Whether in obscure and cavernous warehouses, glittering ballrooms, or the heart of London Fashion Week, 180 The Strand. This season’s offerings had the city at their centre. There was an energy of optimism that each designer exuded from their collections, whether in the form of feminine power — portrayed by the likes of Sinead O’Dwyer, Feben and Dilara Findigoklu — or the futuristic fantasies created by Charlie Constantinou and Yaku Stapleton.
Kazna Asker
Despite the whispers that LFW is over, and the more overt statistics that show Paris Fashion Week receives more than twice as much attention online than London’s and New York’s combined, the designers that showed this season rebelliously challenged this. With the continuing aftereffects from the shockwaves of Brexit, the rising cost of living and reduced creative spaces. The bold and impactful collections that were able to be shown this season are a triumph to all those involved and a testament to the city’s talent that deserves to be nurtured.
The standout of LFW this season was the array of strong female designers who countered the dominance of the fashion hierarchy and its rotating roster of white male creative directors. Feben presented a lookbook of garments inspired by the lamentable figure ‘Little Edie’ from the documentary ‘Grey Gardens’, a story of a mother ‘Big Edie’ and daughter ‘Little Edie’ who have been exiled from New York’s high society. The latex headcaps were an ode to ‘Little Edie’s’ iconic tightly wrapped headscarves that were synonymous with her look.
Tolu Coker
Marie Lueder invited us to skank out in a rave at 180 The Strand space. It felt there was less of a focus on the clothing and more of a high energy and reinvigorating feeling the German designer tried to emulate. A couple of days after and 180 was transformed into a meditative and immersive experience titled ‘ORI - Upon Reflection’, created by British-Nigerian designer Tolu Coker. Models swayed to the lilting tunes of a live jazz band and displayed Coker’s tailored pieces in reclaimed satins and upcycled leather. In the centre of the space we experienced the atelier, where figures in white labcoats demonstrated pattern cutting and draping, surrounded by collages of Coker’s key inspirations for her FW25 collection.
LUEDER
There was also the anticipated runway show of Sinéad O’Dwyer, who continues to challenge narrow attitudes towards sample size. Her process begins with casting, done by Emma Mattel, as she then uses the model’s size to inform the garment, as opposed to creating everything in sample size and then expanding. The model’s tight buns and laced up Puma-collaboration boots had a nostalgic air of Miss Trunchball.
Sinéad O’Dwyer
Talking about formidable women, Lulu Kennedy’s talent incubator ‘Fashion East’ boasted a strong range of collections from designers Louther, Nuba and Olly Shinder. The non-profit continues to support and nurture emerging designers, particularly crucial in the current economic climate, Nuba’s ‘Zero Pounds’ graphic top cements the fact.
Emerging designer YAKU welcomed us into ‘Chapter 5: Sunset on Tutorial island’, there was a sense of escapism as we were welcomed into a surreal landscape where the chance for a new identity was offered to us through a passport that also doubled as the show notes. Yaku Stapleton’s garments blurred the distinctions between costume and ready-to-wear, as well as reality and sci-fi with the 3-D set also being viewable in augmented reality through QR codes dotted around the space.
Yaku Stapleton
Charlie Constantinou’s latest collection ‘Season 4.5’ also created a chance to escape, this time to a futuristic Saharan landscape of night and day through warm shades of orange and corals, broken up by refreshing bursts of aqua blues and greens. We want to see his draped tops and layered shorts-trousers on the Fremen in Dune 3…
Charlie Constantinou
Despite LFW being consumed by the noise of Paris and Milan fashion weeks and the lack of ‘heavy-weight designers’ showing in London. This gave more space for the city’s emerging and well-established designers, the likes of Richard Quinn or Erdem, to breathe. The season felt refreshing and light in this dark time, it enabled people to connect - whether online or in person - and revel in the city’s rebellious creativity.
Kazna Asker
Despite the whispers that LFW is over, and the more overt statistics that show Paris Fashion Week receives more than twice as much attention online than London’s and New York’s combined, the designers that showed this season rebelliously challenged this. With the continuing aftereffects from the shockwaves of Brexit, the rising cost of living and reduced creative spaces. The bold and impactful collections that were able to be shown this season are a triumph to all those involved and a testament to the city’s talent that deserves to be nurtured.
The standout of LFW this season was the array of strong female designers who countered the dominance of the fashion hierarchy and its rotating roster of white male creative directors. Feben presented a lookbook of garments inspired by the lamentable figure ‘Little Edie’ from the documentary ‘Grey Gardens’, a story of a mother ‘Big Edie’ and daughter ‘Little Edie’ who have been exiled from New York’s high society. The latex headcaps were an ode to ‘Little Edie’s’ iconic tightly wrapped headscarves that were synonymous with her look.
Tolu Coker
Marie Lueder invited us to skank out in a rave at 180 The Strand space. It felt there was less of a focus on the clothing and more of a high energy and reinvigorating feeling the German designer tried to emulate. A couple of days after and 180 was transformed into a meditative and immersive experience titled ‘ORI - Upon Reflection’, created by British-Nigerian designer Tolu Coker. Models swayed to the lilting tunes of a live jazz band and displayed Coker’s tailored pieces in reclaimed satins and upcycled leather. In the centre of the space we experienced the atelier, where figures in white labcoats demonstrated pattern cutting and draping, surrounded by collages of Coker’s key inspirations for her FW25 collection.
LUEDER
There was also the anticipated runway show of Sinéad O’Dwyer, who continues to challenge narrow attitudes towards sample size. Her process begins with casting, done by Emma Mattel, as she then uses the model’s size to inform the garment, as opposed to creating everything in sample size and then expanding. The model’s tight buns and laced up Puma-collaboration boots had a nostalgic air of Miss Trunchball.
Sinéad O’Dwyer
Talking about formidable women, Lulu Kennedy’s talent incubator ‘Fashion East’ boasted a strong range of collections from designers Louther, Nuba and Olly Shinder. The non-profit continues to support and nurture emerging designers, particularly crucial in the current economic climate, Nuba’s ‘Zero Pounds’ graphic top cements the fact.
Nuba
Emerging designer YAKU welcomed us into ‘Chapter 5: Sunset on Tutorial island’, there was a sense of escapism as we were welcomed into a surreal landscape where the chance for a new identity was offered to us through a passport that also doubled as the show notes. Yaku Stapleton’s garments blurred the distinctions between costume and ready-to-wear, as well as reality and sci-fi with the 3-D set also being viewable in augmented reality through QR codes dotted around the space.
Yaku Stapleton
Charlie Constantinou’s latest collection ‘Season 4.5’ also created a chance to escape, this time to a futuristic Saharan landscape of night and day through warm shades of orange and corals, broken up by refreshing bursts of aqua blues and greens. We want to see his draped tops and layered shorts-trousers on the Fremen in Dune 3…
Charlie Constantinou
Despite LFW being consumed by the noise of Paris and Milan fashion weeks and the lack of ‘heavy-weight designers’ showing in London. This gave more space for the city’s emerging and well-established designers, the likes of Richard Quinn or Erdem, to breathe. The season felt refreshing and light in this dark time, it enabled people to connect - whether online or in person - and revel in the city’s rebellious creativity.