Source: AFP
Family nostalgia, cultural roots and the frenetic pace of life in London marked the second day of the city’s Fashion Week on Saturday, as up-and-coming designers showed off their styles for next season.
Around 60 designers, from up-and-coming talents to famous brands such as Burberry, showcase their new designs over five days, hoping to catch the attention of buyers and fashion influencers.
The 40th anniversary edition of the event also introduces greater diversity and inclusivity in terms of models’ body shapes, ages or skin tones, as well as designers’ collections.
Old photos
In her show on Saturday, Dublin-born menswear designer Robyn Lynch drew inspiration from her sister’s career as a Gaelic dancer, using old photos of high kicks, costumes and passionate onlookers for inspiration.
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“I vividly remember spending all those weekends in gymnasiums at competitions seeing all the glitz and drama going on on and off the stage,” said the designer, who used Celtic knots and monograms in her designs.
Source: AFP
Lynch’s designs included diamante jorts (long shorts), a long-line hoodie with an elastic waistband, and laser-etched denim in a color palette of hickory brown, screen blue, matte black, and oat milk white.
Life in the metropolis
Earlier, models paraded on London’s famous red double-decker buses in traditional dance-inspired outfits.
British designer Ricky Wesley Harriott launched his SRVC brand with a collection called “Human Resource”, inspired by contemporary “professional womenswear”.
The designer had his models, all perched on vertiginous heels, parade on London’s iconic red double-decker buses to ‘celebrate life in the metropolis’.
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Source: AFP
The show featured stiff and structured jackets with bold shoulders, in dark colors with flashy accessories, from XXL silver hoop earrings to rings that covered every finger.
Fairy tales
Designer Priya Ahluwalia, who draws inspiration from her Indonesian heritage, was cheered after her show, which featured male and female models in earthy reds, oranges and blues marching to groovy house music.
The Indian and West African fairy tales she grew up with, such as “The Prince Who Wanted The Moon,” “The Magic Fiddle” and “How The Leopard Got His Spots,” were used in her designs for the season, she told British Vogue.
“I’ve been thinking about how stories have affected my life — why we like the stories we like and how they’re communicated,” he said.
Ahluwalia said the corset-like details in the knits of her designs were inspired by Netflix’s “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story,” which she watched while researching her collection.
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The designer, who launched her label Ahluwalia in 2018, works with limited quantities of fabric, often upcycling and using patchwork techniques to reduce waste.
Source: AFP
LFW comes at a turbulent time for Britain’s fashion industry, amid post-Brexit trade barriers and the country’s inflation-fuelled cost of living crisis.
The difficult financial situation has even prompted some emerging designers to question the viability of investing in British fashion events.
Rising star Dilara Fidikoglu made headlines last September after canceling her show just days before the event due to financial reasons.
The industry, which employs almost 900,000 people in the UK and contributes 21 billion pounds ($26 billion) to the British economy, is facing “incredibly difficult times”, LFW director Caroline Rush told AFP.
Source: AFP