical pretence the fashion industry gets labelled with. It might have something to do with social media, but I feel like it is changing.

An example of this is being able to message Daniel and without any issue, he was happy for me to style a couple of pieces from his current spring summer collection. DANIEL w. FLETCHER, like Oliver Spencer, Lou Dalton and Kent & Curwen, create pieces I want to wear when I see them and I see the demand only increasing for him. Yes there are your conceptual shows that convey an expression and a mood, but they should be appreciated in a different sense.

Let’s see what this season has to offer and I think most importantly, congratulations Daniel. To see a British designer do so well and progress is exciting and long may it continue for our homegrown talents. Perhaps they are the key in reinvigorating London Fashion Week Men’s.jbicon

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Photography by Ollie Ali

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