Fashionistas braved gale-force winds in London on Friday to attend the first Fashion Week shows, with a schedule dominated by up-and-coming young designers. Gusts ripped through the streets of the British capital as crowds, wrapped up in coats and hats, flocked to the week's first live shows with attendees, which make up about half of the five-day event's timetable.
It kicked off with the sustainable label Sohuman, created by Spaniard Javier Aparici, who promises "radical transparency" on the factories used to make his garments.
He showed an ultra-feminine collection of cocktail dresses in red and black featuring applique flowers, sheer panels and giant bows.
Young British designers then came under the spotlight, with Saul Nash showcasing a relaxed but luxurious streetwear collection of merino wool tracksuits, hoodies, puffer coats and scarves, many emblazoned with his Saul logo.
With a background in dance and performance, Nash graduated from the Royal College of Art in menswear in 2018.
Another British brand, Poster Girl, known for ultra-revealing cutaway shapewear-style dresses worn by celebrities such as Kylie Jenner and Dua Lipa, held its first catwalk show with an apres-ski theme.
Poster Girl designers Francesca Capper and Natasha Somerville, who studied at the prestigious Central Saint Martins fashion college, showed their neon-hued creations in a freezing building due for demolition.
Models in tube dresses and leggings wrapped up in fake fur coats and puffer jackets. There was even a ski suit, accessorised with bright pink high heeled sandals. Fans took pictures on their phones and whistled in approval.
S.S. Daley, a brand based in Liverpool in northwest England recently founded by Steven Stokey Daley, went for classic unisex tailoring, featuring wide baggy trousers and Sherlock Holmes-style checked overcoats.
Meanwhile, Matty Bovan, another northern designer from the city of York, showed an Americana-themed collection with models wearing eccentric assemblages melding baseball jackets, gingham, denim and colourful crochet.
Missing from this week's events are several of the best-known brands in British fashion, including Burberry, Mulberry and Victoria Beckham.
Burberry has announced that it will hold a separate live show in London in March, while Beckham has not participated in London Fashion Week, even digitally, for a year. She has complained of the high cost of catwalk shows. (IANS)
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