The capital’s show goes on with sombre heart-on-sleeve salutes
Black veils and moments of silence were incorporated into London Fashion Week shows as designers paid tribute to the Queen.
Black veils and moments of silence were incorporated into London Fashion Week shows as designers paid tribute to the Queen.
The British Fashion Council decided the show must go on despite the period of mourning for the monarch, with some designers showing at the weekend and the final day of London Fashion Week to go ahead on Tuesday.
“National mourning is a very real thing,” British Vogue fashion critic Anders Christian Madsen said.
“I had hoped the shows would be postponed until October after Paris Fashion Week, so yes, it did feel a bit awkward, but I supported the decision to go ahead with the shows over the weekend.
“In the end, the designers did what they could to mark the Queen’s death, and those beautiful gestures will go down in fashion history.” He praised JW Anderson, Halpern and Erdem for their poignant tributes.
In spite of a sombre mood, many designers did their best to pay last-minute respects to the Queen with dedicated tribute looks.
Erdem Moralıoglu’s romantic inspired spring/summer 2023 collection was respectfully topped with black mourning veils at his British Museum presentation, where he explored the pursuit of preservation through artful looks that appeared as if they had jumped off the institution’s canvases in decadent brocades, embroidered lace and floral motifs.
“The designers did what they could to mark the Queen’s death, and those beautiful gestures will go down in fashion history”
At JW Anderson, Jonathan Anderson ended his spring show with a black T-shirt dress that channelled the mourning posters currently covering London bus stops in commemoration, embroidered with the words: “Her Majesty The Queen, 1926-2022, Thank you.”
The rest of Anderson’s show was just as of the moment, designed as a reflection of our current all-engrossing preoccupation with screens. “Are we becoming our phones?” the designer questioned, post-show.
Set within a Las Vegas-style video gambling arcade, Anderson’s latest surrealist spin included a metallic bubble dress that reflected the audience back on itself, before computer keys adorned sheath dresses.
His casting also turned heads with Emily Ratajkowski, Hari Nef, Ella Emhoff – Kamala Harris’s stepdaughter – and Florence Huntington-Whiteley, the younger sister of Rosie, modelling his alternate universe.
Elsewhere, Christopher Kane cut close to the body for spring, starting many of his looks on the foundation of the brassiere, while London buzz-brand Nensi Dojaka continued to finesse lingerie hallmarks into some of London’s most in-demand evening wear.
As for the front-row attire of London’s showgoers? Many opted to tone down street-style peacocking. “I chose to … wear black formal attire to all the shows,” Madsen said, “and spent my transits between shows streaming the news on my phone.”