MAN fuk@lfw s/s 06

Hurrah! At long last London has realised what's missing at Fashion Week and made moves to rectify the problem. The solution to the dearth of menswear was the TopShop sponsored, Fashion East produced MAN @ LFW. An opportunity for three young designers to showcase their boys-only collections.

St Martins graduate Benjamin Kirchoff had toned down his usually more homo-erotic look to play around with proportions on short-bodied jackets, black skinny jeans and shrunken cardis. Black jelly sandals and an all-in-one 30s style bathing suit with white crotch panel also made an appearance.

Patrick Soderstam showed the usual quotient of heavy metaller tight jeans with built up, padded calves and tie-dyed areas that branch up the legs. Other trousers are of the baggy b-boy variety, but again heavily structured to resemble something out of a Manga cartoon. Fellow designer Henrik Vibskov put in an appearance on the ramp.

Last up, came Siv Stoldal who opened with preppy sports styles - tracksuit tops, knee-length shorts worn with white trainers and calf-length socks and closed on what looked like quilted plastic jackets not dissimilar to a swimming pool lilo. Accessoried with an inflated jumper worn over the shoulders and a neck piece of sprayed gold basket - and tennis balls on chains - this was a strange, appealing collection.

Before the lights went up, Kim Jones's film was flashed onto the screens. Showing blurred images of his collection it was, given his superstar status, it was an anti-climactic ending to a LFW.

Words: Maia Adams. Photos: David Jones.