Designers Vin and Omi put Great British Bake Off star Dame Prue Leith on the runway in a reworked parachute to kick off London Fashion Week.
The sustainable-conscious designers collaborated with King Charles once again to create reworked garments and natural fabrics derived from red barked dogwood – a woody shrub sourced from the Sandringham estate.
Leith, 85, was joined by journalist Jane Moore, eco supporter Jo Wood and Raf Beeny, son of Sarah Beeny and band member of The Entitled Sons.
Leith wore a re-worked red parachute down the runway, with matching red earrings and rimmed glasses.
“Deep down inside, Prue (Leith) is a punk – she’s not all Chantilly cream and Victoria sponge,” designer Omi told PA Media.
Jane Moore, 63, looked unrecognisable in a black beehive wig and snakeskin-inspired latex dress.
Model and TV personality Jo Wood, 70, wore a plunging black latex gown made entirely from plant waste.
“It’s so chaotic you couldn’t just design something light and fluffy – we didn’t want to be tone-deaf to what people are facing.”
That chaos is central to ‘Dysphoriana’ itself – the title of this season’s collection.
“It’s very, very confronting – we’ve created chaos within beauty and that juxtaposition makes you sit down and question,” Omi said. “Each piece is almost like a manifesto coming down the runway. It’s not meant to provoke; it’s meant for people to think.”
While Vin and Omi have long championed environmental sustainability, this season they were also inspired by other social causes.
Three garments were created specifically to support a global anti-bullying charity.
“Models we’ve known have killed themselves along the way because of bullying,” Omi said of the fashion industry. “It’s really, really important.”
Even their royal collaboration is framed as a way of finding “little beauties” amid wider turmoil.
“Amongst all this dysphoria and chaos, this collaboration with the King is about showing people there are still little beauties you can find,” Omi said.
While the pair have loved collaborating with the King, Omi notes: “The only two things we have in common with him are the environment and humour – everything else we’re not interested in.”
And while the show featured latex gowns and parachute dresses, the designers argue the real subversion is in their methods.
“Fashion isn’t curing cancer. We’re a service industry, problem-solvers.
“We can’t fight everything… but what we’re good at is infiltrating big organisations and making them think about the environment,” said Omi.
For Prue Leith, striding out in a red parachute rather than a kitchen apron, it was a chance to upend expectations.
For the Vin and Omi audience, it was proof that style and sustainability can coexist, even at London Fashion Week.
