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Gillette Goes To Fashion Week

Procter & Gamble's Gillette brand is focusing on menswear during New York Fashion Week via a partnership with MADE, a six-year-old program comprising 50 fashion shows and presentations, parties, concerts, panel discussions and Web elements at milkmade.com. The year-round platform for new fashion, music, art and pop-culture talent also offers consumer brands sponsorship opportunities.

Thus, the MADE for Gillette Menswear Program, whose locus will be Milk Studios on Manhattan's West Side. The week-long affair begins with a panel discussion under the aegis of the New School's Parsons division, and moderated by Simon Collins, dean of the School of Fashion. 

The Feb. 10 panel will delve into the future of menswear in the global fashion industry and how trends in male grooming play a role in overall style. Gillette spokesperson, hip-hop artist and actor Common will also be part of the panel, according to P&G.

The program also includes a pop-up store called The Blind Barber for Gillette, billed as a combo barber shop/lounge. The Gillette program with MADE also includes a series of events from Feb. 9 to 12 touting 10 menswear designers: Antonio Azzuolo, Assembly, Band of Outsiders, Carlos Campos, NUMBER:Lab, Oumlil, Patrik Ervell, Public School, Simon Spurr, and Tim Hamilton. The designers will hold a fashion show at Milk that pairs the designers' sartorial inventions with outré facial-hair styles.

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For Gillette, the program is a springboard for the launch of the new Gillette Fusion ProGlide Styler 3-in-1 styling tool. “Gillette is stepping quite consciously into the style space given the increasing role that men’s grooming plays in fashion and overall style,” said Austin Lally, VP and GM of Gillette, Global Male Grooming at P&G. “Partnering with MADE and these prominent menswear designers for Fashion Week is a natural progression for Gillette,” Lally said.

The Blind Barber for Gillette, which will be at Milk, is actually an extension of an East Village establishment that combines a barbershop with a bar. Common will participate in the unveiling of the pop-up version with Blind Barber owners Joshua Boyd, Adam Kirsch and Jeff Laub. The temporary establishment will offer haircuts, trims and facial hair styling using the new Gillette Fusion ProGlide Styler.

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