Category Archives: London fashion week

Burberry shows off killer trenchcoat and blue strawberries at London show

Posted on by

Prints symbolising British summertime appear on fashion week catwalk alongside modernised version of brand’s staple product

The scene before the biggest show of London fashion week was quintessentially British: an orderly queue for tea, coffee and eccles cake. Britishness, along with trenchcoats and checked scarves, is what Burberry stands for. This is surely the only catwalk show where Hollywood action hero Jason Statham, acclaimed choreographer Wayne MacGregor and Arsenal striker Bukayo Saka can be found rubbing shoulders in the front row.

The first look on to the catwalk was a trenchcoat. The trench is a Burberry staple – but this had a notably slimmer cut, an elegant dropped-waist silhouette, and was black rather than beige. There were more trenchcoats to follow: some sleeveless, some leather, all of them sleek and minimal.

Continue reading...

‘It felt important to keep going’: grief hands London fashion week a dilemma

Posted on by

Whether to pay homage to the Queen amid the party dresses has divided participants

There was only one show in town in London this weekend, and that was the Queue. But the catwalks of London fashion week soldiered on.

“It felt important to keep going, because this is a time when London needs to stick together, and right now some of this city’s young designers are at risk of losing their businesses,” said the designer Jonathan Anderson after his JW Anderson show.

Continue reading...

Wear a suit to the office. It’s a special occasion…

Posted on by

Savile Row designer Ozwald Boateng says it’s time for a smarter look, tailored to a new era of hybrid working

He’s the designer famed for reviving Savile Row tailoring in the Cool Britannia era of the 90s with his sleek, jewel-coloured suits. Since then, office attire has become less formal and working from home has taken off, yet Ozwald Boateng believes rumours of the death of the suit are greatly exaggerated.

As he prepared to show at London fashion week on Monday after a 12-year absence, he told the Observer that he believes the suit will be seen as less an everyday work uniform and more as special occasion wear – but with many of those going into an office just two or three days a week making more of an effort and opting to dress more formally.

Continue reading...

Release the rainbow! Why red, blue, yellow, pink and orange are the new black

Posted on by

What’s the hot new colour, according to London fashion week? Anything you want, so long as it’s bright and bold. And the more you mix things up, the better

At first I thought London fashion week was going to be all about parma violet. “Did you know purple flowers attract the most bees?” Roland Mouret asked, as I stroked a low-backed silk blouse in pale, luminous lavender on a rail in his studio on the first day. Pantone had just announced Orchid Bloom as one of its key colours for 2022.

Then I changed my mind, and became convinced that apple green had it in the bag. Alice Temperley’s collection sold me on a halter-neck gown and a wrap dress, both in the bold mid-green, halfway between lime and emerald, that Americans call Kelly green and that reminds me of biting into a crisp granny smith. That sharp, outdoorsy green has been on the ascent in fashion for a while, beloved by label of the moment Bottega Veneta.

Continue reading...

Being Mr Westwood: Vivienne is ‘eccentric, serious and genuine’

Posted on by

Though 25 years apart in age, their ideas are locked in sync. Andreas Kronthaler, husband of the couture queen, reveals his plans for the maverick fashion house

On 21 March 2020, days before Britain’s initial lockdown, Vivienne Westwood shared her first isolation address to the nation. Royalty, of sorts, she delivered it in her trademark fashion: she spoke of saving the planet and her new manifesto, while donning couture – and surrounded by curiosities – in her south London home.

These impassioned speeches became a year-long weekly occurrence. Westwood offered anti-racism, anti-capitalism, and a stern rebuke of the arms trade; in wig, blue dress and floral-print platforms, she spoke of the need to rescue the oceans, while standing in her tiled bathtub.

Continue reading...