London Fashion Week 2023 Highlights and Round-Up

London Fashion Week drew to a close today on Tuesday 21st February after starting Friday 17th February and provided everyone with the city’s unique mix of upcoming talent and heritage names. Although women’s fashion showcases might be the focus, menswear runways showed some exciting trends for the Autumn/Winter 2023 season.

In one of the most anticipated shows of the season, ex-Bottega Veneta creative director Daniel Lee’s made his debut at Burberry on Monday 20^th February. The show was a platform where he could showcase the new vision of Burberry and make sure people feel reassured that the brand is moving in the right direction.

There was also the return of the busy schedule as the season last year was disrupted due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II and the official mourning period. Several shows were either rescheduled or cancelled however a large showing of the top clothing designers was present in this week’s showcase events. Among the famed London fashion week designers present were JW Anderson, Conner Ives, Simone Rocha, Roksanda, Molly Goddard, Nensi Dojaka, Christopher Kane and Julien Macdonald.

There was also three guest Ukrainian fashion designers to present their AW23 collections in Frolov, KseniaSchnaider and Paskal, which was a great show of unity from the Fashion industry.

On the 20^th of February, Moncler’s live show called ‘The Art of Genius’ closed out the proceedings at London’s Olympia, featuring top collaborations with Mercedes-Benz, Adidas Originals, Roc-Nation, Alicia Keys, Pharrell Williams and more. Here is a round-up of the main highlights of London Fashion Week that everyone is talking about at the moment.

The Main London Fashion Week Highlights

Moncler ‘The Art of Genius’

In a night of immersive installations, runways and performances, The Art of Genius brought together communities from the fields of music, arts, and fashion.

Founded in 2018, Moncler Genius explores the power of collaboration through a creative platform. Co-creation and imagination are at the heart of the platform’s DNA, tapping into the cultural zeitgeist. As a space for conversation and innovation between great minds in the arts, design, music, and fashion, Moncler Genius fosters the exchange of ideas.

Alicia Keys and Pharrell Williams were among Moncler’s Genius co-creators presenting The Art of Genius during London Fashion Week.

Bringing immersive experiences and performances to life, The Art of Genius represented Moncler’s vision for fashion in the future. There were multiple immersive rooms, each curated by a different co-creator. With Moncler, Pharrell Williams created The Art of Terrain, a room transformed into a tranquil wilderness. Featuring glowing trees covered in foliage and chairs woven from grass, the room looked like something out of mythology. In this collection, functionality is at its core: detachable pockets and sleeves, shorts and a picnic blanket that can be worn as a cape.

Among the other activations was a collaboration between Palm Angels and Boiler Room resulting in a sound installation foam party. In addition, there was a room where you could interact with robotics that was designed to mimic human interaction in terms of warmth and intensity. A surreal installation confounded space and time as Mercedes-Benz continued the theme of imagination.

The luxury outerwear brand also presented a capsule collection by Rick Owens, its long-time collaborator. The night ended with a special performance from Alicia Keys who sang her most famous songs. The performance was called “The Art of Dreaming” which was a key form of her inspiration and a homage to her hometown New York.

Burberry

Any follower of fashion knows the tartan, gradually regaining the fashionable love of the elite after a hiatus and sure to expand further. The brand made a big comeback to the London Fashion Week after a three-year absence. Burberry has gone through a transformation period over the past few years as it has tried to transition from trenchcoats into popular streetwear.

In London’s Kennington Park, Yorkshire-born designer Daniel Lee debuted his first collection for Burberry, opening a new chapter in the 167-year history of the British institution. A T-shirt printed with the expression midway through the show served as both a declaration of out-with-the-old, in-with-the-new and a reference to the unexpected weather that inspired the collection.

Daniel Lee thought it would be a funny, positive change for the brand observing that Burberry’s appeal is based on functionality and protection from the elements. So, the space itself was reminiscent of the tents the brand sold in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; guests received a Burberry check water bottle at each seat, and blankets were piled around the space.

The designer focused on outerwear, reimagining Burberry’s famous trench coat with faux fur lapels, and deconstructing car coats, duffles, and aviators. There was also a lot of blanket use in the collection, whether it was wrapped around the body in cocooning overcoats or worn in handkerchief-cut dresses or as a version of the house check.

There was also an eclectic theme present with notable prints and colours on the walkway. One particular print featured a duck, repeated across colourful clashing shirts, trousers and dresses. The designs were very British as they are about London parks, the rain, different walks of life, the art, the music and the great theatre. He wanted to direct the focus on those things and present a positive side of Britain to the masses.

Nensi Dojaka

Nensi Dojaka had strength in her casting, which included supermodels such as Imaan Hammam, Caroline Trentini and Mariacarla Boscono, representing the 2021 LVMH Prize winner whose womenswear remained very popular in London Fashion Week.

A sense of accomplishment and craftsmanship distinguishes Dojaka’s sensual, lingerie-inspired designs from those of many of her peers. Despite a proliferation of similar styles on the runway and high street, her signature LBDs, with intricate strap fastenings and pleated tulle detailing, continue to stand out.

On each attendee’s chair was placed a single flower, a nod to what Dojaka refers to as her ‘eternal inspiration’, just like last season. As a result. the chest of a bra top was decorated with delicate red tulle flowers, while tulle fronds adorned the ankles of the trousers. Also, her white ‘snowdrop’ dress with godets of tulle and Swarovski crystals suggested a ‘new silhouette for evening wear.’ While Dojaka’s women’s fashion designs may have a sweetness of reference, their cuts avoid the saccharine, and new items – like denim jeans and blazers – seem to be evoking the brand’s sensuality and confidence.

Christopher Kane

Guests such as Poppy Delevinge, Anna Wintour, Alexa Chung and Clara Amfo were all present to witness Kane’s 1980s-themed collection which featured characters based on his family members and neighbours during that decade. A burgundy and emerald dress was embellished with sequins, and a chopping-board collar enhanced the formality of the outfit. On the backs of charcoal and lace mini dresses with tight-fitting sleeves, bustles were a recurring motif.

A surprising element was the inclusion of thigh-high slit animal print dresses generated by AI. Kane explained that the images cover fitted frocks and tops for people who desire “clothing that challenges sartorial tastes and standards.” One standout item was a scarlet peplum dress made of a rubbery material. All in all, Kane’s designs depicted the complexities of living in a working-class environment, reflecting his own upbringing.

JW Anderson

One billboard depicted a giant phallus, another read ‘Enjoy God’s Disco,’ a playful riff on Coca-Cola. The circular show space at Camden’s Roundhouse was filled with old advertisements for performances by rebellious Scottish choreographer and dancer Michael Clark, whose performance was a playful riff on the Coca-Cola logo. The collection was inspired by Michael Clark, whose dance company was celebrated in a recent exhibition at London’s Barbican.

The front row of his seat consisted of a variety of notable people, including Naomi Campbell and Arlo Parks, as well as Bel Powley and Ncuti Gatwa. The London show was as energetic as the collection itself, which included logomania T-shirts, neon flares, feather boas, jackets with shawl collars, sailor stripe t-shirts and slogan jumpers. You’ll inevitably see the Tesco shopping bag dress all over the internet, which looked exactly as you’d imagine. As well as the Coca-Cola motif, the phallus found its way onto a T-shirt made from stiff vinyl fabric.

“At its core, this is a collection about fandom,” Anderson stated in the show notes. He also provided a collection that was created from his own archive: ‘15 years of JW Anderson are condensed here and now, redone and re-seen.’

SS Daley

In his seasonal presentations, Steven Stokey-Daley continued his knack for the theatrical with a cameo from legendary British actor Ian McKellan, who read from Alfred Tennyson’s The Coming of Arthur to the crowd. Stokey-Daley, who just won the LVMH Prize in 2022, said the inspiration for the new collection came from listening to Kate Bush’s concept EP The Ninth Wave. There were nautical references throughout the collection: navy pea coats, oversized shirts, berets and fisherman-style knits, as well as tailored items with sailor’s collars.

In an interview, Stokey-Daley talked about how the reference to water signified a new and exciting chapter for the fast-growing brand.

“The pull of the water has led us to a fresh new world, one that’s about the confidence of being who I want to be,’

Steven Stokey-Daley

Simone Rocha

It is no secret that Simone Rocha draws inspiration from traditional Irish festivals and folklore in her collections; this season, her typically poetic show notes referenced the Gaelic holiday Lughnasadh, which marks the beginning of the harvest season. The Dubliner studied her fashion MA at London’s Central Saint Martin’s College, and first appeared at LFW in 2010. and took a deserved centre stage for her collection launch.

Rocha’s notes read, ‘Peeling the apple in the mirror to reveal your future love… the blood daubed on children’s foreheads for protection against otherworldly beings and bad luck,’ a juxtaposition that has inspired much of her work, as it occupies a space between subversive and sweet. Intricately woven dresses or handfuls of raffia trapped under tulle to give gowns their shape evoked the tradition of weaving hay and wheat into ceremonial shapes at Lughnasadh – while delicate red ribbons embellished dresses or hung like tears from beneath models’ eyes, referring to the festival’s blood connection (The God Lugh was said to have poured his own blood onto the fields to make the harvest thrive). Sequins, crystals, and expansive, ultrafeminine silhouettes are just some of the signatures Rocha revisited this season.

Roksanda

An intimate salon-style presentation of Roksanda Ilin’s A/W 2023 collection took place in the French drawing room at Claridge’s Hotel. Described as an ode to ‘art, design, and community,’ the collection was inspired by Japanese visual artist Atsuko Tanaka and the mid-century Gutai movement, which harmoniously combined art and body.

It was Tanaka’s ‘Electric Dress’ that Roksanda particularly worked on, which consisted of hanging cylindrical lightbulbs in a structure you could wear in a variety of bold colours, here reinterpreted in elaborate jewel-toned gowns with sculptural forms. As the designer describes it, the collection is a celebration of unapologetic femininity, as it offers unexpected forms and notions to connect the creation of the body with craft, and beauty with technology.

Conner Ives

Connor Ives wanted his A/W 2023 collection this season to be something that makes people appreciate fashion again. It was inspired by the 1999 movie Magnolia because it was a film that represented the aspects of humanity. Showcased in London’s Old Selfridges Hotel, the collection demonstrated an array of archetypal figures in his sustainable 1900s and 2000s style.

As part of the exhibition ‘The Glasto Girl’ (a tribute to Kate Moss’ mud-stained 2000s looks at the festival), ‘The Shiny Set: Nan Kempner’ (referencing Nicholas Coleridge’s description of the shiny set in his book The Fashion Conspiracy), and ‘The Showgirl, Nomi Malone’

His flippant approach feels like it captured the mood and spirit of the 90s/00s, making for a wonderful offering from the young designer. According to Ives, fashion today feels more like a business than an escape. It motivated him to give this season a sense of gravitas.

Molly Goddard

For a close-knit presentation of her AW23 collection, Molly Goddard opened her Bethnal Green studio, which she said was an attempt to capture the feeling she had when she first started her brand in 2012. She recalled that working in fashion involved making clothes by herself and finding stockists. Goddard liked the simplicity of how she started and the deep passion she had at the beginning. So, Goddard travelled to the Central Saint Martins library with her sister and stylist Alice Goddard to look at old magazines and remember how they wore the pieces she coveted as a teenager.

It was Goddard’s vivid style that allowed them to appear in various iterations throughout the collection, including leopard-printed jeans they bought from Gap Kids in Whiteley’s shopping centre and a screen-printed sporty knit from Portobello market. Her expansive silhouette was streamlined, creating some of the collection’s most striking pieces, including a cerise-pink dress with knife-sharp slits.

What is London Fashion Week (LFW)?

London Fashion Week is one of the big clothing trade shows that takes place in London’s strand, in February (previewing Autumn/Winter collections and September (for Spring/Summer). Along with Paris, Milan and New York, the fashion showcase welcomes over 250 fashion designers and clothing brands to launch collections to media and retailers, and widely directs the fast fashion industry and high street retailers who use the designs for inspiration in their collections.