Paul Smith Spring/Summer 2016 show

We were all on the edge of our seats when we saw Paul Smith's bike stunts and Jimmy Choo's skateboarding tricks for their London Collection: Men's shows.

It was all about movement at London Collections: Men, which showcased a series of sporty collections designed for the urban man on the go.

First up was British designer Paul Smith, who revived his Autumn/Winter 2015 creation ‘A Suit To Travel In' for the brand's Spring/Summer 2016 collection. Combining a high-performing textile with confident use of color and contemporary construction, the suit is crease-resistant thanks to the high-twist yarn it is made from.

Woven loosely for breathability and available in a series of vibrant hues from rich pastels to citrus shades, the suit is both smart and sporty. Smith exploited his love of cycling to show off the practicalities of the design, using freestyle stunt cyclist Ben Savage to model it while balancing precariously on a series of sculptural art pieces.

Then there was all-American brand Tommy Hilfiger, which showed at London Collections: Men for the first time in the event's history. The brand, which recently recruited tennis champion Rafael Nadal as its global ambassador, showcased its new underwear collection on live models within a sports locker stage setup.

The designer also used the occasion to debut his brand's sporty "TH Flex" capsule collection, featuring suits, shirts and outerwear made of high performance fabrics and designed for the "active, urban man" and modelled by athletic mannequins in active stances on a tennis court-inspired set.

Jimmy Choo also adopted the same mentality for its Spring/Summer 2016 collection, debuting a series of hybrid formal/sporty shoes modelled by premier league skateboarders and BMX riders at a purpose-built Jimmy Choo Sporting Club skatepark in the UK capital.

"The man of today -- the man I see on the street -- is a liberated man of action," explained Creative Director Sandra Choi. "The fault lines that used to run between the formal and the informal, the sartorial and the sporting, or the technical and the extrovert are rapidly fading."

 

(Source: AFP Relaxnews; Photos: All respective brands)

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