EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH BURTON

I love Burton. There I said it. Although, those of you who regularly follow Mansnaps will already know this and will also know how great I think their S/S collection is.

Now that my declaration of love is out, you can appreciate just how pleased I was that the Head of Design for Burton, Jonathan Lovett agreed to answer all of my questions about their upcoming collection.

Where does Burton get its inspiration from? Is it all catwalk based?

Many things inspire my design team and myself, we look far and wide from the streets of Leeds and Birmingham, the hot spots of London such as Spitalfields and Broadway Market and get to travel out to research trendy cities such as New York and Tokyo. The men's catwalk collections are a good measure of coming trends, they also help inspire but they are not our main focus. The important thing is to use all this trend information and turn it into clothes our Burton guy wants to buy and wear.

After attending your Press Day for High Summer I was impressed by Burton's take on the Olympics. What's your favourite looks from the summer collection?

Definitely the Festival collection, I really like the sun bleached colours and textures that make up the look.

I think it's fair to say that Topman is Arcadia's young men's fashion brand, although recently Burton seems to be stepping up a gear in terms of fashionability... Is this a sign of the modern, mature mans interest in fashion increasing or just pressure to compete on the high St?

A bit of both to be honest, my opinion is that when I think of someone in their thirties or forties they have been through the modern style revolution, they were probably more in tune with style as a young adult so they simply continue to maintain an interest in their appearance later on. Menswear is really exciting right now, there is a lot of choice in terms of style so we expect our customer to demand that from the Burton brand.

How much input/ do you have over the prints, particularly with things like your Ibiza inspired vests and t-shirts?

Alongside the jersey designer and buyer we all work together to choose what prints are going into the ranges so we all loved the Ibiza print collection.

The response to the James Corden for Trekstock t-shirt has been really positive from Mansnaps readers, have you got any other collaborations lined up?

We will continue to work on new design collaborations under the Trekstock umbrella. We are looking at new ideas constantly, watch this space!

Mansnaps has been featuring Burton since the beginning of the blog, how important do you feel blogs are to the success of the brand?

Very, they are a new kind of exposure and I see them only becoming ever more relevant.


Are there exciting new labels, launches or changes we can expect from Burton this year?

I have been working on a project under our Heritage range, Montegue Burton for this coming AW 2012. I can't say too much yet but I worked with one of the worlds leading fashion schools to come up with the concept, so far the garments are looking really cool.

Finally, what's your favourite piece from your summer collection?

I really want to wear more colour this season, I am already wearing colour chino's and want to extend that into shirts and tee's for the summer. So if I had to choose one piece it would be a bright blue chino or chino short.

Here are some of Mansnaps favourite pieces from the S/S collection.

PICKS OF THE WEEK

I don't know about you, but the past week has flown by here at Mansnaps! I've posted the exclusive interview with Desperate Scousewives stars Chris and Mark, a Moschino s/s12 inspired look, the TRUTH about my Wales Online interview, published Mansnaps FIRST Ebook, launched the search for a street style team and the launch of David Beckham's Bodywear collection for H&M.

And it looks like winter has finally arrived! Britain has seen freezing temperatures and even snow in some places this week. However the high st is focusing on warmer times ahead as their spring/summer collections continue to build. Pastel colours are coming through and what a great introduction to the season before we get to the primary colour blocking phase of summer.

Here are my top three pastel inspired picks of the week!

I seen this t-shirt when I attended Burton's High Summer Press Day and was tempted to steal it from the rail. I LOVE it! Ibiza inspired prints are going to be really big this spring/summer, and the washed out, pastel coloured print make it a perfect beach to party t-shirt.

If you're unsure of what to wear with your Ibiza print t-shirt then look no further. These chinos from Sol Cal at Republic are not only great value at £30 but the colour is amazing! A great colour for mixing with other pastel shades and they will take you from spring to the end of summer as this summer is all about COLOUR!

If you want to get involved with the pastel trend but your style is a bit more structured then this Ben Sherman polo shirt is for you! The multicoloured stripes make this really versatile and easy to wear and the button down collar gives it that smart, structured edge.

BURTON HIGH SUMMER PRESS DAY

On Wednesday I went along to Arcadia's High Summer press day to check out what Burton will have to offer this summer! Although the showroom was dominated by the womenswear brands, Burton's offering was a selective but exciting representation of what we can expect from them this summer!

On arrival I was offered a delicious smoothie and greeted by the lovely Tom, Burton's Press Officer who talked me through their summer collection.

Here are my four reasons to get excited about Burton's summer collection!

I LOVED the Hawaiian prints! They appeared on shirts and t-shirts and the colour palette was muted making it easier to wear unlike the prints usually seen on board shorts. Shirts had short sleeves making them a perfect layering piece over a basic vest or t-shirt. I think you can expect to see a lot of these in the festivals over the summer!

Reverse prints are great for the aztec and Hawaiian prints which might be a bit too adventurous for some of you. It's a simple idea, a bright image is printed on to the inside of the t-shirt which appears on the outside more muted. This works great on shirts and t-shirts making the trends easier to wear.

Burton's take on Ibiza day to night wear was a triumph! The short shorts, slub vests and washed out print t-shirts offer an effortlessly cool holiday look which can take you from the beach, straight to the club. The short shorts come in primary colours making them a perfect match for the printed tops and they also come in cool, stop and repeat prints which will work with a plain vest. Slub vests are perfect for summer, the loose fit and slightly longer length mean you don't get too hot and sticky - don't be afraid to go a size larger than you would do normally to ensure that the fit is loose.

The Olympics is going to be a big inspiration on the high st this summer and Burton are ready to compete. Although nothing in their summer collection comes with the word 'Olympic' it's easy to see that it doesn't need to. Using the colours from the Olympic rings as inspiration, striped t-shirts, hoodies, chinos and shorts create a sports luxe feel. Swim shorts were short, finally showing an end to board shorts which have dominated the high st in recent years. Stripes were the big feature on t-shirts for this look, as were cut and sew t-shirts creating a colour block. The primary colour mix, screams of 80's children's TV presenter but in a good way!