A day before London Fashion Week started, the Vivienne Westwood memorial service took place at London’s Southwark Cathedral, where plenty of known faces paid homage to the legendary British designer and environmental activist who passed last December at the age of 81.
Although some collections were showcased exclusively online, many fashion shows took place at different venues in the British capital in this post-pandemic recovery period (like JW Anderson’s structured wardrobe of “talking” t-shirts, with the designer presenting a collection perfectly balanced between past and future). This fashion week also marked the debut of designer Daniel Lee (who recently left Bottega Veneta) for Burberry, and after seeing a preview of the new logo (which I personally prefer to the previous one launched by Riccardo Tisci, that I found too similar to Balenciaga), I was very excited to see Daniel Lee’s new work for the house.
At the same time, Moncler’s fashion event called “Art of Genius 2023” took place in London; the Italian luxury brand presented a collaboration with American designer Rick Owens and the evolution of Genius into a co-creation platform that blends different sectors. I really enjoyed the collections of established British designers such as Simone Rocha and Christopher Kane, which I have included in my seven favorite looks from London Fashion Week rounded up below:
1) SIMONE ROCHA: for the FW 2023 collection, Simone Rocha was inspired by Lughnasa, the Irish harvest festival that aimed to offer thanks for the summer harvest. The designer stated: “I started looking into the rituals of relationships, because I wanted to continue to show women and men together: how they correspond. [My time working with Moncler] made me much more appreciative of the technicality of garments.”
There were in fact many technical details in this collection that make you really appreciate the uniqueness of each outfit. The men’s outfits, introduced by the designer during last season, were mixed with the women’s ones, and they have been very successful, as Simone Rocha explained to Vogue: “We have men buying it, we have women buying it, and that’s been really natural.” The collection was thus a tribute to Mother Earth, complete with an orchestra playing Gaelic compositions during the show. The wardrobe ranged from deconstructed gowns with a combination of different fabrics and an array of leather and tailored garments; I particularly liked this solid-colored lurex suit with embroidery on the chest, a look that I find gothic and romantic at the same time.
2) BURBERRY: Daniel Lee’s runway show for Burberry was one of the most anticipated events of London Fashion Week because it marked his debut as the House’s creative director. I think it went brilliantly because the designer, fresh from his great success at Bottega Veneta, took time to study Burberry’s archives and included a return to the brand’s origins in the FW 2023 collection (think of the reappearance of the equestrian knight that was the Burberry Prorsum logo). I first wore a Burberry trench coat when I was 15 years old, back in the days when Christopher Bailey was still at the helm of the House, so the show also had a sense of going back to basics for me and it felt nostalgic in the best possible way. In presenting a series of menswear and womenswear looks, Daniel Lee combined his own British personality with the key elements that have always distinguished the brand, such as the iconic trench coat, tartan in its different shades of color and faux fur maxi collars. The typical Burberry check was interpreted in various colors, from yellow to purple. Unforgettable and very original were also the hot water boules used as clutch bags. I really loved every single look presented by Daniel Lee on the runway but since blue is my favorite color I could only choose this outfit that cleverly mixed white and blue and brought back the equestrian knight.
3) CHRISTOPHER KANE: while the first part of Christopher Kane’s FW 2023 fashion show did not deviate from gray and black tones, the second part featured vibrant colors and prints of very realistic images of animals created with artificial intelligence. Not only this, but also outfits with sequins and floral details. In designing his creations, Kane has always placed a lot of emphasis on sensuality, and surprisingly it also worked on the dresses with prints of mice, chicks, and piglets that appeared throughout the fashion show. A collection that was inspired by working-class life, as the designer himself grew up in a town near Glasgow, with its working-class environment; here’s what it said in the show notes in the press kit: “Memories of outfits worn day to night by his mother, aunts, and neighbors in the 1980s, the collection is a celebration of the complexities of growing up in a working-class environment. […] Housewives, cleaners, barmaids all play a significant role.” My favorite look was the red vinyl skirt combined with a gray oversized sweater; a combination that you don’t see very often but that gave the whole look a chic and comfortable air and I think it had something preppy about it as well.
4) BORA AKSU: for FW 2023, the Turkish designer drew inspiration mainly from Wednesday, the incredibly popular Netflix series centered around the character of Wednesday from the Addams Family. Bora Aksu was interested in paying homage to the figure of the outcasts, and was also inspired by the late 19th-century painter Edvard Munch, whose genius he was able to observe during a recent visit to the Musée d’Orsay. The earthquake in Turkey and Syria in recent days influenced the mood of the collection of the Turkish designer, who dedicated a minute’s silence to his home country and also said, “It doesn’t always feel like fashion makes sense when there’s a situation going on like that, and I think that darker mood definitely made its way into the clothes.”
Craftsmanship took center stage in this collection, especially in the lace details, gloves, and collars, which accentuated the dark romantic essence of the clothes. In some ways it reminded me of the wonderful Rodarte fashion show during NYFW, which was so gothic that it looked like it was designed by Morticia Addams herself. Again, the models presented themselves with a vampire-like quality, especially thanks to the dark lenses of the sunglasses and the dark hues of the lipsticks. I loved this white dress with multiple embroideries in black, whose frou-frou style probably came from the yarn cabinets in Bora Aksu’s mother’s house, which he picked out in the process of creating the collection.
5) ROKSANDA: Roksanda Ilinčić, the London-based Serbian designer, presented a very sophisticated collection of fluidly draped dresses and other statuesque designs in vivid colors such as aquamarine, fuchsia and blue. The designer left Serbia twenty years ago to study at Central Saint Martins in London; the style of this fashion show was influenced by the way women dress in different cultures, since the designer probably took inspiration from her frequent travels around the world. The entire show was a melange of fashion and art, something that was especially highlighted in the looks that concluded the show, which featured 3D shapes that were inspired by the post-war Japanese artist Atsuko Tanaka. There was something profoundly artistic and harmonious about the voluminous looks with tubular shapes; as much as many of the outfits worn by the models during the show might be difficult to fit in less glamorous situations, I was struck by the beauty of the collection as a whole and struggled to choose a favorite outfit. My favorite was the dress in pink, a color that is once again confirmed to be on trend for the year 2023 and whose popularity seems destined to last.
6) CONNER IVES: designer Conner Ives is from America but now considers London his home. His American identity always shines through his collections nonetheless; in this case, Fall/Winter 2023 drew inspiration from the 2000s look and was nostalgic in its homage to pop culture and the years when the designer was a child that would secretly read his mother’s fashion magazines, which triggered a range of emotions in him. The inspiration for this fashion show came from iconic films such as Magnolia and The Parent Trap. The designer told AnOther magazine: “The collection is called Magnolia after the Paul Thomas Anderson movie. […] I had this really visceral emotional reaction to watching that movie. It doesn’t feel exactly like a happy story, but it doesn’t feel exactly like a drama or a sad story either. I think it just showed all the dualities of humanity so beautifully. I always want these collections to be a cross section of pop culture, of my subconscious, of topical things that we’re all thinking about.” He also took inspiration from a 1980s book called The Fashion Conspiracy, particularly from its section about American socialites.
Conner Ives has always aimed to create clothes that are both smart and sustainable, in fact the basis of his creative work is the use of vintage garments as raw material; not only used items but also unsold stock from past collections. Some of the fibers were made from 50 percent recycled material because the designer was interested in adding a recycled element. I particularly loved this long dress in blue with thin straps because it was reminiscent of the minimal looks of the late 1990s and early 2000s, an era that is now considered iconic especially in terms of style.
7) ERDEM: I already reviewed Erdem’s fashion show in the previous edition of London Fashion Week because I really love the romanticism that characterizes the designer’s work. This collection showed how much he loves to play with proportions, focusing on oversized sleeves. The inspiration for FW 2023 came from Erdem’s home in Bloomsbury; after peeling back the walls, he found the stories of many fallen women who lived in Victorian London. This prompted Erdem to do extensive research through artwork and fashion illustrations from the 1800s, which helped him in bringing the style of those times to life. Lace and cotton dresses, ruffles, floral prints and a black tulle on some of the looks that closed his show, which was characterized by a gothic flavor highlighted by the heavy eyeliner used in the models’ makeup, and enriched with cultural history (by the way, the gold sequin dresses with the black tulle veil over them are truly amazing). My favorite look from this show was probably the taffeta gown in all its shades of green because I love this color for the fall/winter season and the fact that it is practically one-shoulder contributes a unique touch of elegance to the whole outfit.
Additional notes:
The images in this post link to the Vogue Runway website, where you will find all LFW Fall 2023 collections.
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