Image Courtesy of Pablo Latorre/Dilara Findikoglu.
Dilara Findikoglu
Models shuffle with a ghoulish gait through an ill-lit church in London’s east end to a bassline that an anticipating crowd can’t help but nod to. It’s spooky, but then so is the patriarch. In a style signature to the designer, so neatly referenced but exquisitely unique, Dilara Findikoglu unpicks, interrogates and dispels invented notions of gendered roles and boundaries held so dear to the cruel patriarchal agenda. Ribboned corsets, tailored capri pants and aberrant sartorials; structured dresses in explosive taffeta, feathers or leather – constructed from a Dracula-esque colour palette, Dracula-ra.
The designer twists and reforms sartorial structures, toying with unrelenting femininity as a way of being and feeling that transcends structures of the patriarchy. In a mass ritual celebrating female tenderness, sumptuousness and vulnerability, Dilara Findikoglu’s AW24 mock-gothic collection pays homage to divine femininity, our powers and our witchiness.
Images Courtesy of Johanna Parv.
Johanna Parv
Johanna Parv’s Autumn/Winter 2024 collection marks the designer’s third and final show as part of Fashion East during London Fashion Week. Informed by the topography of inner-city life, Parv’s designs are as slick as they are functional. Darker, sexier and even more technical than previous seasons, this collection offers a stormy baseline of brown and black, with cold blasts of tourmaline blue and aqua green. Alongside many of Parv’s breathable and stretching staples, this collection introduces a jacket with draw cords that allows it to be reconfigured or stretched over a backpack in a flash; lycra dresses, this time with open backs, and drapes that can be used to conceal a backpack. “Techy tailoring” makes a debut this season too, with formal wool blazers reimagined in the silhouette of a cycling jacket, detailed with protective collars and bonded seams for maximum durability. Once again, Parv has proven herself as a designer to keep an eye out for – one that effortlessly fuses functionality and elegance.
Images Courtesy of Jason Lloyd Evans.
DI PETSA
DI PETSA presents the AW24 collection titled ‘The Body as Prayer’ as an exploration of the divinity of Goddess Venus. Otherworldly and transcendent, we’re transported to a ceremony of worship and celebration for the act of dressing and undressing as sacred rituals of self-love, healing and rebirth. Incense infuses the air, cleansing the space from the haste of life outside of the show as Dimitra recites poetry over a live string soundscape by Flora Yin Wong, illuminated by tranquil hues that mimic dawn and dusk in paradise.
Models sway down the runway informed by their senses, ensheathed in metal corsetry, wetlook robes that billow and fold and ethereal garbs – milky white, blood red and ocean blue. Handcrafted crochet chainmail is interspersed with bells that chime rhythmically as Jesse Jo Stark makes her way down the runway. The procession leads into a performance with two models, each running from opposite ends of the runway, dressed bare in nude mesh. Meting in the middle, they embrace before one climbs into the other’s dress where two bodies become one in ode to our inner child.
Images Courtesy of Conner Ives.
Conner Ives
Moving away from female archetypes influenced by his American upbringing, Conner Ives’ AW24 presents the real women that inspire him. Presented in The Savoy, (a nod to his latest role as Style Advisor to the hotel), a huge hall intricately decorated with gold and jewels, the collection was worn by friends and muses who have kept the designer in an induced state of awe. This season sees the designer continue to be encouraged by his frustration toward waste, manifested in embroidery made from found safety pins, collected from random eBay sales and the studio floor and styling kits. Many of the styles this season were made from found materials: jerseys made from deadstock utility surplus; a demi-couture mini-gowns was made from an antique wall hanging which was over 300 years old; a sequin two piece that glittered under the light. The final look of the collection, and perhaps the most impressive, was an organza bridal dress made with headphone wires discarded from Kolkata, next door to Ives’ embroidery factory. Bjork’s Headphones echoed through the hall as our final model walked through the golden space holding an iPod.
Images Courtesy of Natasha Zinko.
Natasha Zinko
This season, Natasha Zinko envisions a future era in which the extraordinary has become the ordinary. The runway, set in the industrialist Truman Brewery, saw different characters appear: off-duty ty astronauts in padded underwear jumpsuits split diagonally by zips and giant jackets with curved space suit sleeves; flight attendants dressed in neat, short, pastel pink dresses inspired by Kubrick’s 2001 costumes; others wear pure and simple tracksuits with streamlined leather boots. As in previous collections, garments are constructed using uncycled workwear and eyes are obscured with slick and narrow 3D printed sunglasses, which follow the shape of the face.
Images Courtesy of Eeva Rinne, British Fashion Council.
Huishan Zhang
For Autumn/Winter 2024, Huishan Zhang explores and celebrates the conflicting and sartorial signatures of Ingrid Bergman and Anna Magnani – romantic rivals both involved with director Roberto Rossellini. Inspired by this explosive love affair, the collection explores the polarities of Bergman’s icy elegance and Magnani’s operatic sensuality; the formal and the undone. Looks are repeated and echoed. A palette of black, grey, brown, white and muted metallics is illuminated by flashes of green and magenta .A heavy satin and tulle gown and tailored skirt suit are lightly layered with embroidered tulle panels. Dresses in sheer spiral lace and three-tone sequin embellished tulle are light and sensual. Hand pleated tulle dresses, structured with crinoline, encompass hours of hand stitching, completing a love letter to the romance of cinema.