A look from the Harris Reed Fall ’23 couture show at London Fashion Week.
There was a lot of skin on show at London Fashion Week but the ideas expressed ran more than just skin deep with designers embracing the body both inside and out.
LVMH Prize winner and poster girl for the naked dress, Nensi Dojaka offered a more elevated take on the Kendall Jenner no pants trend sweeping catwalk and sidewalk. Floor grazing fishtails in the lightest of lace chiffon and gossamer fine tulle came fine tuned with sculptural cutout detail bodies while the addition of crystals “creates the illusion of even more lightness” the designer said backstage.
Bodysuit or catsuit versions also addressed her desire to push the needle to “see how we can do evening dresses in a more cooler and younger way that felt more fresh.”
“We are entering a more minimal phase,” she continued, adding that she was also expanding her wardrobe while continuing to embrace the body with more knit pieces than previously “to bring what we’re doing more everyday.”
A ‘naked dress’ look from the Nensi Dojaka Fall ’23 show at London Fashion Week.
A body suit look from the Nensi Dojaka Fall ’23 show at London Fashion Week.
Christopher Kane is unfailingly inspired by our biology and what lies beneath the skin. A more refined take on the visible thong trend, his cocktail bustle dresses ensured that the bottom took center stage. But anyone assuming an historical reference should know that Kane is much more left field when it comes to his influences.
The shape was actually inspired by unravelling intestines, he explained. “It started off last season because I was playing with body parts like the muscles,” he said. “I didn’t want the bustle to be a nod to Victoriana.” Science fiction is another Kane constant — he presented a talk earlier in the week at the Vogue x Snap AR exhibition, “Redefining the Body” — but this time it became science fact as he was starting to experiment with artificial intelligence. Some of his prints including those of pigs were computer generated. Why pigs? “When it comes to our DNA, we’re 98% the same.”
A look from the Annie’s Ibiza Fall ’23 collection at London Fashion Week.
A look from the Annie’s Ibiza Fall ’23 collection at London Fashion Week.
Annie’s Ibiza Annie Doble staged her first show during the week. Her brand beloved by Kate Moss who has her on speed dial, began life selling vintage clothing in the grounds of a fortress in Ibiza and opened a store in London’s Carnaby Street in 2020 with a combination of vintage, emerging labels like Miley Cyrus favorite Miss Sohee and now her own designs as well.
The hedonistic, party centric collection is all sourced and, where possible, produced in the U.K. using deadstock and sustainable fabrics. However, many of the body baring looks are designed to be thrown on over a bikini in Ibiza. Just call it beach to boite.
A look from the Dilara Findikoglu Fall ’23 show at London Fashion Week.
Dilara Findikoglu Fall ‘23 was about taking back control of the body. The designer was inspired in part by the Iranian protests sparked by the murder of Mahsa Amini for violating the country’s arcane dress regulations.
Never one to shy from controversy Findikoglu celebrated women’s bodies in all shapes and sizes with feathered bikinis and oft nipple baring corsets in sheer fabrications and veils that were also a nod to the burka. “Women’s bodies have been exploited too much,” she said after her show in An East London chapel. “I wanted to play my part and raise my voice as a woman.”
A corset embellished with resin dipped flowers, a technique she developed in her graduate collection, was entitled “Not Your Typical Flower” — a statement on the objectification of the body like flowers in a vase. The collection itself was named “Not a Man’s Territory.”
Both Annie’s Ibiza and Dilara shows also featured footwear by London based vegan shoe label Piferi. The brand, known for its high octane designs has previously collaborated with Ludovic de Saint Sernin.
A look from the Dilara Findikoglu Fall ’23 show at London Fashion Week.
To Harris Reed who showed demi Couture off schedule on the eve of the week. The designer who will present his debut collection for Nina Ricci in Paris next month during Paris Fashion Week juxtaposed form fitting second skin pieces with sculptural elements to create new super natural and exaggerated silhouettes.
Theatricality and the performative, transformative nature of dress is central to Reed’s oeuvre and the show, entitled “All The World’s A Stage,” a line from Shakespeare’s “As You Like It, was opened by actor Florence Pugh who proceeded to wear a custom piece by Reed for Nina Ricci a few days later at the BAFTAs.
The collection, the designer said, started with a fabric, a pair of gold lamé curtains up cycled from a London theatrical production company so he “continued exploring performance wear, costume and the body as second skin in a theatrical way.”
Florence Pugh and Harris Reed at the designer’s Fall ’23 show at London Fashion Week.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephaniehirschmiller/2023/02/23/how-nensi-dojaka-christopher-kane-dilara-annies-ibiza–harris-reed-embraced-the-body-at-lfw/