This latest London Fashion Week has been unlike former celebrations. There were no runway shows, no sweltering photographer pits. No street snaps or celebrity appearances. There were no crowds.
With the changing face of fashion due to the global crisis, only select shows were offered for this event, a mid-cycle and all-digital affair due to the pandemic. The British Fashion Council have acknowledged this reformatting as both an experiment and a reset. This year’s event has been presented on a streaming-platform style homepage. Featuring content created by brands, retailers, cultural institutions, fashion graduates and media partners, it is a concerted effort considering the circumstances. This deviation has created a blueprint for future fashion week events, whether there’s an audience to consider or not.
Digital Kick-Off
To kick off the digital event, the BFC commissioned a performance entitled Everything is Temporary. It’s directed by creative studio DBLG for LFW. The short film presentation is a mediation on the rebirth of British fashion and cultural arts. In addition, it was styled by fellow NEW WAVE: Creative artist Betsy Johnson.
A Celebration of Talent
The purpose-built iteration of fashion week functioned as a platform to celebrate fashion’s established and emerging talent. Up-and-comers have proven to be the most exciting voices in the form of expression and innovation. This season, a new form of storytelling takes place to highlight contemporary style and the future of fashion.
The site contains a mix-up of mediums, featuring musical playlists, photo retrospectives and video art. It’s a little overwhelming and slightly difficult to ‘read’ the space, although once you’re able to gain your bearings it feels a little like turning the pages of an interactive magazine. One huge downside is in the lack of anticipation, the buzz which accompanies sitting in an audience or watching a live stream.
New Talent on Center Stage
Due to recent industry disruption, a shift to an all-digital format has been announced as of April. The absence of major names in fashion such as Burberry or Victoria Beckham resulted in a format without much punch. Although a collection of bigger names have remained absent from the list, some fresher talents have emerged to articulate new ideas.
Chloe Baines
This eponymous label was first established in London. It is the invention of Coventry-born fashion designer, Chloe Baines. With a career firmly established in the experimental style, she has an interest in conceptual fashion films and utilising found materials to design her unique works of art. Baines works with a number of collaborators and strives to affect positive change via her experimental use of recycled materials. Baines partakes in mentoring and also discussions in support of LGBTQIA+ communities.
Agne Kuzmickaite
This Lithuanian label was founded in 2013 by Agne Kuzmickaite. Kuzmickaite is an experienced stage and costume designer. She works across theatre productions around the globe. Her work is flamboyant, fun and always relevant. Prior to London Fashion Week 2021, Kumickaite has presented at Fashion Week in Berlin, London and Paris.
Art School
For the LGBTQIA+ communities, Art School is a beacon of hope. British designer Eden Loweth constantly deconstructs gender dress codes and challenge stereotypes. Since the brand was established in 2016, Loweth has drawn his main inspiration from non-gender-binary identities.
“It’s easy for a brand to say, ‘We’re queer’, but unless you’re considering the day-to-day life of these people, it doesn’t really matter,” says Loweth. “Art School is about creating an inclusivity.”
Source: The Guardian
Loweth has worked with some of the most prominent emerging designers in circulation, including LVMH prize winner Grace Wales Bonner.
BÉHEN
Portuguese designer Joana Duarte first fell in love with antique textiles during an internship at a fair trade company in Jaipur, India. Subsequently, Duarte launched Béhen in London, an experimental art project which saw her combine found objects and up-cycled fabrics. Duarte expertly crafts her clothing out of old bed covers, tablecloths and curtains amongst other vintage fabrics she sources around her native Lisbon.
“My mission is to promote and preserve Portuguese heritage and savoir faire,” says Duarte, whose grandmother taught her to sew and embroider.
Source: Vogue
Béhen works in collaboration with small communities of female artisans to give rags of yore a second life. Thus is spun the romantic tale of skill, beauty, time and durability.
Black Hair & Identity
British designer Priya Ahluwalia put black hair at the forefront of her London Fashion Week presentation. Afro hair is a political topic within schools, the workplace and in a society that doesn’t identify it as part of a culture or identity.
Ahluwalia and Mulberry have presented ‘Parts of Me‘, a film directed by Akinola Davis Jr. The clip features Ahluwalia SS22 and also showcases the new Ahluwalia x Mulberry bag collection.
“The movie is extra a celebration [of] black hair and welcoming individuals to take time and give it some thought in a extremely lovely means,”
Ahluwalia explained to the Guardian,
“One factor I saved saying when creating the movie is black hair is commonly used towards black girls and I actually needed this venture to be placing black hair on a pedestal as a factor of magnificence. I believe creating the movie is inherently political although the theme isn’t.”
Source: The Guardian
The menswear designer has incorporated womenswear into the SS22 collection for the first time. Included styles are patchwork jumpsuits, a 90s clubbing-inspired sari, shell-patterned cowboy boots and plenty of expressive knits.
DiscoveryLAB Presents:
Auroboros made history this London Fashion Week. The brand debuted the inaugural Biomimicry Digital ready-to-wear collection. A purely digital collection, showcased on a digital model, styled by Sita Abellan. The AR release is a first for London Fashion Week. Viewers can immerse themselves in Augmented Reality Clothing, activated though billboards and fly posters across London.
A virtual garment from the collection, the VenusTrap garment is available for fashion lovers to try on Snapchat.
Auroboros is challenging the democratisation of fashion as we know it and allowing for wider audience participation. The clothes are purely digital and the collection can be purchased from the Dress X or Auroboros website.
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