At London Fashion Week, the stars aligned. Quite literally so, as the six-day event was graced with appearances from plenty of A-list actors, including Rosamund Pike at Molly Goddard, Kristin Scott Thomas at Erdem, and Minnie Driver at JW Anderson, many of whom were in town for the Baftas.
An extra sprinkling of star power served as a welcome addition to the autumn/winter 2024 season, which marked the 40th anniversary of London Fashion Week. A tea party was hosted at Downing Street to celebrate the occasion, but that came after some bad news: earlier in the week, the UK government announced that the economy had fallen into a recession.
A financial crisis is not exactly an ideal party conversation starter, but there’s no escaping the reality. The UK’s current generation of fashion designers have been shaped by years of austerity under a conservative government and a lack of funding following the country’s exit from the EU in 2020.
While New York Fashion Week’s challenge may be offering more provocative ideas beyond what simply sells, one could argue that London has long been the opposite: with its rich diaspora cultures, the British capital is home to some of the most visionary designers, but at times has struggled to merge creativity with commercial success. The recent shuttering of the beloved Christopher Kane brand shone a spotlight on the difficult realities of running a business and offered a sobering reminder for designers to be more strategic in building brands beyond the buzz of their last show.
Providing the unofficial start to the week — where moodier colours, such as maroon and bordeaux red, and more structured, at times bulbous, silhouettes prevailed — was Harris Reed, who demonstrated a new commercial maturity.
Reed’s last few collections have been largely monochrome and accessorised with oversized circle hats that have become a brand signature but can at times be distracting. This season, drawing inspiration from Victorian paper dolls, the designer placed new emphasis on colour and print as he reworked deadstock and archive wallpaper from wallcovering makers Fromental into corsetry with exaggerated proportions, feminine tailoring and fishtail gowns.
There were also considered touches, such as a slit down the back of a long skirt, allowing the wearer to walk with more ease, demonstrating Reed’s consciousness to design not only for screens but for real life — albeit it be one on the red carpet. “It’s couture dressing for the modern individual,” he says. “Whether it’s a 40th birthday party for a CEO or something for Nicki Minaj’s new album cover, we offer the luxury customer an item that nobody else has.”
For his sophomore show, Aaron Esh presented a sharp outing of coats with caped sleeves and slinky wool knits paired with cigarette trousers or floor-skimming skirts. New leather bags that hoop over the shoulder were introduced. “We’re trying to do something a bit different to what exists in London. There’s a minimalism and elegance that is usually more associated with the big houses of Paris,” he says. While Esh has largely been pegged as a menswear designer, it is womenswear that buyers have been purchasing since his spring/summer 2024 debut.
Designers leaned into signatures while expanding the scope of their offering. Paolo Carzana showed off his ability to twist and fold fabrics in what was his second show, where he incorporated a wider range of natural dyes. Chet Lo’s recognisable spikes were more thoughtfully interwoven into separates like a pair of pleather trousers or floor-skimming skirts. At 16 Arlington, Marco Capaldo continued to show statement pieces, such as shaggy furs, sweaters featuring a dog print and silver tinselled eveningwear. Conner Ives presented an ode to the women that inspire him, such as socialites Lee Radziwill and model Ella Richards — or in Ives’ words, “the closest that we have to royalty”, because of their place in high society and naturally impeccable taste.
But at a time when consumers are cutting back on unnecessary spending, brands need to offer reasons to shop beyond the table stakes of a quality product, and the stature of “it girls”. That may be where Priya Ahluwalia — who this season drew from symbolism in fairy tales, particularly those from Nigeria (part of her heritage) — excels beyond her peers. On the front row each season are her cheering fans, who appreciate the representation she offers (the designer has previously explored themes such as family migration, ancestry and intergenerationality).
Nobody knows how to tap into a niche better than Dilara Fındıkoğlu, lauded as a contender for the job at Alexander McQueen (before Seán McGirr was named as creative director) and who cancelled her show in SS24 because she wasn’t able to finance it. Fındıkoğlu has made clear she won’t be addressing those topics, but returned this season with an electrifying showcase of one-of-a-kind corsetry, boudoir dresses and deconstructed skirts, at times hitched up to reveal knickers underneath, that captivated her audience.
Community is also a priority for Marta Marques, one half of the Marques’Almeida duo, who returned to London for AW24 after relocating to Portugal during the pandemic, when it made sense to be closer to their factories and suppliers. The brand, whose show featured models of all ages ranging from kids to older women, has been evolving beyond its frayed denim staples for 20-somethings to design for “a more mature professional in the creative industries,” she explains.
Erdem Moralıoğlu and Jonathan Anderson are two designers that never fail to find inspiration in the oddities of the past. Through majestic shawl collared coats pinned with golden tulip-shaped brooches and dresses with Grecian-style draping, presented at the British Museum in a room displaying Parthenon sculptures, Moralıoğlu created a captivating narrative that paid tribute to the late Greek-American opera singer Maria Callas.
Anderson, meanwhile, played with proportions through oversized coats with exaggerated cuffs, shown alongside sporty shorts, ribbon-trailing skirts and homespun knits. “Dowdy fits,” as he called them, inspired by ordinary British women from the 1970s. “I’m mixing things we all know, or that my parents know. Suddenly you’re reconfiguring them and they feel new again.”
Roksanda, known for blending craft with a love of art, was inspired by the ruggedness of architect Le Corbusier’s cabin in the south of France as well as his mural paintings, rich in geometric shapes and colours. Her interpretation took the form of architectural dresses — some with abstract prints, others in unique but tricky-to-wear shades of chartreuse and aubergine.
The smell of incense filled St Bartholomew’s church, where Simone Rocha staged her show after a triumphant appearance in Paris last month as the sixth guest designer (but the first from London) for Jean Paul Gaultier’s haute couture line. Inspired by the concept of death and the underpinnings of Queen Victoria’s mourning dress, corsetry and undergarments-as-outerwear formed her autumn/winter24 collection. Little fur creatures based on the Church Grim and a second collaboration with Crocs also featured.
Molly Goddard presented another playful iteration of voluminous dresses — this time made of different fabrics and textures, layered on top of one another. “Pulling in, pushing out. Blobs on blobs; two become one,” is how she described it in her show notes. Some silhouettes were more flattering than others. Western references also appeared in the form of embroidered roses on tops, shirts and trousers, as well as cowboy-themed flats.
Worth underlining is the return of Dunhill. After four years off the runway, the 131-year-old Richemont-owned menswear label is back, under the creative direction of Simon Holloway, who looked to the house’s archive styles, like the car coat, and key cultural figures, such as Truman Capote and Frank Sinatra, as a starting point.
On the runway were day-to-evening looks such as a brown nappa leather coat lined with camel hair on top of a superfine knit and matching rollneck, along with other styles that incorporated lighter-than-usual fabrics, suitable for smart-casual layering. The result felt old-school but not old-fashioned, with a non-fussy sensibility sure to appeal to a new generation of customers without alienating its existing ones.
Such is the goal of most brands today: to chart a way forward, without losing sight of its past. “There are historical Dunhill clients that are loving the [brand’s] return, as well as new younger men who are interested in a heritage look and are wearing it in a very cool way,” says Holloway.
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