London Collections:Men SS17 - a Grey Fox overview

This summer's London Collections:Men was the opportunity to celebrate unparalleled British and London creativity as menswear brands showed their collections for spring/summer 2017. A few brands took a break this season but no doubt they'll be back. There's a trend towards presentations, rather than catwalk shows. The advantage of this is not only that bloggers, buyers and journalists can see and touch the clothes at leisure, but they generally get a glass of bubbly and a bite to eat as well. The disadvantage is that you can't marvel at the catwalk show front row characters as they compete to see and be seen.

At LC:M: seersucker suit Hardy Amies, shoes Oliver Sweeney, bag Tusting, shirt Milton Green

Menswear continues its drift towards the comfortable and smart/casual. The days of too-short jackets and skinny fits are happily receding. Looser-cut trousers are more common. One trend that's not to my taste is mid-thigh shorts (I can't bring myself to show you any images). I thought these has died out for ever in the seventies, but sadly not.

Turnbull & Asser showed their usual exciting and colourful tailoring for SS17

Turnbull & Asser SS17

In tailored menswear, it's good to see more jackets longer in the body: a return to classic shapes. Shorter coats look disproportionate and accentuate the size of a man's backside, so are not ideal. 

Richard James SS17

Richard James SS17

Colours are on the whole muted. There are exceptions, of course, but men wanting to show a colourful side to their personalities can always introduce colour and pattern in accessories: ties, socks, pocket squares, scarves, bags etc. 

Universal Works SS17

Universal Works SS17

We're still not seeing enough grey hairs at the shows and presentations and, with some exceptions (in particular Thomas Pink, see below), models are very young and often don't even fit the clothes they're wearing. I can only repeat my amazement at this shortsightedness. Even Oliver Spencer, usually reliable when it comes to grey hairs, had only one grey model.

Oliver Spencer SS17

Oliver Spencer SS17

My time was limited this time and there are a number of collections I'd like to have seen, but wasn't able to. Richard James, Turnbull & Asser and Chester Barrie always have classics with a twist and I sorry not to see them. I also usually get to the Oliver Spencer show, but didn't this time. Images from some of these brands are shown here. As usual, I enjoyed the E Tautz show (below). While not all the clothes were for me (he was one of the guilty parties when it came to very short shorts), I admire Patrick Grant's creativity and determination to support British manufacture

Chester Barrie SS17

Chester Barrie detail SS17 - colour & texture

I've not looked at very young brands simply because their styles are not to my taste. This blog is all about my search for style as an older man and I'm looking for wearable clothes; classics with something extra.

Thomas Pink SS17 included many grey hairs - well done Thomas Pink

Brands like Dunhill and Margaret Howell also offer great possibilities for the stylish older man, but I need the time and to be on their radars to be able to bring you news of their offerings - so this report is by no means comprehensive. 

E Tautz SS17

E Tautz SS17

Looking back over this post I see that I go heavily for tailored stuff, jackets and trousers, and there is little casual wear. I suppose that's the style I'm drawn to. For fuller coverage see London Collections:Men Highlights which gives detailed coverage of the shows.