London Fashion Week round-up

On Saturday morning, the mayor of London Sadiq Khan sat front row to watch the SS18 show by Molly Goddard, who won the British Emerging Talent Award at the Fashion Awards last December.

                                             
“I’m here to support up-and-coming British talent,” Khan told the FT after the show. “Fashion is who we are, it’s in our DNA. We should be proud of the fact that our fashion exports are growing, that we have a pipeline of talent coming through. There’s a new generation of people involved in fashion, whether it’s the new editor of Vogue or some of the designers you are seeing over the week.”

New media and “influencers” are jostling for position on the front row with the traditional press. Vogue is on the brink of an eagerly awaited refresh, with Edward Enninful at the helm and a revamped team installed (although whether or not editors-at-large Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell are strictly new is debatable).

Of course this is all taking place under the looming storm cloud of Brexit. Almost everyone in the British fashion industry was opposed to the idea of leaving the EU, given the potential complications of trade tariffs, unfavourable exchange rates, and restrictions on hiring talent from abroad. Meanwhile, on the first day of London Fashion Week, a terrorist bomb partially exploded on the Tube, and the security level was raised to critical.

Catch up on day two at London Fashion Week

Yesterday had to be one of the best days on the LFW schedule for celeb-spotting. Julien Macdonald’s show is beloved by some of TV’s most recognisable faces - the cast of MIC are a permanent fixture, we spotted Olympic diver Tom Daley in the crowd and the catwalk was, of course, opened by Insta-star Hailey Baldwin. While over at House of Holland, edgy it-girls Alexa Chung and Pixie Geldof were holding court.

             
Always a red carpet favourite, the Julien Macdonald can be relied upon to serve up the single most unashamedly glam collection in the whole of the fashion week calendar. This time he was inspired by animal prints, with sequined zebra stripes and panels of high-shine mock-croc adorning the barely-there dresses.

If the Julien Macdonald show was all about celebrating the female form, then the outfits at Gareth Pugh were all about subverting it. With exaggerated power shoulders and dramatic circular head-dresses covered in bold Beetlejuice-style stripes and gold accents, the show had the feel of an Eighties/sci-fi mash-up. Frances Bean Cobain looked on from the front row, dressed head-to-toe in monochrome stripes that matched the models’ outfits.

At the House of Holland show, the bold looks continued but this time with a more gritty street style aesthetic. Think fishnet tops dotted with embroidered patches and paired with supersize hoop earrings. The designer made a strong case for raiding your own wardrobe as he clashed gingham prints with lace and florals - we’ve certainly got some of those at home.