Tonight at a special event hosted by the British Fashion Council in Paris, GQ Editor Dylan Jones launched London Collections: Men, a menswear-specific fashion week for London in June. Here is his speech from earlier this evening and stay tuned   for more information as we get it…

“I have to say that this is probably the worst-kept secret in the fashion industry. From June onwards, menswear is going to have its own London Fashion Week. This means that, from this season, London will host three days of men’s fashion shows.

Menswear has never been so important in this country and the extraordinary appetite for menswear can be seen at all levels, from the High Street to Bond Street. The men’s day during London Fashion Week has grown and grown to such an extent that it is now too squeezed to remain one day. This week will be called London Collections: Men.

From June 2012, London will kick start the menswear calendar with a menswear showcase embedded in a cross-cultural programme bringing together the very best of British style. Savile Row, Bond Street, Mount Street, street fashion, tailoring – and everything in between. The dates are June 15-17, with a special launch event on the evening of Thursday 14 June.

The question is: why now? As I say, men’s day during London Fashion Week has outgrown itself. What started as an opportunity to showcase emerging talent ignited a strong desire for British designers and brands to have an event that reinforces the talent, the breadth of design and the heritage of this important British industry.

And the reason we’re doing it this season is because this year, London is the gateway to the world thanks to the Queen’s Jubilee, the Olympics and all the activity in London between. This year, all eyes are on London and we want all eyes to be on our industry too.

What will be taking place? Fashion shows, sales exhibitions, installations and a whole calendar of events that will enable guests to experience British menswear from many different perspectives and encourage sales of some of the most innovative designers in menswear today.

The central hub of London Collections will be the Hospital Club, the private member’s club in Covent Garden with broadcast and live streaming facilities as well as space for films, presentations and showrooms.

Which designers will participate? Those designers who already participate in men’s day at London Fashion Week, Fashion East designers, NewGen Men designers (if you want a taste of this emerging talent then make sure that you visit London showrooms in the Marais), but remember these designers are just the tip of the iceberg, to whet your appetite for the wealth of talent you can see in London. You will experience the best of Savile Row from Richard James to E Tautz, and iconic British brands including Dunhill, Aquascutum and Margaret Howell.

However we are also in discussion with other brands. We have only just started these conversations and will update you on men’s day at LFW.

I am also creating a special committee. A few of the people on the committee are David Furnish, Elizabeth Saltzman, Tim Blanks, the Mayor’s office, Marigay McKee, David Walker-Smith, Jeremy Langmead, Gordon Richardson and Jo Levin to name only a few. More names will be added in the coming weeks. If you see a tall, bald man sidle up to you looking shifty, it will be me, asking you to be on the committee.

We have a lot of work to do, but I’d like to thank you in advance for all your help. We can only make this initiative work if we have the support of the industry and the press. Media support for men’s fashion week will be crucial, and I’m asking you to kindly support us. Well, not just us, but the menswear industry as a whole.

I’d also like thank all the designers for their support and all media and retailers for their support of British fashion. Thank you to Topman who have believed in a British menswear programme for some time and supported men’s day at LFW.

I’d also like to say a big thank you to Mr Porter, who have come on board as a sponsor for this initiative. Mr Porter is a fantastically important initiative itself, and it’s great that we are able to work together.

I am also hosting an international GQ conference on Monday 18 June, to ensure that all the editors, including China, Brazil, France, Italy and every other territory, are represented in London.

Finally, I’d like to beg your indulgence, and ask you all to support what we all hope will be a great new initiative for British fashion.”

London Collections: Men runs from June 15-17.

“I never wear one,” Antoine Arnault, the 34-year-old son of luxury tycoon Bernard Arnault told AFP on the sidelines of the first ever menswear show by the LVMH-owned shoemaker Berluti — where ties were a full part of the look.

“Except on Monday afternoons when I have appointments with my father. If I didn’t have a tie I’d be the odd one out.” On Saturday, his father was tie-less as he sat front row at the Dior Homme show — a fact that did not go unnoticed by the fashionista crowd. “It’s the weekend,” whispered one.

Silence descended on the vast domed tennis club, as the first suited model stepped out with a tie, dark and slim, like the majority of the looks sent out by the house’s young Belgian designer Kris Van Assche.

Ties were similarly ubiquitous at Hermes or Raf Simons — where there was a twist, with the necktie trapped between two shirt collars layered at different heights.

And where there were no ties there was often the suggestion of one — in a strip of silk scarf visible under the collar at Paul Smith, or a crossed kimono-style silk shirt at Louis Vuitton.

Karl Lagerfeld for one never steps out without a tie.

“I have worn one all my life — starting at school,” he told AFP after the Dior Homme show. “I can’t stand people looking dishevelled — especially after age 35!” Because age is critical when it comes to the tie.

“For a few years now older men, businessmen have started going without a tie to look younger,” the luxury industry consultant Jean-Jacques Picart told AFP on the sidelines of Kenzo’s menwear show, which worked a generous helping of ties into a look billed as urban, cool and “on the go… So it’s only normal for young people to reclaim them.”

The problem with going tie-less, said Picart, is that most shirts are designed for a tie. You have to choose a collar that buttons very high on the neck for it to look right — and there are not many of those out there.

Plus, past a certain age, the “neck can look a bit scrawny — a bit like a chicken or turkey’s neck” — a powerful argument in his view for putting the tie back in its place.

At Lanvin on Sunday there were no ties until the finale, but there were neckties for all the evening looks — save for a single bow-tie, a nod to the personal style of designer Alber Elbaz.

“Ties are a part of the suit that is coming back,” Elbaz confirmed. “Not the ties of our fathers or grandfathers. They are worn by a new generation that comes from sport, new technologies.

“It’s neither the world of the dandy nor of the boardroom.”

If Prada’s fall 2012 collection was a movie, it would be captivating drama focused on the anti-hero, stitching the notion of the villain in hard lines, high necks and strict silhouettes.

Staging a grand affair, Miuccia Prada found inspiration in how clothes can convey and elicit power.

Cast in the show were not just models, but actors who mirrored the mood of the collection. Not just chisel-jawed muscle men, but the likes of Adrien Brody, Jamie Bell and Gary Oldmen who epitomize serious endurance, although laced with eccentricity. They walked down the ramp in clothes fabricated with the same power that they portray in their craft, excellence – and win awards for it.

The collection smacked of the military, not in look as much in attitude; somber and constrained with a high degree of simplicity. There were stripes and double breasted coats, complete with pocket ornaments and familiar silhouettes. Velvet collars and fur trimmed lapels set the mood, while large round glasses reinforced endurance.

Miuccia’s creativity is applaudable, as even though oscar winning actors sashayed down the red carpet, it was her thrilling clothes that played the lead.

Giorgio Armani’s Fall Winter men’s collection showcased at the Milan Fashion week 2012 was a coming together of two worlds that merged seamlessly.

A phenomenal show, the collection was about a new look that combined bold design with impeccable construction, inevitably expected by the King George.

Giorgio Armani’s tailored classics are widely celebrated, so he went ahead and added a new dimension, revamping the standard silhouette. The collection surprised as the traditions of the past flowed smoothly into a more dynamic present. An interpretation of formality, never relaxed on precision of lines and cuts, Armani embraced stretch fabrics and loose fits for the Fall. While velvet pants ballooned in shape, only to fall into a tapered finish, the double-breasted jacket was at once laid-back.

There was a touch of sensuality, in the use of luxurious materials like alligator, velvets, luminous skin and other tissues that gave rich tactile sensations coupled with thick wool and tweed. There was frequent use of jersey, precisely defining the silhouette while ensuring flexibility.

Familiar black and grey palette was accented with sparks of bright blue as a true reflection of Armani’s man this year, who is strikingly sharp though relaxed in his understated confidence.

Players from Bath Rugby have joined the scrum to get a look at the new Sport and Fashion exhibition, which opens at Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Fashion Museum on 4 February.

Team mates Francois Louw, Matt Carraro and Nathan Catt took part in a photo shoot to support the year-long exhibition which showcases the winning combination between the sport and fashion worlds.

The men got to grips with one of the many fascinating items on display – a unique dress made out of a variety of rugby shirts, designed by Gary Harvey – and staged an attempt to tackle model Fiona Burgess.

The rugby dress highlights Gary Harvey’s success in ‘eco-fashion’. His technique of using discarded clothing as the basis of his work has won many admirers, including Livia Firth, wife of the actor Colin Firth, who paraded Harvey’s creations on the red carpet at last year’s Oscar and Bafta award ceremonies.

Ed Williams, Player Liaison and Social Media Manager, for Bath Rugby, said: “When we were approached by Bath & North East Somerset Council to see if Bath Rugby would like to get involved in the Sport and Fashion exhibition there was absolutely no doubt in our mind that we wanted to be part of it.

“The City of Bath is steeped in sporting tradition and through the ages has been a centre of fashion excellence in the South West which has helped really put Bath on the map as a cultural hub.

“Sport and fashion have long been closely linked and this is no better demonstrated than Adidas and Stella McCartney joining forces to design the British Olympic Team Sportswear for 2012 London Olympics.”

With over 50 pieces on display, the show offers something for everyone – from the sports enthusiast to the casual follower of fashion or those with a passing interest in popular culture. As Great Britain prepares to celebrate the London 2012 Olympics, the Sport and Fashion exhibition will trace how historic sportswear has influenced the creations of contemporary designers.

Councillor Cherry Beath (Lib-Dem, Combe Down), Cabinet Member for Sustainable Development, said: “We’re very grateful to Bath Rugby for supporting this exhibition, which emphasises the successful link between sport and fashion. We hope it will encourage a wide variety of people to visit the unique displays on show at the Fashion Museum as part of Bath & North East Somerset Council’s programme of activities designed to celebrate the 2012 Olympics coming to Great Britain.”

Exhibits include historic skiing and tobogganing outfits; such as the red, white and blue suit that gold medal-winner Amy Williams wore at the 2010 Winter Olympics – alongside up-to-the-minute fashion pieces like a gold and silver body suit by designer Pam Hogg, who also designs second skin stage wear for the singer Jessie J.

Um,

Picture the scene. A luxurious hotel suite, with views over parkland and the New Forest beyond. I’ve just had a free massage in the spa, and am about to go for champagne and dinner with Pearl Lowe and her pop star husband.

On my pillow nestles a new iPod Touch. In the wardrobe, a complete collection of new clothes with a note saying I am to ‘take them home’.

This was last summer. Was I being entertained by Versace, the generous Italian fashion brand, which once treated me to dinner in the family villa overlooking Lake Como? Or Tod’s, who invited me to join them on board a yacht in Capri?

It might surprise you, given the news last week that it is about to appoint an administrator, that my host was Peacocks, the budget fashion chain.

At the time, I remember being staggered at the profligacy (I left the clothes in the wardrobe and donated the iPod to Scope in Ilfracombe) to promote a range of £40 tea dresses ‘designed’ by Pearl Lowe for a presumably fat fee.

While Peacocks’ boss, Richard Kirk, who owns 30 per cent of the company, cites servicing its debts  — mostly from its expansion into 600 stand-alone stores and concessions — as the main reason for its difficulties, I can’t help thinking the brand had ideas above its station.

Yet another example of its big spending was a shoot last year for its swimwear collection, ‘designed’ by Pearl’s daughter, Daisy. The location was superstar photographer Rankin’s studio in North London.

At one point, I counted 27 people in the room, watching Daisy pose in £20 swimsuits. Compare this to the way online retailer Asos operates: a cost-effective line of clothes shot using non-starry models, by photographers probably on £200 a day, not £20,000. No surprise, then, that Asos has reported a rise in sales.

Compare, too, the five-star Limewood Hotel, which is where the Peacocks jaunt took place, to one of its actual shops. While Peacocks has several branches in London, it has no flagship store on Oxford Street, which is a crucial failing.

While the brand is aimed at the under-25s, both in years and salaries, they need an aspirational flagship store to provide kudos. The store I visited — on Kingsland Road in Dalston, next to a betting shop — had the usual £5 T-shirts, denim shorts and cheap, boxy polyester jackets. Polka dots and leopard spots swam before my eyes.