London Fashion Week this February 2022 was again a digital physical hybrid but the emphasis has returned to physical shows and there was a real buzz on the runways and at events throughout the capital. The five day event featured 129 menswear and womenswear brands in 86 physical shows and presentations plus 61 digital activations, with a mix of emerging designers and well known brands. Established designers this season included big names like Ozwald Boateng, David Koma, Molly Goddard and Vivienne Westwood. Newgen, the British Fashion Council’s talent identification scheme that supports excellence in design and aims to build global brands, showcased Conner Ives, Eftychia, Feben, Helen Kirkum, Labrum Londo, Matty Bovan, Nensi Dojaka, Per Götesson, Richard Quinn, Robyn Lynch, Roker, S.S. Daley, Saul Nash, Stefan Cooke; Supriya Lele and yuhan wang. Here are just a few of the many highlights.
Rising star, British designer and choreographer Saul Nash expertly bridges the gap between luxury menswear and sportswear. His unique technical garments are designed and cut always with performance, dance and fashion in mind. As always, movement is central to Nash’s design, with seams and panel pieces that travel intuitively around the body. His new collection has various inspirations including British Afro-Caribbean culture and his own Guyanese heritage, as well as the rites of passage of a young Londoner - set against the backdrop of a north west London barber shop. Described by Hypebeast as “the next superstar of sportswear” Saul Nash’s young brand is undergoing a meteoric rise with his collections already carried at major retailers like Selfridges, Browns Fashion, and Farfetch.
Dublin-born menswear designer Robyn Lynch founded her eponymous brand in June 2018. Her new menswear collection explores innovative design practises while maintaining its sustainable roots by using deadstock. The designer has used new technical fabrics, including nylons made out of ocean waste, reflective thread and beaded embroidery. Foldable rain jackets have been transformed into cropped puffers with scalloped edges on the sleeves. Robyn’s nylons are custom dyed into saturated Pantone shades and later cut into cargo trousers and tracksuit-style bottoms. Completing the signature monochrome looks in the seasonal Pantone shades of chartreuse, electric blue, brown and grey are knitted balaclavas and customised Columbia winter boots, adding to the slope-ready energy of the collection.
Savile Row tailor Ozwald Boateng returned to London Fashion Week after an absence of 12 years, to celebrate Black culture and creativity in an incredible musical and visual extravaganza at the Savoy Theatre. Interspersed with live poetry and musical performances, the cultural showcase featured 100 new looks in the designer’s trademark rich color palette, some of which were modelled by famous figures including actor Idris Elba and musicians Goldie and Dizzee Rascal. Another pleasant surprise was to see the addition of colorful, chic womenswear. Mr Boateng has always given a spin to the traditional Savile Row suit and here he has once again created a vibrant, creative collection that remains close to his tailoring origins by being made to order, avoiding unnecessary waste.
A hotly anticipated return to couture fashion was Nicholas Oakwell, who after a gap of six years, presented a glamorous collection of 13 looks at a showcase last month at the Bulgari hotel, along with an engaging film influenced by the classic style of Grace Kelly and Hitchcock-inspired film noir. In choosing to show his collection on film, the designer says “we are able to present the collection in the world I had envisioned, control all aspects and make people feel the depth and story of each design.” The thematic collection of 13 elegant looks includes a blood red skirt suit which is fully beaded in glass bugles and a silk georgette draped dress and dinnercoat lined in ostrich feathers.
5.Eftychia
Eftychia Karamolegkou’s original office-based workwear and tailoring remains at the heart of the brand for autumn/winter 2022. There are more suits than in any other collection and Karamolegkou plays with their form, evolving ideas around familiar and classic shapes. The classic tuxedo is developed so that slim strips of satin run down the lapels, around the collar, continuing and becoming the lining. This feature is also added to the long navy Glow Coat. The collection is largely built of dark blues and browns, intertwined with glimmers of sour yellow, cream, oyster and lustrous fabrics. In some trousers, these slivers of colour appear as a stripe, running down the front, creating a more casual or sporty effect.
6.Halpern
London-based designer Michael Halpern’s eponymous brand is synonymous with glamour and reimagined embellishment, with a nod to classical couture. His evening wear and red carpet designs have been worn by Adwoa Aboah, Marion Cotillard, Amal Clooney, Diane Kruger and Lupita Nyong'o. The Brixton Recreational Centre provided an edgy backdrop for an elegant autumn/winter collection with a 1970s film star feel.
British-Canadian designer Edeline Lee returned to her roots for Autumn/Winter 2022, digging deep into her design archive, even using styles from her fashion college days. The designer is celebrated for her gorgeous use of color but this season the collection focusses on cut and shape, with looks in full monochromatic blacks with flashes of ivory and bronze. True to the label’s Top 4 rating for sustainability at London Fashion Week, all the pieces are cut and made by hand in London and many of the fabrics are recycled. The brand has a legion of high profile fans including Alicia Vikander, Olivia Colman, Sharon Horgan, Sally Hawkins, Helen Mirren, Gemma Chan, Taylor Swift, Phoebe WallerBridge and Solange Knowles.
Edward Crutchley presented 21 dramatic looks in an industrial warehouse, the Bargehouse beside the River Thames. A mix of haute couture and edgy designs, some with a Victorian feel, use a clever variety of fabrics. Collection highlights include voluminous full length dresses, a periwinkle blazer and jackets in crushed velvet plus eye catching shirts and knit pieces in moth wing prints. Sportswear pieces in crushed purple and pink velvet and a tube dress spotted with carefully placed Swiss cheese holes added to the drama of a brilliant runway show.
Returning to London Fashion Week for their second season, French designer Sophie Mechaly showed the new Paul & Joe collection at the 16th century Charterhouse, a former Carthusian monastery. She was inspired by suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst and the blouses, jackets and suits have a vintage feel. Tweeds and corduroy have been tailored into the brand’s signature suiting and hand-embroidered tulle and taffeta feature in this ready to wear collection. Paul & Joe was founded as a menswear brand in 1995 and autumn/winter 2022 celebrates a return of the menswear line under the artistic direction of Adrien Albou.
10.Rixo
Rixo’s vintage inspired frocks were shown in a jazz-fueled presentation at grand Goldsmith’s Hall. Hollywood glamor meets 1930s with sequins, sparkles and trademark florals. Easy-to-wear, feminine shapes, original hand-painted prints and timeless silhouettes have been created to flatter every woman, irrespective of age, size or shape. Design duo Henrietta Rix and Orlagh McCloskey ensure that no piece is mass produced and they use family run, small suppliers.
11.Fashion Scout and the Slovak Fashion Council
A much pared down Fashion Scout had a handful of shows including a collaboration with the Slovak Fashion Council to present two innovative young designers. Famale by Petra Famlerova is a collection of gender neutral garments cleverly presented by having male and female models get dressed on stage. New graduate Sofie Turekova’s spectacular, colorful designs featured innovative 3D draping
12.Tammam
As one of the pioneers in London’s eco-fashion scene, Lucy Tammam established her sustainable couture fashion label in 2007. Atelier Tammam is dedicated to ensuring everything they create is truly sustainable and all suppliers they work with adhere to sustainability principles: Ecological, Cruelty free / animal friendly, Fair trade / Made in UK and able to demonstrate a clear ethical brand policy. Instead of creating multiple collections each year, they offer a single annual collection which comprises of new ideas as well as reinvented and re-issued archive pieces. They do not wholesale as the waste and speculation is just too unsustainable, instead they have their main made to order service. A highlight for 2022 is a limited edition yellow floral mini tunic in organic cotton, with cuffed sleeves, hand embroidered details and pockets.
