We made it – London Fashion Week officially came to a close yesterday. From the dynamic talents of Labrum, to the new generation of London talent showing their graduate collections, this week has been a lot. That’s not to mention the world-first that the IoDF put together with Roksanda, or the always-anticipated talents at Fashion East. Here’s a snippet of London Fashion Week – the best bits, if you will. Let’s get into it.
GRADS
London has a reputation for championing and publicising the best emerging talent that the global fashion stage has to offer. There is one uni who’s grad to design superstar pipeline is shorter than most though, thanks to its fierce reputation and impressive portfolio of alumni: CSM. This year, their MA fashion show gave the world a glimpse of what the future of fashion design will look like. James Walsh’s trolley-chic look divided opinions but definitely got people talking. Elsewhere, a playing cards glitter dress formed the perfect dress to play poker in. Either way, this season’s grads were going up and out to make their collections stand out.
LABRUM LONDON
On Saturday, LABRUM presented an ode to movement. This season, the brand returned home to Sierra Leone and the city of Freetown to work with local craftspeople, adjusting and readjusting to the quotidian West African lifestyle as the garments developed and the project came to life. Fabrics developed by these artisans punctuate the show in brilliant oranges, ocean greens and vibrant yellows.
WOMENSWEAR GEMS
With men’s and women’s fashion weeks merging this season in London, it was a packed schedule that saw many of us running from one side of London to the other. However, a couple of brands managed to stand out from the crowd with their nostalgic, playful and attention-grabbing designs – 16Arlington and POSTER GIRL. From brightly-coloured sequins to a deep brown worn-leather two piece, we’ll be saving up for these brands’ pieces when they drop later this year.
FASHION EAST
Fashion’s favourite talent incubator, Fashion East, was back this season showing us Jawara Alleyne, Chet Lo and Maximilian’s AW22 collections. The organisation has a reputation for nurturing and sponsoring some of fashion’s biggest names, and is more often than not part of the CSM-to-the-world pipeline that spawns many of the U.K’s most exciting fashion careers. Jawara demonstrated his consolidated understanding of drape work and signature cut outs, whilst Maximilian injected freshness into a collection of deep hues and undulating cut outs. Chet Lo invited us into a spiky-knit wonderland, where the colour palette was candy floss themed, duh. From the hype and accolades these three have generated already alongside the confident and bar-setting show they just staged, we’re picturing big things for the trio.
FASHION WEEK ALL-STARS
Two of the week’s most talked about shows were Nensi Dojaka and Richard Quinn. The former, a well-loved breakout star who won the 2021 LVMH prize, is known for her mesh cut out creations. They are as sensual as they are elegant, and as subversive as they are traditionally pretty. Drawing a star-studded crowd back on Friday, Nensi showed an enhanced collection of classic Dojaka motifs, with renewed silhouettes and colour. Elsewhere, Richard Quinn made headlines for his show, after having one of the biggest years we can think of back in 2021. Quinn’s signature floral prints were out in full force, adorning oversized dresses, coats and hats. He also included a range of ‘protective hoods’, which started at the face and ended at the floor. What’s more, Nicholas Daley’s meticulously British menswear collection merged his Scottish and Jamaican heritage into a concoction of garments laden with tweed-esque checks. Reminiscent of 70s stage costume, Daley’s collection focused on the idea of lineage and community, with culture being the main driving force.
DIGITAL FASHION
ICYMI, digital fashion is the future. Just ask the IoDF. Launching another one of their world firsts, this season saw the IoDF work with Roksanda to deliver an NFT Roksanda dress that was available to purchase in GBP, rather than crypto. The dress in question was shown at the brand’s AW22 presentation, but will never go into commercial production, highlighting the sustainable initiatives involved with digital fashion at large.
Check out our full show reviews of the other not-to-be-missed fashion week moments from London, and catch your breath before Milan.
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