Ahead of London Fashion Week, we thought we'd give you a glimpse behind the scenes - starting with an exclusive interview with none other than Alister Mackie. Alister's fashion credentials are not to be sniffed at. A London College of Fashion graduate; he assisted Katy England at Dazed and Confused and helped to launch top fashion mag 'Another Man'. Working with Topman, Alister is a key ingredient to the creative direction on the Topman Design range. Putting the finishing touches to Topman's first solo outing at London Fashion Week, we managed to grab 5 minutes with the man himself...
Q. Topman Design's decision to pull away from MAN is a brave move. How do you see TMD fairing on it's own stage?
I think the MAN event was a great idea. Giving space to young designers and introducing Topman to a fashion audience. It made for a cool event, which was very successful. I think that MAN as a concept has grown and Topman are ready to show by themselves now that the menswear calendar in London has expanded.
Q. The collection from last season was a very wearable range - something accessible to both the fashion forward and safe players - is this a direction we can see TMD to continue in?
To me a sense of realism is really important at Topman. I like that the clothes are accessible and available to buy which is not always the case at other houses. If you see people in the street looking good in the clothes then the collection is successful.
Q. Staple garment for SS10 and also for AW10?
For SS10, the suits at Topman Design were fantastic, there was a great double breasted jacket. For AW10, it has to be the parka.
Q. We've seen Naval, minimal and all manner of other trends coming through in the past 12 months, all adopted by the high street. What trends do you think we'll see in the next 12 months?
Army, camouflage, long coats, boots.
Q. Are there any up and coming designers exciting you right now? Anyone you could imagine being part of MAN for 2011...?
James Small, Christopher Raeburn
Q. Finally, if you could have a wishlist of 5 people to watch the next Topman Design show, who would you like to see in the front row?
Five stylish men: Nick Knight, Bobby Gillespie, Jim Lambie, Jack White, Paul Simonon.
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