An Ongoing Guide to London Fashion Week

Burberry

1. Concept: A collaborative “performance piece” with artist Anne Imhof which took place in a wood
2. Collection: Riccardo Tisci focused in on both Burberry’s DNA and his own design signatures, melding hardy clothing made for the great outdoors – top-stitched denim, rubberised fabrics, parkas and macs – with romantic flourishes of chiffon and tulle
3. Quote: “[I was thinking about] British summer time; embracing the elements with a trench coat on the beach mixing with the sand and the water,” Tisci said. “I envisioned the people of this space, like the lighthouse keeper, and a love affair between a mermaid and a shark, set against the ocean, then brought to land”

Parnell Mooney

1. Concept: A series of self-portraits of the Irish designer’s Spring/Summer 2021 collection taken in his London studio
2. Collection: Conceived during lockdown, the collection sees everyday pieces – ‘office’ tailoring and shirts, denim jeans – “dressed up and turned on” with slashes, cut-outs and corset-like detailing 
3. Quote: “I want everything to have this duality to it,” Parnell Mooney told AnOther. “When I was making the collection, I was listening to Vivaldi one minute and Rammstein and Nina Hagen the next. I feel like the clothes should appeal to complicated people, who have loads of different sides to their identities. The motto is really ‘and’, rather than ‘or’”

Vivienne Westwood

1. Concept: A film and lookbook starring individuals from across the worlds of fashion, culture and activism, including make-up artist Isamaya Ffrench, poet Kai Isaiah, Delilah and Ursula Holliday of punk band Skinny Girl Diet, and street performer Dott Cotton Clown
2. Collection: Westwood says its aim is to show only one collection a year from now on. This collection plays on traditional (read: Savile Row tailoring) and non-traditional (read: punk clothing) British dress codes, resulting in a riotous display of colour, pattern and print
3. Quote: “Buy less, dress up, swap clothes. It is always street theatre, we play around with size of detail, collars, turn-ups, pockets, buttons, ties, accessories; size of graphics – giant pin-stripes, giant spots or spots so tiny they look like a dust of colour, flowers”

Gareth Pugh

1. Concept: Gareth Pugh returns to London Fashion Week for Spring/Summer 2021 with a special new project entitled The Reconstruction, which brings together 13 fashion shorts lensed by Nick Knight and a feature-length film that together form a ‘visual concept album’ 
2. Collection: The master of avant garde returns to his surreal and sculptural silhouettes for S/S21, presenting a series of looks which more closely resemble artwork than clothing, modelled by a host of creatives and activists that include Rina Sawayama, IAMDDB, Sakeema Crook, and more. Though pieces from The Reconstruction will not go into production, Pugh is set to release a limited edition capsule designed in collaboration with Melissa Mehrtens which will see all profits donated to the charity Refuge
3. Quote: “Fashion films are obviously something that we like to harness to tell a story. I often equate a live fashion show with a tennis match; a lot of back and forth. It’s quite formulaic. With a fashion film, you can portray something bigger than the clothes. It’s much more democratic, too – more people are able to see it,” he told AnOther

Chopova Lowena

1. Concept: A series of images taken by designers Emma Chopova and Laura Lowena on iPhones of their collaborators and interns wearing Chopova Lowena’s S/S21 collection
2. Collection: S/S21 sees the design duo look to traditional Romanian dress and roller derby, incorporating deadstock and vintage fabrics from Chopova’s native Bulgaria. The typically colourful and pattern-filled collection – tartans, checks and florals – builds on some of the brand’s most-loved silhouettes, like their cult pleated kilts and puff-sleeved blouses
3. Quote: “I think in the pandemic, everyone in fashion has been thinking, What is our brand’s purpose in all of this? So now we’ve recorded the processes in this collection, which we’ll be running on our Instagram page,” the designers told American Vogue

Matty Bovan

1. Concept: A film and lookbook shot in York (Bovan’s hometown), in a 19th-century chapel on figures created by the designer and his studio
2. Collection: A compelling collision of English fashion and cultural references, including 16th-century dress, Liberty fabrics and school rugby kits. The collection also features prints created in collaboration with New York-based artist Will Sheldon and jewellery by Bovan’s mother, Plum
3. Quote: “For me this collection is all about questioning my own personal vision of England, and what it means to be English; looking at England’s past, present, and future. All the pieces I’ve created will become part of Future.Olde.England.”

Richard Malone

1. Concept: A series of images and accompanying film, titled Rehearsal, styled by Nell Kalonji
2. Collection: The Spring/Summer 2021 collection is an exploration of what the designer deems “rigorous comfort”, where “gorgeous, weighty, almost-upholstered, substantial” eveningwear becomes both a riposte to – and recognition of – the circumstances we now live in. “Clothes you want to climb into, to run away in”
3. Quote: “Borderline hysterical,” describes the designer; “rigorous comfort … the armour of character”

ART SCHOOL

1. Concept: A pre-recorded runway show, titled Therapy, which took place in the grounds of Waterlow Park, Highgate, utilising a cast of models close to the designer
2. Collection: The collection saw Eden Loweth – in his first solo outing after co-designer Tom Barrett left the brand earlier this year – “emphasise the importance and restriction of movement and physical space” with distorted tailoring in sober shades of green, grey and black, some of which was torn or ripped. The aim, as the notes said, was to “dismantle and question the normative or physically able body”
3. Quote: “Isolation was difficult,” Loweth told American Vogue’s Sarah Mower. “I wanted something that set out that I’m a sewer and a cutter. I did everything myself. But I could not have done it without all the amazing people who called and checked in every day. I wanted to do something that felt more like a community, to get everyone together who’s supporting me”

Molly Goddard

1. Concept: A short film which captured the designer’s Spring/Summer 2021 collection on a miniature runway in her London studio
2. Collection: An electric collage of colour and print – first inspired by photographs of the art collectors Giuseppe and Giovanna Panza taken in the 1950s – from checkerboard knitwear and polka-dot ruffles to signature tulle gowns in shades of yellow, red and neon-pink
3. Quote: “I hope it makes people happy,” Goddard told AnOther. “I have always wanted to make clothes that people enjoy wearing and feel comfortable in but I also really value making clothes which are totally unwearable and impractical, I don’t really see the point in it otherwise”

Ahluwalia 

1. Concept: A series of images photographed by Joyce Ng and styled by AnOther’s senior fashion editor-at-large Nell Kalonji 
2. Collection: Working closely with Lagos-born graphic designer Dennis McInnes, Ahluwalia’s latest collection began from researching archival material documenting the political and social unrest of Nigeria in the 1960s, aligning this with the current global Black Lives Matter protests to form a powerful visual foundation for the collection
3. Quote: “Everything that’s going on this year is really political, whether we like it or not, and it’s seeping into what we create. When you’re reading so many different books and newspaper articles it’s hard to not think about what’s going on with Black people in the worl,” the designer told AnOther

Simone Rocha 

1. Concept: Simone Rocha reveals her Spring/Summer 2021 collection via a simple yet beautiful short film, plus an accompanying lookbook photographed by Andrew Nuding and styled by Robbie Spencer
2. Collection: A celebration of feminine strength, the Irish designer’s latest collection was created during the difficult months of lockdown, and displays both a fragility and fortitude reflective of the times. Present are all of Rocha’s signatures, from pearls and embroidery, to silks and satins, however, this season there is a distinct sense of strength to the collection
3. Quote: “This collection is about comfort and security in the extreme. I wanted to create something signature and significant. I was looking at identity, personality, the provocative and a suggestive intimacy,” Rocha told AnOther

Christopher Kane

1. Concept: Titled Home Alone, Christopher Kane presented a series of images and a filmed interview with Kirsty Wark on the LFW hub this afternoon, and an exhibition of paintings and clothes opens in his Mount Street store tomorrow
2. Collection: Having turned to painting – with glitter, acrylics and glue – in lockdown, Kane transformed his works into a series of garments, with uplifting prints taken directly from portraits and canvases
3. Quote: “The paintings are glimpses of my mind from that moment in time. They are a combination of memories, feelings of boredom, joy, fear, exhilaration,” Kane told AnOther. “I didn’t want to be influenced by how anyone else was reacting to the pandemic – I looked inwards for inspiration”

Fashion East

1. Concept: On the 20th anniversary of Lulu Kennedy’s rebellious talent incubator, four emerging designers – Maximilian Davis, Saul Nash, Nensi Dojaka and GOOMHEO – present their Spring/Summer 2021 collections online via four very different, yet equally powerful, short films
2. Collection: Newcomer Maximilian Davis’ collection explores his Caribbean heritage, taking inspiration from imagery of Carnival from the 19th century. GOOMHEO’s romantically draped collection looks to the erotic nudes of German artist Paul Wunderlich; Nensi Dojaka embraces the spirit of dance, the female body “and abstract interplays of shapes and shades”; and Saul Nash explores the concept of liberation, taking after the billowing fabrics of 1890s dance pioneer Loie Fuller and the hypnotic movements of Sufi whirling dervishes
3. Quote: “Looking back over 20 years of helping London’s best designers is wild! I’m incredibly grateful I’ve been able to do what I love doing best. I wouldn’t change a thing. It is an honour to get to work with and present these four fabulous talents this season. I am in awe of their visions, creativity, optimism and the resilience they have shown throughout these difficult circumstances,” says Lulu Kennedy

Bianca Saunders

1. Concept: A playful short film entitled The Ideal Man which imagines five ballroom culture-inspired characters whose identities fall in “the in-between of presumed archetypes of gender”. The film is directed by Daniel Sannwald, styled by Karen Binns and choreographed by Saul Nash
2. Collection: With the multiplicity of our own “ideals” in mind, Saunders’ Spring/Summer 2021 collection explores the relationship between character and clothing through pieces which focus on cut and proportion, fluidity and movement 
3. Quote: “I am always interested in our characters, and how to express this through clothing. I was thinking about my ideal man and customer, representing them through my signatures of cut and construction,” says Saunders

Feng Chen Wang

1. Concept: Exploring the power of community, Feng Chen Wang’s short film for Spring/Summer 2021 sees seven individuals from the designer’s world select a look to wear which makes them feel at home
2. Collection: Community is the inspiration for the designer’s new collection too, which lovingly explores the relationship between individual and communal identity – shared personal beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviours
3. Quote: “For this project, it was important for me to explore the evolution of, and relationship between, individual and communal identity, as well as spaces where we can self-actualise. Where we don’t have to pretend or perform,” she tells AnOther. “Where we can be ourselves. I wanted to showcase the cultural and emotional aspects of fashion, especially at a time when we may feel lost and disconnected”

Yuhan Wang

1. Concept: A romantic photo series shot by Amber Pinkerton and styled by Anders Sølvsten Thomsen
2. Collection: Wang’s latest collection – which the designer said is devoted to female key workers – takes inspiration from an 18th-century Chinese book of fables which features supernatural female entities such as demons, ghosts, plants and spirits. Using it to explore ideas of feminine power, the resulting collection intertwines the designer’s signature drapes, florals and satins with traditional Chinese motifs
3. Quote: “I want to devote the collection to the solidarity, strength and power of healing that we continue to witness amongst seemingly 'anonymous' female key workers,” says Wang

Charlotte Knowles

1. Concept: A short film by photographer Harley Weir, featuring Charlotte Knowles and Alexandre Arsenault’s Spring/Summer 2021 collection, PETALS
   
2. Collection: A hopeful, optimistic offering from the duo, which looks towards the ‘flower power’ countercultural movements of the 60s and 70s, melding it with their “empowered but disruptive” vision of femininity inspired by early-00s fashion and pop culture
3. Quote: “We were wondering: what will come out of this moment as important?” say the designers. “The idea of making beautiful pieces that last. When everything is so uncertain, we wanted to make something really creative, positive and uplifting. This collection came out of trying to feel something good”

AV Vattev

1. Concept: Designer Antonio Vattev presents his S/S21 collection via a lookbook divided into three beautifully surreal ‘chapters’ which represent the past, present and unknown
2. Collection: Dedicated to a generation of young people whose futures feel uncertain in these times, Vattev’s Generation In Rehearsal collection looks to escapism, dreaming and child-like positivity through colourful pieces which are inspired by Henri Matisse 
3. Quote: “The collection is called Generation In Rehearsal because our generation is facing something unseen till now and we have the opportunity to redefine the future,” Vattev says. “We also have to understand the history and learn from the mistakes in the past in order to get in a better place”

Supriya Lele

Concept: The designer presented her Spring/Summer 2021 collection via lookbook, and a series of one-to-one appointments in her London studio
Collection: The collection began after Lele noticed her all-female team dressing up a little more on returning to the studio from working at home; the resulting garments proposition “lo-fi” sensuality, riffing on her signature featherlight silhouettes with lingerie-inspired detailing and an optimistic palette of azure blue, fuschia, and turquoise (darker shades of chocolate and “slime green” reflected a teenage obsession with metal music)
Quote: “I wanted to make more of a statement of sexual confidence this season because I felt so tired of wearing joggers for months. When my team and I first got back into the studio, we were all wearing outwardly comfy clothes, but as the weeks went on everyone started to dress up a little bit more each day.” Lele tells AnOther. “In the past, I’ve talked about how I was into metal music and was a bit of a goth when I was growing up, and in lockdown I really reconnected with my inner moody teen. The print used throughout the collection essentially came from taking an Indian motif and reimagining it as an old metal band T-shirt”