The question at London Fashion Week is: do you want the good news or the bad news first? The outlook for British fashion depends on where you look.
At SS Daley’s show in a light-flooded Royal Academy gallery, the picture was rosy. Harry Styles, who became Steven Stokey-Daley’s financial backer when he took a minority stake in the brand earlier this year, made a power couple front row alongside Anna Wintour, who teamed her signature sunglasses with a Harris-Walz stars-and-stripes campaign scarf.
The show was a hit, with the audience charmed by Dalmatian-print silk garments and romantically oversized Brideshead Oxford bags. Actress Emma Corrin, watching from the front row, was already wearing one of the dresses.
The appointment of Sarah Burton to the prestigious Parisian fashion house Givenchy, proof that British talent still rules the fashion world, is also cause for celebration – as is the return of Christopher Kane, whose label went bust last year, with a unique collection for the British brand Self-Portrait.
A reception at No 10 on Monday promises to be an opportunity for a warmer relationship after the cold spell that existed between the previous government and a sector still furious over Brexit.
But others see a much bleaker outlook. The recent collapse of Matche’s online retailer has left many independent brands in dire straits, and the wider e-commerce landscape remains shaky. Molly Goddard is one of the notable absentees from this week’s catwalk as designers lick their wounds and prepare to regroup. With headlines screaming Broke Britain, the prospects for support look decidedly bleak.
Self-Portrait is one of London fashion’s most substantial recent success stories. Founder Han Chong has hit a commercial sweet spot with his dresses, which look and feel like designers but, at around £350, are a fraction of the big-name luxury prices. Chong is using his success to bring Kane – a trailblazer in the lineage of London’s best party-dress designers – back into the fashion world as an artist-in-residence at Self-Portrait, with a one-off collection due out in November.
Chong was a student at Central St Martins when Kane’s striking neon-and-lace debut made him a protégé of Donatella Versace and London’s golden boy. “I remember feeling like his clothes marked the arrival of something truly modern,” Chong recalled. Earlier this year, he texted Kane to propose a collaboration and “was thrilled when he said yes.”
Harris Reed, who had just dressed Jenna Ortega in a recycled-paper dress at the Venice Film Festival, turned the Tate Modern into his runway. A lace collar was the size of a bicycle wheel, ribbon-tied cuffs hung to the floor, a sheer net ball gown revealed platform boots worn underneath. “The more theatrical I get, the more interest there is,” Reed explained. “Building a fashion brand is about building a world,” he said. “From day one, I looked at the designers who have done that: the Tommy Hilfigers, the Tom Fords, the Michael Kors, people who have been able to embody a universe.”
Rejina Pyo also knows how to make an impression at shows – a 2021 extravaganza at the London Aquatic Centre saw Team GB divers wearing her swimsuits – but she stepped back from the catwalk two years ago. A collaboration with British luxury brand Mulberry was enough to keep her profile up this season, with its signature cargo-style shoulder bags spotted on several front rows, and celebrated at a dinner Pyo hosted for friends and editors.
Pyo wasn’t affected by Matches’ implosion; she sells directly from her London store. “I see who’s buying my clothes and where they’re going to wear them. That insight is really valuable to me.” As an independent brand, “a show is a huge expense for a 15-minute moment. I’d rather do an event where I can talk to people.”
Now that Alice Temperley has moved to Somerset and restructured her business, she’s not in London to do a show, but to prepare to open a new boutique. The high demand for bespoke wedding dresses has helped her through the lean times. “We’re still feeling the impact of Covid and Brexit. That feels like a boring word to say now, but they’re still very real issues. We were lucky because we had brides from LA on our doorstep in Somerset.”
Temperley now plans to expand its everyday wear – think luxe knits and glamorous tailoring – and is introducing a digital ‘passport’ to make it easier to buy back clothes from customers and offer its own second-hand collection.
Designer Maria Grachvogel was an early adopter of “slow fashion,” who left the runway a decade ago for small collections designed to complement, not replace, what her customers already had. “Fashion seemed to be speeding up. I felt a distinct urge to slow down. And I knew that women were wearing my pieces for years, not seasons. I do miss runway shows because of the way they show clothes on the body, but this model of local, on-demand production minimizes our impact on the environment,” she said.
Five reasons to be cheerful at London Fashion Week
1 Nensi Dojaka x Calvin Klein
Dojaka, 31, will hold her first show in 18 months on Saturday night. Her flashy lingerie-style dresses – she doesn’t like the word “sexy” – have been worn by Zendaya and Rihanna, and this show features a still-secret collaboration with US underwear brand Calvin Klein. A hot ticket by any measure.
2 The Return of Christopher Kane
Self-Portrait is expanding from a brand to a party dress empire with a one-off collection from Kane, whose label closed last year. Available from November 21, it will be a feast for the eyes of fashion fans.
3 Preppy Gets British
Kent & Curwen started out making Eton school ties and ties for Oxbridge sports teams. With preppy styling tipped as the new streetwear, the Royal Academy show will seek to position the brand as London’s answer to Polo Ralph Lauren.
4 Burberry brings back the YBA era
First Oasis, now Young British Artists. Burberry – desperate for a hit after disappointing financial results – has collaborated on the set for Monday’s show, held at the National Theatre. It was created by British artist Gary Hume for a set based on Hume’s 1990 installation Bays, which was inspired by hospital doors.
5 Edeline Lee
Edeline Lee’s sleek, wearable pieces have long been a favorite of successful, understated fashionistas like Victoria Starmer, who has worn the Dada dress (in red, naturally) for public and private occasions. Lee, an independent designer whose collections are produced in her east London home, wouldn’t say whether Starmer would be tempted to appear front row at Monday’s show.