Top image: Backstage at Art School SS18, photography by Portia Hunt.

Since 2005, Topman and Fashion East have been extending their hands to a few hand-picked emerging designers each year, providing a platform for nascent talent through their MAN show on the LFWM schedule. Today, the support platform has announced the latest set of faces to grace the runway.

Brighton duo Rottingdean Bazaar and London’s gender-queer fashion collective Art School both return for a second season, and they will be joined by British newcomer, Stephan Cooke.

Cooke, who recently completed a menswear degree at Central Saint Martins culminating in an eye-catching showcase of androgynous cuts and futuristic textiles, will now see his creations presented at London Fashion Week Men’s in January 2018, supporting the narrative of the gender-fluid designs of Rottingdean Bazaar and Art School.

Cooke’s work has been selected by MAN’s distinguished industry panel and will join the ranks of MAN’s alumni Kim Jones, JW Anderson, Christopher Shannon, Martine Rose, Craig Green, Liam Hodges, Wales Bonner and Charles Jeffrey. “Last season’s extraordinary catwalk debuts of Art School and Rottingdean Bazaar marked a radical standout MAN show for me and we are thrilled to be working with them for a second season,” said Lulu Kennedy, Director of Fashion East. “And I’m super excited that brilliant new talent Stefan Cooke is joining our lineup, his meta print aesthetic stole the show at the Central Saint Martin’s graduate show and we can’t wait to see how he develops.”

The MAN show will take place on 7th January during LFWM.