#Topman360 (yup, we use the hashtag outside of Twitter!) competition winner Jonny Clowes, gives us his account of his day as a front-row guest at the Topman A/W 13 show at London Collections: Men '13, plus a few pics from his v.i.p p.o.v! (yup, we like acronyms).
So, in his own words...
A week ago I received an email from Topman
Design telling me that I had won front row tickets to the Topman Design A/W
2013 show as part of the ‘London Collections: Men’ fashion week. Out of all the
applicants on Facebook, I had won. I got myself down to London, turned up at
the Old Sorting Office on New Oxford Street, excited to experience in real life
what I had always only seen in pictures, and bypassed the queue of eager,
stylish people to pick up my front row ticket.
After a short while of people
watching, soaking up the buzzing atmosphere and seeking out celebrities (David
Gandy, Tinie Tempah, Henry Holland and Grimmy, amongst others, were also sat on
the front row), the lights were brightened, the bassy music kicked in and I put
my camera on standby as the models came out. I was sat right next to the mass
of press cameras so had a brilliant view as they walked towards me.
The first stage of the show consisted of
mild whites and creams but as it went on, the outfits picked up vibrant hues of
orange and fuchsia, representing ‘the enriching journey of a young man imbuing
his spirit through the landscape and cultures’. The explorer had left behind
the clean, modest, functional tones and adopted spicier, brighter colours.
Explorer rucksacks with compasses, iPads and hipflasks hanging off them were
worn, along with both oversized and cropped parkas and hiking socks teamed with
leather explorer boots in shifting shades.
I loved all the outdoorsy, autumnal
clothing, especially the boots - my preferred being cream with a metallic, gold
band across the top. I wear thick-soled (I’m quite short) boots quite often so
was pleased to see similar ones on the runway!
As the models continued to pass us, the
colonial, convenient clothing was contrasted and intertwined with elegant and
established items with a nostalgic nod to the 70’s – large collars, fur
collars, roll neck knitwear, double breasted suits, silk jackets, Tibetan-print
pea coats, an orange belted cardigan (another of my favourite pieces) and even
socks and sandals. After the rich tones of the core of the show, the colours of
the clothing deepened and matured into the third and final stage of the
collection, finishing with my favourite piece of the whole show – a black pea
coat with a fur colour, connecting back to the white version earlier on in the
collection.
Before I knew it, all the models were
walking out in a line, showing the entire collection from whites and creams to
oranges and pinks to ‘garnet and ox blood’, reflectively ending with the
midnight blues and blacks – the complete modernised journey of the ‘early
gentleman explorer’. The bright lights were dimmed and the show was over; after
a brief interview, we followed the rich, famous and fashionable out of the
building, along with our goodie-bags containing a day pass to a luxury health
spa amongst other freebies.
I am so grateful to Topman for the
opportunity as I really enjoyed the day and now can’t wait for Autumn/Winter to
arrive!
The Topman Design Autumn/Winter '13 collection will be available online and selected stores this September.
We also asked Jonny a few questions on his opinion of the show, so be on the look out for that!
