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Menswear's Dreamer: James Long

It's been an exciting few years for menswear designer James Long. The fashion magazine regular and Topman NEW GEN favourite, Long's brand of fashion forwardness has made him a constant presence on the London scene. Find out more as TOPMAN GENERATION caught up with the menswear dreamer HERE.

Win Tickets to London Fashion Week

Fancy winning tickets to 4 shows at menswear day at London Fashion Week this coming February with a friend? For all the info on this amazing prize head HERE.

The winning entry will win tickets to:

1. The Topman Design A/W '12 show.

2. The MAN show- will show collections from chosen designers Shaun Samson, Agi & Sam and Astrid Anderson.

3. The J.W Anderson A/W '12 show- a leading menswear designer is known for his challenging and refreshing collections, and for creating exciting new movements in menswear.

4. The Christopher Shannon A/W '12 show- clean silhouettes, performance fabrics and as he puts it, "just the right amount of drama" are this sportswear-orientated designer's modus operandi.

Above: Topman Design S/S '12.

MAN Line-up A/W '12

London Fashion Week's menswear initiative MAN, created by Topman and Fashion East, has announced the designers for the 14th season of the showcase. Presenting their autumn/winter 2012 collections on the dedicated menswear day, will be Shaun Samson, who returns to the MAN line-up following his debut last season. Alongside him will be the likes of Astrid Anderson and Agi & Sam both of which took part in emerging designer initiative, Fashion East's menswear installations last season.

Top to bottom: Shaun Samson S/S '12, Astrid Anderson S/S '12, Agi & Sam S/S '12.

NEWGEN MEN A/W '12 Winners Announced

The British Fashion Council (BFC) announced earlier today that eight of London’s most exciting emerging menswear design talents will receive sponsorship from its support initiative, NEWGEN MEN sponsored by Topman. The main Catwalk winners are Christopher Shannon and J.W. Anderson, with Lou Dalton, Martine Rose and Matthew Miller taking on the Salon Show Presentation. Then to finalise Bunney, Christopher Raeburn and SIBLING will have installations all taking place on Menswear Day (22nd February). For all the info on the winners head HERE.

Street Style LFW Part 2

Last week we were down at mens day for LFW and got some shots of stylish individuals. We were lucky enough to be working with photographer Manuel Bischof for Styleclicker who caught some photos of people from the day.

Rickie & Melvin (Kiss100) LFW Experience

Rickie & Melvin from Kiss100 experienced their first London Fashion Week this past Wednesday at mens day. They captured their experiences and thoughts on the Topman Design S/S '12 show. The below is their experience... 

What's your favourite piece from the show?

Rickie: I’m a big fan of the fitted double breasted suit. It’s a great take on the retro look I first noticed in the now infamous movie Wall Street starring Michael Douglas and a baby faced Charlie Sheen (before his Tiger Blood days!)! So when I saw that this style of suit featured heavily within the show I was really pleased. The stand out piece for me though was a Charcoal coloured double breasted suit, very fitted and looked like it could be easily dressed up or dressed down depending on the occasion. 

Melvin: My favourite piece in the collection had to be the grey single button suit. It’s a classic cut however the shade of grey gave it a modern edge. I often take the safe approach when it comes to suits and I think grey is the new black if you are the sort of person that likes the simple but effective approach.  

...but Rickie, I know for a fact you were really excited about (and had your eye fixated on) the silk shorts we saw on the catwalk without a question of a doubt.

Very true Melv I can’t lie - they reminded me of the ones that you used to wear back in the early 90's before you shaved your chest hair and still wore a medallion to the beach – remember? Ahhhh the good times are back again!

Who was the best dressed at the show?

So myself and Melv would like to think that we had stepped up to the mark with our outfits while attending our very first fashion show! Phil and Sean (our trustee Topman Personal Shoppers - who manage to pull off looking better than us, their clients everytime) hooked us up with some nice pieces for the show. However for us, the standout attire had to go to boxing champ Amir Khan. He managed to get the tone just right with a really cool suit that looked sharp but stood out without being going over the top. It looked comfortable and was complimented with boat shoes and a nice jumper. Nothing O.T.T just a well-made suit on a Champion!

Who did you sit with?

Ok picture this. Rickie and Melvin dressed to the 9s in our best Topman threads, fresh off the the rail! This was our big moment, front row at the Topman fashion show. Shown to our seats, we were followed by fellow presenters Alex Zane and Rick Edwards - we were feeling good. Trans-Atlantic UK music artist Mr.Hudson was sitting on the bench across from us looking very suave and gave us a nod of appreciation and asked Rickie where his jacket was from - things were going well. Our row was looking good. There was one space remaining rerserved for Nick Grimshaw and being the superstar that he is, he turned up with Jonathan Pierce from Indie and The Drums making our seating plan a little more intimate than first planned. However, we were just happy to be sitting with the coolest bunch in the building.

Which celebrities attended the show?

Sir Philip Green was in attendance  with his daughter Chloe Green accompanied by Millie from Made in Chelsea. Fresh from featuring on Hip Hop Royaltys latest masterpiece 'Watch The Throne' by Jay Z and Kanye West, Mr. Hudson  was front row. Presenters Alex Zane, Rick Edwards, Nick Grimshaw were also there as well as Jonathan Pierce from Indie band The Drums.

Was there any fashion week talk/gossip?

A little birdie told us that Chloe Green is currently designing a range of trainers for her Dads high street super brand. She is going to be a very busy woman as she's also been cast in the next series of Made In Chelsea - which explained why Millie from the show was there with her in tow.

Mr. Hudson mentioned that he's got no concrete plans to put out another solo album just yet. He said that he's really enjoying working with other artists at the moment such as N-Dubz on their solo material and he mentioned that he put out a track with dance music producer supremo Deadmau5 on the hush very recently - so keep an ear out for that one.

And finally, are there any key items you want this winter?

Rickie: The key item I want this winter is a Burberry Mac. Classic and stylish. I’m very in to items of clothing that you can get your money’s worth from so it’s important for me when buying clothes that they can be dressed up but also worn casually to maximise the amount of times  I can wear it without it always having the exact same vibe.

Melvin: The key item I want this winter would have to be from Japanese designer Junya Watanabe. Being a small guy I often find it hard to find jackets or blazers that fit me perfectly (other than Topman of course) Junya Watanabe has a knack for making pieces that fit me like a glove. I am obsessed with his use of different textures, patterns, colours and materials and really love some of the new pieces I have seen on the catwalk form his winter collection.  

Catch Rickie, Melvin & Charlie hosting the Kiss 100 breakfast show 6am-9am.

Street Style LFW Part 1

Yesterday we were down at mens day for LFW and got some shots of stylish individuals. We were lucky enough to be working with photographer Manuel Bischof for Styleclicker who caught some photos of people from the day.

Which outfit do you like best?

Exclusive: Topman Design S/S '12 Sneak Peak

Exclusive sneak peak photos from the Topman Design S/S '12 collection being shown at London Fashion Week this Wednesday.