How catwalk menswear ends up on the high street

Leather T-shirts, multi-coloured see-through macs, voluminous fur coats - and that's just for the boys. It's no wonder that fashion shows so often prompt that age-old question: "Yes, but who would actually wear this stuff?" As London Fashion Week kicks off in a few days' time and websites and newspaper pages are filled with guys decked out like demented parrots, the question will be asked again - even more so later this year when the next London Fashion Week will feature even more menswear than ever before. So, to ponder that query again - just who would wear this stuff? We may mock, but the answer, believe or not, is you and me. Pretty much all of us, actually. Here's how.

From catwalk to high street in just a season

"There's a close connection between the catwalk and what appears on the high street," says Rob Phillips, creative director of the School of Design and Technology at the London College of Fashion.

"You can trace key cuts, details and colours from the catwalk which filter down onto the high street. Sometimes it will take a season - but often given the speed and efficiency of high street fashion brands - some trends can end up on the shop floor in a matter of weeks."

He adds: "A good example of how trends from the catwalk end up on the high street is the influence of Prada's spring summer 2011 menswear collection, which featured highly designed flat form, in other words, solid soul or creeper shoes - you can see their influence all over the high street right now - they've become a huge trend. Brands that traditionally produced flat form shoes have also seen their profits leap."

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Colours on the catwalk we'll soon be wearing

Mustard is a colour that menswear and womenswear designers have been showing frequently on the catwalks in New York and London - and sure enough mustard-coloured chinos are already making their way into shops on the high street. More generally, Primark, for instance, boasts that, "once a style is identified it can take from as little as six weeks to reach stores." Zara, on the other hand, with its own manufacturers and distributors, aims to cut that time lag to just two weeks.

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Who's actually at the catwalk shows?

The main clothing retailers don't usually attend the fashion shows. These celebrations of the bizarre and over-the-top are reserved for media, niche store buyers, photographers and, increasingly, celebrities. But even our most well-established, mainstream clothing stores are watching carefully.

Tony O'Connor, head of design for menswear at Marks & Spencer says, "We always pay close attention to the catwalk trends, in particular for our newest brand Limited Collection, as this is our fastest moving trend collection, updated every six to eight weeks. The Limited Collection man shops for the trends, and likes to see strong styles that are very much of the moment. The spring/summer collection took inspiration from the catwalk shows to feature brightly coloured modern sportswear, a look which targets the more fashion-conscious man who likes to combine designer and high street looks."

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Professional stylists for celebrities

Karen Jacobs has worked as a stylist for actors and footballers, helping them choose the clothes that will suit them when they're on the red carpet or doing photoshoots.

"It's actually quite difficult to avoid being influenced by the catwalk," she says. "The colours you'll see, for instance, are reflected in everything from interior design to the paint used on cars. When the late Alexander McQueen had trousers in his shows that showed off women's bums everyone thought he'd gone too far. But then the manufacturers started doing hipster jeans for women and now guys are wearing their trousers very low slung. Think of the baggy, drop crotch chinos you see around at the moment."

"We use observations from catwalk shows and reinterpret them into a high street context to create a picture for the year ahead," says Matt McCormack, head of menswear buying for John Lewis. Here too, the fashion shows guide colours for each season.

"The muted, sun-bleached shades at Kenzo and the orange hues at the Hermès and Dries Van Noten shows have influenced the colour palette of our SS12 John Lewis & Co collection, which includes a spectrum of blues from pastel to indigo and red, orange and tabasco."

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Still don't believe us?

The influence of the catwalk over the mainstream can be more subtle. Over the last few seasons at London Fashion Week and in the shows in Milan, New York and Paris, there was much debate over the sight of ultra-slim, size zero-style male models wearing skinny jeans. Now, a little while afterwards, the skinny look - for both legs and for jeans - is taken for granted by guys shopping in every high street.

Similarly, beards and slicked back partings were a feature on the menswear catwalks two or three years ago - and they're now commonplace.

They might be about theatre and froth but the fashion shows are also about money. Together, total consumer spending on this designer and high-end wear is estimated to have been £2.5 billion at retail prices in 2009, according to the British Fashion Council, organisers of London Fashion Week. This figure is multiplied up nearly 10 times when it comes to the mainstream clothing business and high street shops. No wonder buyers and designers watch carefully.

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Catching up with the catwalk online

But technology is now speeding up the catwalk-to-high-street transition and allowing many more of us to take part in the process. Designers such as Burberry and Gucci are streaming their shows live online while last year Dolce & Gabbana made theirs available for iPhone users.

Social media is also having a profound effect. "Trends are dissected and examined in seconds and the conversation can travel across the globe via Twitter and Facebook," says Rob Phillips of the London College of Fashion, which also streams its shows. "Social media is changing the way we consume fashion and it plays a key role in influencing and inspiring consumer choices."

Some looks might find the transition from runway to store a little harder going, though. For example, a major theme at the menswear shows over the last seasons has been skirts. Last year Givenchy showed them in bird of paradise patterns while Comme des Garçons had a male model in a severe black skirt. When will this look make the leap? Hopefully never.

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