The role of London Fashion Week Men's in the development of the menswear fashion industry

London Fashion Week Men’s is a lens for the analysis of the menswear fashion industry in the UK since the fashion week is both a response to the changes that occurred in the industry before its establishment, but also an accelerator of internal dynamics of these changes. This study focuses on the participants of the fashion week, designers, brands and labels, those who create the content of the event and bring the audience in. The dynamics of their participation, their background and path through the platform are the aspects that define the image of the fashion week and evaluate its sustainability as a business model. At the same time, this thesis is an attempt to tell the history of the menswear fashion week in London and analyze the process of institutionalization of the menswear fashion industry in the UK. Hence, the key research question is aimed to identify the impact of the menswear fashion week in the development of the menswear fashion industry in the UK. This research is inspired by a knowledge gap on menswear fashion weeks in academia, but also by the evolving role of the menswear in market shares of the fashion industry. The novelty of this thesis is rooted in the analysis of the data that is introduced in this study. The core of the analysis is placed within the schedules of the fashion week, the British Fashion Council press portal and news about menswear and various brands and labels in the UK. The impact of the fashion week can be traced within different aspects, but this study shows how London Fashion Week Men’s actually became a platform for the development of the designers, revitalizing the heritage of the menswear capital and promoting the growth of British menswear brands. The structure of the thesis includes an introduction, a chapter on the history of menswear in London and construction of the discourse of the menswear fashion capital, a chapter on the history of the fashion week itself, two chapters focused on the data about the fashion week and its participants, that are analyzed in two samples, conclusions with a final discussion.