London Calling! Your Ticket To London Fashion Week’s Hottest Runways
Straight off the plane from New York and touchdown on the streets of London, Last Thursday saw the start of this September’s London Fashion Week. Taken into unprecedented times following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the scheduled event fell during the period of National Mourning and the Royal Funeral, changing the tone to one more sombre and reflective than we’ve ever experienced before. Continuing, whilst observing Royal Protocol, the event was dedicated to Her Majesty with the industry uniting as a creative and business community to celebrate her legacy and commitment to creativity and design.
Marking the return of LFW, the likes of Daniel W Fletcher and Isabel Manns took to their designs runway, alongside Tammam’s 15 year anniversary and 2023 FUTURE catwalk collection. Over the weekend, we were given an insight to the upcoming collections from Paul Costelloe, RIXO, Rui Rui Deng and many more; before saying goodbye to the September edition of the UK capital’s Fashion Week with Emilia Wickstead, Susan Fang and Klamby all showcasing their take on the next year’s upcoming seasons.
The occasion was one that celebrated a diverse range of talents from designers to models, for example Eudon Choi’s blissful show inspired by the writer and filmmaker Jean Cocteau to Poster Girl’s nostalgia driven 2000s collection. However, one thing’s for certain, London’s stylish offering demands for more size inclusivity across the board.
It all sounds exciting right? Well, join us as we take you on your very own London Fashion Week rundown!
Fashion East
Non-profit designer support and showcasing scheme, Fashion East held yet another runway this September to give up-and-coming designers the opportunity to share their stylish creativity with the world. With alumni including, Kim Jones OBE, Simone Rocha, Wales Bonner, JW Anderson and Roksanda (just to name a few!); on Friday we saw Brazilian designer, Karoline Vitto lovingly celebrate our curves and natural beauty with her subtly sexy line-up of spaghetti straps, unapologetic cut-outs, and sophisticated designs – sense of freshness in the industry. Jawara Alleyne‘s creations embody an agenda of cropped garments, strappy fringing, intricate mesh cuts and figure-loving silhouettes. Whilst Standing Ground capture the understated elegance of maxi dresses, as they hug the figure before draping onto the floor. With innovative cuts and gathering of fabrics, this collection captures a whole new realm for the maxi dress like we’ve never seen before – but we are most certainly here for it.
JW Anderson
Talk about a show-stopper! JW Anderson did not come to play with his SS23 collection, which was showcased to the world from the floor of a London arcade. Fusing the online world with real life, this show spoke all things technology – even with odes to the classic computer keyboard keys, spelling ‘JWA’ upon staple midi dresses and topped off with a hip-high leg slit. One model was dressed in a humorous mini dress printed with a swimming goldfish, before the one shoulder strap gathered with a tie and excess fabric – mimicking a goldfish in a plastic bag. Undoubtedly the star of the show arrived as a mirrored silver orb-shaped mini dress, which added an editorial drama to the collection. This is definitely one for the history books (or should we say internet?)
Simone Rocha
Fashion and law become one as Simone Rocha invited her guests at The Old Bailey to present her Spring/Summer offering. Unexpectedly debuting her menswear collection, which saw similar style crossovers to that of her womenswear garments including exaggerated tulle frills and utility pieces, we said hello to another instalment of Rocha’s neutral monochromatic-toned aesthetic. From satin bomber jackets and zipped cream trousers, to summer wool, cut-out detailing and constructed volume, all speaking fragility, remorse, anger and nature. Our favourite? The metallic puffed shoulder mini dress with harnessed suspenders that trailed behind the model.
JU-NNA
Saturday welcomed JU-NNA to the runway with Fashion Scout to introduce their new SS23 collection, a landscape where structure and fluidity can co-exist. Bridging linear geometric shapes with spontaneous doodles, the collection uses neoprene and silk to combine the bold yet casual originality of Tokyo street style with the femininity and luxe JU-NNA design. With a focus on pastel hues and brand-new prints, the new styles also remains dedicated to traditional Japanese Shibori heritage as Asian artisans process traditional aesthetics on organic cotton and linen and in 3D on recycled polyester and silk. The result? A structural but delicate sustainable backdrop for the collection – a modern twist on classic traditional art.
oqLiq
Spotlighting their 23SS collection, Taiwan-based high-end performance fashion brand oqLiq used NIKE as the attire’s semiotic theme, whilst also weaving the Chinghsing tea culture into the show. Combining streetwear with urban outdoor clothing, the brand stay true to their 10 year history of championing performance technical fabrics, alongside the concept of sustainable design, by using innovative mental coating technology to create an ultra-lightweight Radiax titanium insulation, that retains body heat and efficiently accelerates body warmth. The concept for resilient “Aura Protection” incorporates protection into the wire mesh totem and replicates the military Ripstop texture by crafting an invisible 3D weave camouflage, for a highly dramatic integrated design.
Yonghao Xie
Fashion Scout was back again on Sunday as Chinese-born, Antwerp-based designer, Yonghao Xie presented his SS23 collection, “INTO A BETTER WORLD”. Revolving around the serious damage to the natural environment caused by electronic waste, nuclear pollution and war, Yonghao Xie uses his contemporary aesthetic of darkness and authenticity to make people pay attention to the environmental protection and build a utopia of a better living space. However, this season he brightened up the runway with pops of blue, purple, deep magenta and sunset citrus shades of orange and yellow (alongside his usual dark monochromatic palette), as his dramatic draped garment took the centre stage. Memorable moments included the fiery waterfall fringe-esque pleating that took to a pair of black trousers and the circular colourful visors that dressed some of the models faces.
APUJAN
With previous shows having paid tribute to classic mystery and detective novels, Tuesday morning saw APUJAN‘s latest show Fantasy Hotel in the Sky combine fashion with drama whilst also bearing a nod to the classic “Journey to the West” – evident throughout the show’s characters and accessories. With more than 30 sets of new clothing items featured throughout, including knitted sweaters, suits, dresses, printed shirts and accessories including knitted bags in the shape of gourds an dinosaur tails and 3D printed masks, these ready-to-wear pieces are an example of APUJAN’s development of new fabrics, knitting and prints this season. Celebrating spring and summer colourways from sky blue and emerald green to soft pink and earthy brown, highlights of the collection include a kaleidoscopic pattern representing the world reflected in a mirror and jacquard displays of the sky.
Istituto Marangoni X British Fashion Council
Making their exclusive LFW debut, prestigious fashion and design school, Istituto Marangoni globally showcased 10 of their student’s craftsmanship and visions on Tuesday evening at Victoria House in Bloomsbury Square. Marking their patronage of the British Fashion Council, the showcase featured 6 of each budding designer’s creations under the theme “Sense Datum” – Latin for enriching and expanding the senses. With school’s notable alumni, from the likes of Domenico Dolce from D&G, Alessandro Sartori and Gilda Ambrosio, the show had high expectations of giving the audience an insight into their dynamic designs. Standouts included Erin Kaya’s sartorial tailoring that gave us a glimpse of the body’s silhouette with her clever sculptural silhouettes, Guia Dell’osso’s vibrancy whilst placing a contrasting focus of form-flattering pieces paired with garments that extenuated features of the body, and lastly Shanie Bellanger’s warm autumnal tones adorned on patterned mesh blouses with dramatic puff sleeves.
Shahini Fakhourie
As the creative week of design drew to a close, Shahini Fakhourie displayed her SS23 exhibition, Synthetic Femininity, on Tuesday evening. In light of the structural socio-economic and political changes that have taken place in the USA, with reproductive rights and equality under attack and an increasing wage gap, her latest collection represents the separation of femininity and masculinity in society and more people rejecting the traditional gender roles. Synthetic Femininity loses the label of feminine societal norms and lets its wearer create their own image of this this idea means to them, by embracing the feminine and masculine from within and finding an overall balance. In response to this, we see a daring colour palette of midnight black and hot pink where monochrome meets bold in the form of shirts, straight leg trousers and even a bomber jacket emblazoned with a variety of inspiring patches.
Missed your flight to the Big Apple? Check out the rundown of NYFW here!
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