For the first time ever, we’ve all been invited to London Fashion Week. Designers have chosen to showcase their latest collections via live stream. There are no models crowded backstage and guests packed together under bright lights in tight neat rows.
Fashion has always had to be innovative, relying entirely on engaging our imaginations. But this year more than ever, Fashion Week’s globally have had to get seriously inventive.
We’ve selected a few brands who have taken their shows to the next level, come and take a closer look at some of our favourites of SS21 European Fashion Week’s so far and a bit of detail about why we love them:
BURBERRY - London Fashion Week
Filmed in the British countryside, via live stream without a physical audience. It felt all very art meets fashion, an elaborate experience available to millions watching on Instagram and gaming platform Twitch. The actual show was a combination of live music, art, dancing and of course what we all came for, the clothes. The show was a woodland homage to British summertime hosted by Erykah Badu, Rosalía, Steve Lacy and Bella Hadid. Burberry made a move away from the more traditional and tailored silhouettes we’re used to and we are here for it.
Bora Aksu – London Fashion Week
Bora Aksu gave us post WW1 1918 decadence, drawing on the parallels of our current pandemic to that of what almost happened 100 years ago. The sheer masks that featured in the show a reminder of the newest necessity, come accessory. In the show we see an interpretation of what came after WW1, a period of excess reflected in the way people dressed, is this where we are headed when our pandemic is over?
JAQUEMES – Paris Fashion Week
There is nothing that has summed up the term ‘live-fashion-theatre’ like the Jaquemes SS21 show back in July. Set in a wheat field just outside of Paris, the 600 metre long snaking wooden runway was the stage for a show that went viral almost instantly. An example of how the pandemic has changed how the fashion world will want to showcase forever, giving them the biggest and best stage, the great outdoors. And refocused, recentred and rejuvenated.
MOSCHINO – Milan Fashion Week
Creative Director Jeremy Scott captured the inner child and imagination in all of us. Filmed as a miniature Moschino fashion puppet show, the feature captured marionettes walking the runway dressed in immaculate detail. From the music chosen to go with each capsule, down to the tiny miniature handbags and heels, the time and pain-staking detail that went into every single piece is magic. This is the height of couture fashion, with perfectly placed ruffles and feathers, the extravagance that you would expect from Moschino was exaggerated even on this smallest of scales. The show was perfection, topped off with miniature versions of British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful and of course Anna Wintour.
Fashion Week’s will never be the same again, from the scale and settings down to the reduction of waste and impact on the environment. This year we have had to adapt in a way that will hopefully change how we walk the runway for years to come. For reasons that initially felt disastrous, the impact of the pandemic has meant we can now implement change and do things for the better.