Another designer robbery as MAN designer James Long’s autumn/winter 2008-9 collection goes missing

This is becoming absurd, not to mention extremely frustrating to read about. Vogue.co.uk reports that MAN designer James Long has had his autumn/winter 2008-9 collection stolen. The young designer suffered at the hands of thieves a mere hours after his show took place last Friday. We reviewed the MAN show earlier in the week.

It is reported that in the early hours of the following morning, his Hackney studio was broken into and the entire collection pinched. "Everything, except a few accessories, was taken. They didn’t take my laptop, or anything else – just the collection," he said.

As police continue their investigation, Topman Design is offering Long its full support. "For a young designer, producing a collection is exhausting mentally, physically and financially, so to have everything stolen, straight after your show – especially as it was so well received by the press and buyers – is, quite frankly, devastating," Gordon Richardson, the label’s design director, told WGSN.

Whether it’s related to the same fashion bandits who have been terrorising London’s boutique owners and designers over the last 12 months is unclear, but preying on designers who have just presented their collections to the industry is pretty under-handed. I sincerely hope it isn’t some kind of publicity stunt, otherwise talk about coming down from a cloud with a thud!

[Image: Catwalking.com via Getty]