London Fashion Week Men’s is our pride and joy. The city that nurtures new talent also kick-started a wave of menswear appreciation with London Collections Men’s back in 2012.  Now it’s back with a new name for 2017 and we can’t wait to see what’s next.

Coinciding with the start of London Fashion Week Men’s is the London College of Fashion MA 2017 show. Don’t forget these are the very halls that have birthed the likes of J.W. Anderson and fashion newbie John Alexander Skelton. But who are the ones to watch this time around? Peng Tai, who creates everything from 100% organic cotton linen and wool; Tak Lee, who has used 3D pattern cutting in his collection; Zhenhao Guo, who based his collection on wounded men, and Changxi Shao’s intriguingly titled collection Spaceman. It all starts here.

And the new name on everyone’s lips is Kiko Kostadinov, the menswear designer fresh out of Central Saint Martins. He graduated last March from the MA Fashion course but already had a sold-out collaboration with Stüssy under his belt. Immediately offered NEWGEN MEN support, he debuted his first collection for Kiko Kostadinov at LC:M Back in June. His functional, anti-decorative approach has also landed him the creative directorship of heritage brand Mackintosh’s new designer line, Mackintosh 0001. The multitasking graduate will present under his own name this weekend in London and will subsequently debut his capsule collection for Mackintosh in Paris.

Amongst this slew of new faces we’re also seeing the welcome return of some old ones. CHALAYAN menswear shows have flitted back and forth from London to Milan to New York and Paris, but this season Hussein Chalayan is gracing London Men’s Fashion Week with a presentation. The experimental designer (whose womenswear has included dissolvable clothes and dresses which emit laser beams) is always worth a watch. Last year his menswear was modelled entirely on women so no doubt Chalayan has more exciting things up his sleeve for this season.

Another London stalwart, Dame Vivienne Westwood, is also returning home from Milan for 2017. The legendary British designer has opted to combine her ready-to-wear Men’s and Women’s lines – Red Label and MAN – under one name, showing at the start of the year during Men’s Fashion Week to give buyers a clear view of the season ahead. Welcome home Westwood!

Text by Abigail Southan