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.

EXCLUSIVE - INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS & MARK FROM DESPERATE SCOUSEWIVES

Reality shows were the big success story from T.V. land last year. TOWIE, Made in Chelsea and Geordie Shore seen huge success with ratings and TOWIE even won a BAFTA Award! No surprise then that latest reality show, this time from Liverpool, has seen a similar success.

Desperate Scousewives focuses on the glamour of the city, from the ladies through to the architecture and the history. Much like the reality shows before it, Desperate Scousewives follows a group of people and their often turbulent relationships.

Mansnaps was pleased to catch up with two of Desperate Scouswives leading men, couple Chris and Mark. Whilst the show has seen the ladies constantly dressing to impress, the loved up couple have certainly been representing for the boys! Apart from their style, the show has followed the ups and downs in their relationship as they consider having children, a dilemma which all relationships face, gay and straight.

Here is what they had to say about the show, their relationship and their style!

Hello both! How have you found the filming of Desperate Scousewives
C: At first I didn't want to do the show but mark talked me around to it. T.V. wasn't something I'd ever wanted to get into but now in loving it! It's been hard work and sometimes you want to say "enough" but at the end we've got a great final product and met some great people.
M: It's been one of the most enjoyable things I've done, it's been hard yet we've been offered a great opportunity to show how great our city is and put out a great image for the gay community.

On the show we've seen your relationship go through some ups and downs? How difficult is it go through that whilst being filmed?
C: Filming those scenes was tough and doing stuff so close to your heart is always going to be. Mark and I have a great relationship but even the best has it's flaws! Kids has always been an issue but spending time away made me realise that they're not for us right now.
M: It's been strenuous and challenging but Chris and I are fully commited to each other.

You're often seen with bags and bags of shopping, where do you like to shop?
C: I love Zara , Topman and River Island. I always find something in those stores! I'm definitely a high street guy with the occasional designer splurge.
M: Like Chris, we shop in the same places but ive got to add ASOS too!

Mansnaps is all about fashion for the Everyman and obtainable fashion from the high st. Are you fans of the high st?
C: As I said before the high st is my favourite, you'll always find something there. I tend to buy something and customise it. I love the sales too, you can't beat a good sale!
M: Big fans! When it comes to shopping I'm all for quantity and quality and you definitely get that on the high st.

A big focus on Desperate Scousewives is the glamour of the ladies from Liverpool. Do you feel pressure to keep up with the girls or have you always dressed well?
C: God of course! Wouldn't you? Our Liverpool girls always look über hot and we definitely feel the need to pull out all the stops. In the city we have some amazing boutiques the girls never let the side down. I haven't always been clued up, I think that came in with age.
M: I think Liverpool girls love to experiment with fashion so it's never been a fixed thing. I think personally if you have an eye for the right kind of thing then you can't go wrong! Also, with working in the beauty industry, women love to gossip and with that you learn to look at what's in and what's not so it becomes easy to follow.

Where do you get your style inspiration from?
C: I get my inspiration from magazines, T.V. and from being out and about watching our guys and girls doing there thing.
M: I am quite simple, if I like it I will buy it! I won't go for something every one else has. If it's smart, trendy and a bit different i'll have it.

What's your favourite item of clothing in your wardrobe right now?
C: At the minute I'm loving a pair of black jeans I got from Zara at Christmas. They're funny jeans with small leather panels down the sides, I've called them my "Jodie's jeans"!
M: I love all my winter clothes but my fave thing is my press picture jacket which is a leather buttoned army look jacket. I love it as there are only 5 ever made so it's a find.

What can we expect from you both after series one? More TV?
C: Hopefully series 2, you'll see us out and about. I'd love to stay in T.V. and maybe do Ant and Dec's job!
M: I have huge passion for T.V. and have had an amazing response from the public! Hopefully series 2 but if not, maybe something like presenting or you never know, Chris and I could have a loose woman type of show. Who knows? haha!