Each season at London Fashion Week, there’s one show that attendees know will be a highlight before they’ve even seen it: Fashion East. The Lulu Kennedy-founded talent incubator is a British fashion industry fave, platforming a cherrypicked edit of some of the most exciting emerging fashion talent that the city has to offer. This season was no different, with a trio of young brands each delivering a knockout collection that served as a reminder of the fact that London’s wealth of independent talent is what it sets it apart from other global fashion capitals. Here, we run you through each of their triumphant offerings for the season — from Standing Ground’s impeccable refinement to Karoline Vitto’s sensuous draping and Johanna Parv’s precise technical flair.
Standing Ground
Opening this season’s show was a label that, though only making its debut on the LFW last season, was already the name on the lips of many in the audience: Standing Ground. The brainchild of Irish designer and RCA alum Michael Stewart, last season saw the brand stage a static presentation of immaculately draped jersey gowns featuring delicately appliquéd padded bands that delineated each wearer’s contours. Though evidently exquisite in its still form, this season, the painstaking craftsmanship of Michael’s eveningwear was brought to life in the designer’s very first runway show – and my did these clothes give us life!
A pair of pillar-like dresses in sumptuous pastel pink and cocoa silk jersey were constructed with padded hips that jutted forward, resulting in a silhouette that simultaneously abstracted and accentuated the body’s form. A similar logic informed the construction of what were arguably the collection’s standout pieces – floor-length double-breasted coats in black wool and mottled burgundy Donegal tweed, each with a corsetted waist and a bustled hip. While these pieces aptly demonstrated Michael’s honed pattern-cutting skills, his capacity for sculptural draping was also put to good use, particularly in the case of jewel-toned duchess satin cocktail dresses and empire waist gowns — not to mention one showstopper in particular, an iteration of the brand’s signature sheath dresses in in shimmering pink velvet. That this was an impressive stepping up for Standing Ground – both in terms of the level of execution and the remit of its offer – goes without saying. Looking at this collection, it felt immediately and abundantly clear that Michael won’t just be standing his ground over the seasons to come – he’ll quickly be gaining it, too.
Johanna Parv
Those among you with an appetite for cutting edge of fashion talent (which, to be honest, should be all of you!) will remember Johanna Parv for her 2020 Central Saint Martins MA graduate collection. Designed for the contemporary urban woman, it sought to bridge the gap between timeless chic and the practicality you typically want from clothes you’d wear to get about a big city – think handbags purpose-built for biking, and tailoring cut to accommodate them underarm. Glamorous garms for girlies on the go, basically!
For her Fashion East debut, the Estonian designer presented a concise, elevated development on this vision. Collared cycling tops were constructed with slashed shoulders, bringing a dash of peekaboo sultriness to sporty staples, while nylon shirting and chic, asymmetric skirts were fitting with pulleys and toggles that allowed for garment to be adjusted to best suit the contexts they’re worn in. Bags came with straps that wrapped across the bust and fastened with easy-undo clips, and nylon chest rigs where layered over hooded dresses in gossamer mesh, resulting in looks that seemed to simultaneously nod to 80s Alaïa and the sort techwear you’d pick up at Decathlon.
Karoline Vitto
After a breakout debut in which Karoline Vitto set out to reimagine the exclusionary sartorial codes of early 00s minimalism for a broader, more representative range of bodies, this season saw the Brazilian designer turn her attentions to the 1980s, particularly the era’s appetite for clothes that exuded empowered feminine sensuality through silhouette. Naturally, this entailed stark tailoring – a first for the brand, better known for its voluptuously draped jersey dresses – with cropped, squiggly cut jackets figuring in scarlet, yellow, and shimmering green-gold wool.
Indeed, those familiar with the designer’s work will be surprised by these palette choices; until now, Karoline mainly stuck to monochrome black and white. As befits the pinwheel exuberance of her chosen era of inspiration, though, here we saw a full gamut of colour spanning royal purple and hot pink, crimson and Stabilo yellow and more, buoying the severity of the tailored looks with an unrepentant sense of joy to the table. Where the designer really hit the nail on the head, though, was with the generous jersey gowns that featured gaping cutouts, laddered with chrome metal details that framed each wearer’s flesh, jangling as she walked. Modelled exclusively on girls between UK sizes 10 and 20, it effortlessly proved that 80s glam isn’t just the preserve of the wasp-waisted women most often cited as its protagonists.
Credits
Images courtesy of Spotlight.