John Skelton Q&A

Fashion week is first and foremost about fashion. But it doesn't end with the clothes. Which is why we've enlisted a man on the ground to bring everything to life. Taking us through the full whirlwind experience that is the men's collections in Milan and Paris is John Skelton, creative director of oki-ni. He'll be updating us as the fun unfolds on anything and everything that catches his eye...

What do you do?

I do my best to bring the best brands and products in the world to our customers here at oki-ni.com

Where are you based?

We’re based in the very nice four marketing building just off old street

How many seasons have you attended?

I've been buying for around 11 years now so around 22 I guess.

What’s your most memorable moment?

Raf’s SS02 show in Paris. My favourite ever collection to date.

What’s the best thing about a fashion week?

When you’ve trawled through any amounts of brands and seen a hundred shit shows but then eventually come up on something that blows your mind and that you really want to get involved with. That’s the best feeling for me

And the worst?

Missing your flights, forgetting about appointments, turning up to the wrong address for a show, forgetting that a brand has moved showrooms, losing your diary, leaving invites in a car, calling somebody the wrong name, sleeping in, your phone bill at the end of the trip, Parisian taxi drivers, not being able to speak French/Italian when you’re 20 mins late for something, having to take 2 weeks worth of winter clothes away with you and having 4 hours sleep a night for the duration. Apart from that its great.

What do you look for whilst there?

Anything that inspires me really, especially brands that are just doing there own thing and that have a completely unique approach. That for me is what this whole thing is about. I also look out for old, familiar faces. There are some beautiful and extremely interesting souls in this industry.

Is there anything you avoid?

Not really. Inevitably at the end of the trip there will be things that you wish you had avoided but any experience is a good experience I suppose.

How do you remember what you see?

I should say because I have an amazing ability to remember everything, but unfortunately I don’t. Tshe way I get round that is that I just write all my orders (the mass majority of them) on the spot, so once I have left the showroom I don’t have to worry about it until it turns up 6 months later.

What’s the single best tip you can pass on for getting through it?

Get to bed. Most of the parties are wack anyway