Mr Porter managing director Toby Bateman, designer Oliver Spencer and Thread head of business development Terry Betts will be taking part in a panel discussion on the impact of technology on the menswear’s market at London Fashion Week Men’s on 12 June 2017.
The exclusive event will take place at Grooming Room, Century Club, Soho at 4.30pm on Monday 12 June and is being staged by The Industry in partnership with the Société Fashion Accelerator Program. The Industry‘s Editor in Chief Lauretta Roberts will be moderating the discussion and will also be joined by Société Group board member Martyna Panczak.
Martyna Panczak
“We are delighted to be partnering with Société on this event and feel very fortunate to have been able to assemble a line-up of three of the menswear market’s leading names, for this discussion. We’re certain to be in for a lively and informative discussion, which will act as a fitting finale to Fashion Week,” said Roberts.
The panel will be discussing how technology has impacted the way men consume information about fashion and shop for fashion (and how brands and retailers are exploiting technology to make the shopping process easier and more effective), as well as its impact on the design process.
About the speakers:
Toby Bateman, managing director Mr Porter
Toby Bateman leads luxury men’s online retailer Mr Porter with responsibilty across all departments including marketing, buying, personal shopping, tech and editorial. He joined the business as Buying Director in late 2010 and was responsible for growth from 80 brands at launch to over 400 for FW 2017. In November 2015 he was promoted to Managing Director.
Bateman began his career at House of Fraser in 1996 progressing to Buyer for Men’s Formalwear. In 2004 he joined Harvey Nichols as Buyer, and from there he moved to Selfridges becoming Buying Manager across all menswear departments.
Oliver Spencer, menswear designer
Straight out of art school, Oliver Spencer was making a living selling second hand clothes on Portobello Road when he was given the opportunity to raid the seconds rolls of Stephen Walters’ silk mill. Full of ideas, he jumped at the chance to turn the leftover ecclesiastical fabrics he found into waistcoats. With the opening of the Piccadilly Arcade store, the Favourbrook brand was born.
The Oliver Spencer label was founded in 2002. With the Oliver Spencer brand, Spencer wanted to create something new: a range of clothing with all the quality and craft of premium tailoring, but with a relaxed modern style. From a single shop on London’s Lambs Conduit Street, Oliver Spencer has gone on to open four more shops, and an international online business — as well as being stocked in many of the world’s leading department stores, from Selfridges to Liberty of London to Mr Porter. The brand was the winner of Menswear Designer at the WGSN Global Fashion Awards 2013 and has been nominated for British Menswear Designer at the British Fashion Awards.
Spencer is an active member of the British fashion community, and lectures on the Menswear course at the University of the Arts Central Saint Martins school.
Terry Betts, head of business development, Thread
Terry Betts is responsible for business development and brand partners at Thread, the start-up men’s personal shopping platform, which provides online style advice for hundreds of thousands of men using real-life human stylists and sophisticated algorithms.
He has more than 20 years’ experience in the menswear industry - from being part of the launch team at Mr Porter, International Designer buyer at Harvey Nichols, Buying Director at Selfridges and also as a member of the NewGen selection panel for the British Fashion Council.
Martyna Panczak, board member, Société Group
Martyna Panczak is a board member of the Société Group, leading its fashion operations. She directs Société Fashion Accelerator Program – a pro-bono initiative providing professional environment to foster Central European fashion talents; oversees brick-and-mortar and online Société retail channels development and collaborates with the MBFW Central Europe, managing international press and buyer relations.
She is also a faculty member at Mod’Art International running Fashion Brand Management and Buying & Merchandising courses for BA students.
Event timings and venue:
Monday 12 June, 4.30pm-7.00pm
Grooming Room, Century Club, 61-63 Shaftesbury Ave, Soho, London
RSVP:
This event is free to attend for members of The Industry; a limited number of additional tickets are available for fashion industry professionals and press. Please email [email protected]
To become a member of The Industry please visit our Join Us page.
