London, rife with fresh takes on classic themes, brought the edge to Fashion Month.
Fashion — Sep 20
If London Fashion Week spring 2020 was anything like its many music festivals — where a series of artists showcase their latest and greatest hits to loyal audiences dressed on theme — Richard Quinn was its headliner. The British designer started the week off on the right foot, his signature flower power in tow, and the rest of the shows didn’t disappoint.
Erdem, Roksanda, Emilia Wickstead, and Simone Rocha kept things overtly feminine — in color palette, silhouette, and patterns (read: florals) — while designers like Peter Pilotto, Halpern, and Preen by Thornton Bregazzi spiced things up a bit. Of course, London wasn’t lacking in its signature edge, thanks to Christopher Kane, Matty Bovan, Ashish, and a few others.
Though many a fashion insider may choose to skip London and take a brief pause before the rat races that are Milan and Paris, the week still draws fashion veterans who know how much young talent comes from the few days in between New York and the others. And spring 2020, rife with fresh takes on classic themes, didn’t disappoint.
Photo: Eamonn McCormack/BFC/Getty Images.
Photo: Estrop/WireImage/Getty Images.
Photo: Victor Virgile/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images.
An Ode To The Anti-Hourglass Shape
Several designers — Chalayan, Matty Bovan, and Richard Malone — gave a royal middle finger to the idea of body-con, curve-hugging silhouettes. It's this quintessential British spirit that has seen many young designers make names for themselves in Europe and it's also a poignant, artistic way to reject the male gaze. These dresses probably aren't meant to be worn, necessarily, but they're fashion as pure fashion at its best (which the runways could use a bit more of).
Ports 1961
Photo: Victor Virgile/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images.
J.W. Anderson
Photo: Victor Virgile/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images.
Victoria Beckham
Photo: Estrop/WireImage/Getty Images.
Burberry
Photo: Victor Virgile/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images.
Osman
Photo: Stuart Wilson/BFC/Getty Images.
50 Shades Of Beige
The bulk of khaki, or tan or camel, on the London runways was hard to ignore. Victoria Beckham, Burberry, Ports 1961, and others didn't just incorporate the shade as a way to temper intense, bright hues, but as standalone, head-to-toe looks. Not only is it a chic alternative to black, white, or grey, but it's a refreshing route for minimalists to take when the mood calls for a monochromatic ensemble.
Photo: Estrop/WireImage/Getty Images.
Photo: Victor Virgile/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images.
Photo: Victor Virgile/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images.
Crimson Calling
The color red symbolizes a plethora of emotions — passion, love, anger, strength — and it appeared across the London collections most frequently in sequins. See: Simone Rocha, Halpern, Marques ' Almeida. Apart from this combo being fun to look at and even more fun to wear, there's something about it that's so inherent to what's going on in London right now, but also its past, of kicking off the punk and neo-romanticism movements.
Photo: Victor Virgile/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images.
Photo: Victor Virgile/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images.
Introducing: Camo-flora
In the current industry, it might come as a surprise that someone would want to blend in to the crowd as opposed to using fashion to stand out from it. But some people dress for themselves — and designers like Christopher Kane and Molly Goddard got the memo, ushering new ways of camouflaging down their runways that isn’t assigned to the ubiquitous pattern that tends to go in-and-out of fashion. Dizzying, graphic florals that seemed to mirror traditional camouflage than they did bright, bold flowers now act more as a blurring technique than a way to signal spring has sprung.
Photo: Victor Virgile/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images.
Photo: Victor Virgile/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images.
Photo: Victor Virgile/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images.
Funereal Frills
There was a vast amount of black on London's spring runways, from J.W. Anderson to Victoria Beckham, David Koma, and more. But the type of black that harks to gothic, dreamy feelings — drooping rows of ruffles on Victorian-style dresses, boxy floor-length gowns, and even sleek, contemporary silhouettes that seemed to extend and trail behind. Many in fashion consider black (and sometimes white) as a way to cleanse the palette, too.
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