UrbanUpdate

Beards are over, man! They’re over! That sentiment was also reflected on the runways at London Collections: Men. Menswear designers, seemingly ahead of the curve, cast more models with clean-shaven faces than rugged beardos. In fact, out of all the London shows we’ve covered, it looks like Oliver Spencer was the only one who didn’t get the memo, featuring a whopping ten beards out of thirty one looks. Keep in mind though, those ten beards held down facial hair in over 100 total looks at London Collections: Men.

What’s been more noticeable is that rather than let scruffy models walk down the runway, designers have opted to grow out facial hair themselves. Thus, the "London Backstage Beard" was born. It makes sense: In the weeks and days leading up to a fashion show, designers work their asses off, which can result in sleepless nights and stressful days. That means, foregoing shaving is forgivable. LCM’s three most powerful backstage beards? We rank them in order:

3. Christopher Bailey, Burberry Prorsum: The "barely there" beard is befitting of the CEO and Chief Creative Officer, but there’s literally room for growth here.

2. Simon Spurr, Kent & Curwen: Here’s a beard that says "this ain’t my first fashion rodeo," and the menswear veteran proved it with a collection as strong and refined as his facial hair.

1. Richard James, Richard James: This is a beard that clearly can’t be fucked with. It’s on some "Don’t talk about style, ’cause I’ll embarrass you" level.

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