Explained by Rhiannon D’Averc

FASHION

Goth is back in full force this season. Dreaming Eli, Simone Rocha, Yuhan Wang, and Aadnevik embraced romantic lace and frills in black and white shades, while Rocky Star and Tamar Keburia were all about black leather.

Peekaboo moments were revealed at a number of shows, with cut-out designs allowing a glimpse of what lies beneath. Simone Rocha, Forget Me Not at Fashion Scout China, Aadnevik, Susan Fang, Safarah at Ones to Watch, Natasha Zinko, Mark Fast, Masha Popova – they’re all doing it.

Where to place your cut-outs? Some suggest a hint of nipple, while others go for a bare midriff, often covered by tulle or mesh. Cut-outs have even drifted to skirts these days, making a mini even mini-er.

Tones were muted almost across the board: pastel, earthy, and neutral colour palettes swept the catwalks. The occasional flash of bright red at Aadnevik or whole rainbows at Helen Anthony only served to highlight the quietness going on everywhere else.

We don’t mind a print this season, whether it’s floral, check, or otherwise, so long as the tones remain muted and the pattern does not overpower.

Tailoring for womenswear is very sharp, oversized like the eighties, and paired with lingerie, whether in the form of a corset, a bralette, or something a little more slinky hidden under a blazer. See: Helen Anthony, Gorgiya at Fashion Scout China,
Dreaming Eli, Frolov, Erdem, Tolu Coker, Eudon Choi, Edward Crutchley, and Noon by Noor.

Then there are the frou frou girls – pastel concoctions that look as though they ought to be hosting a Twitch stream about ice cream, or selling confectionary-based pen charms on TikTik Shop. They burst out most boldly at Susan Fang in layered candy cane stripes, but their ilk can also be glimpsed at Ones to Watch’s Alenkie, Global Fashion Collective’s Alex S Yu, Bora Aksu, and in the cuddly toys
clutched by Simone Rocha models. These girls are the dreamers who want to stay in bed thinking about their youth, not facing reality (Ariana Grande’s Oscars gown comes to mind).

The bodysuit is alive and well, or at least alive – patterned numbers took to the catwalks at Sinead O’Dwyer and Sinead Gorey. Presumably, people with other names are allowed to wear them, too. Either way, knitwear and knitwear stylings such as cut-out details reminiscent of the gapes between warp and weft were big
news.

Oversized and longline, slightly relaxed tailoring took centre stage for menswear in more than one show: Helen Anthony, Justin Cassin, KGL, Suncun, and Derrick all embraced the longer, bigger jacket silhouette.

Elsewhere, light academia was in (think: beige and tan reading jackets, turtlenecks, pocket squares, corduroy trousers) at Dunhill for menswear and Paul Costelloe for womenswear. You can imagine couples dressed in both heading to the kind of balls you need a PhD to get into.

A touch of the mundane struck many shows: Tolu Coker sent models through a street market, Sinead Gorey conquered the late-night off-license, and clothes were suited for any daytime stroll at Justin Cassin, Derrick, Dunhill, and Colville.

HAIR

Men wore their hair long at Justin Cassin, and elsewhere, many catwalks covered their male models’ hair completely. Simone Rocha did the same regardless of gender lines. At Erdem, hair was clipped back under a net, as if the models had walked out of the backstage area before they were ready, and Natasha Zinko opted for tight balaclava-like caps. In womenswear, designers showed a tendency to slick it back and keep it out of the way. With the British weather looming over us, what better way to draw attention to our clothes rather than how much we look, at any given moment, like a drowned rat?

Check out examples of this style at Ukraine Fashion Week, Rocky Star, Sinead O’Dwyer, and Barrus, with a softer version on display at Paul Costelloe. Other teams created windswept looks: Fashion Scout China opted for carefully-arranged bedraggled strands across the board, and KGL’s models looked to be fresh out of a downpour. Eudon Choi’s models were similarly caught in the weather.

Yuhan Wang got big and loud, playing off the New Romantic references in the clothes with a lot of backcombing. Also going the 80s route was Edward Crutchley, with crimped looks for the male models as well.

Barrus took things to another level with hair glitter around the parting line, creating something different for the season – but reminiscent of the glitter makeup we saw on a few other catwalks.

Tolu Coker created a unique and uniform hair look, with curls gelled onto the forehead for a look that very much ties back into all the references the fashion was making.

ACCESSORIES

This season, no menswear look is complete without a scarf, as seen at Justin Cassin and Derrick. Shoes were either plain or ugly for many designers. From lumpy Crocs to schoolgirl choices, via sneaker options you wouldn’t even notice if they were put right in front of you, footwear had a hard go of it this season.

But there is always someone who is willing to save the day: we saw flying tassles at Erdem, cowboy boots for Jasive at Global Fashion Collective, and black pumps and cutout leather flats at Yuhan Wang.

A few brands went for more unconventional accesories. Cigarettes were flying out of mouths and between fingers at Edward Crutchley (it’s still not cool, but at least we’re seeing a continuation of the trend for slightly trashy settings (see: fashion and mise en scene). We did, however, much more enjoy the cowboy hats.

Gloves were elbow-length and statement-worthy: Tolu Coker matched their prints to headscarves, while Dunhill opted for leather driving gloves to add that touch of sophistication to their menswear collection.

As for bags, if they weren’t blocked into very familiar and classic leather shapes, they were playfully deconstructed. See the bags at Nosakhari and Helen Kirkum for your examples. Tolu Coker played with tropes by introducing big hats and hooped earrings, while the other designers showcasing characters (Sinead Gorey, Yuhan Wang, et al) went for the appropriate jewellery as well.

BEAUTY

Nothing beats a classic smokey eye. They were out in full force on the runways of this season, as they perenially are. This time around, they tended more to the realm of the cat-eye flick, with thick eyeliner emphasising angular looks.

Taking more of a risk were the likes of KGL, who used pink streaks of makeup
under the eyes and down over the cheeks to add to that windswept look. Had the models been crying or just caught in a downpour? We suppose that’s part of the mystique.

Bare beauty led the way at Suncun, where the models were artfully presented as though they had not a single drop of makeup on their faces. At Genaro Rivas, beauty marks penciled onto faces created a powdered look for both menswear
and womenswear. Meanwhile, at Simone Rocha, floral eyebrows were stenciled into place as the final touch in just a handful of the models.

Finally, we look to a contrast to the smokey eye: smokey lips, as seen via
the black lipstick worn at Dreaming Eli. Full circle!

MISE EN SCENE

The most budget-efficient way to stage a catwalk? Hire a venue that already has its own character and let the mise en scene speak for itself. We saw plenty of naked catwalks this season, many of them taking places in venues with impressive windows, shiny floors, or other architectural twists that provided all of the needed atmopshere.

Don’t underestimate the hallowed “plain walkway between two rows of chairs”: it’s an old and simple formula, but it works every time.

But a few designers went above and beyond. Sinead Gorey and Tolu Coker had their aforementioned shopping experiences, both telling us a lot about the very different types of women who stalked between the aisles.

Aadnevik created a winter wonderland, with snow-laden trees and a white carpet underfoot.

As for the best way to make a scene?

Just put someone in it that knows how to work one. That was the attitude taken at CompletedWorks, where the presentation simply consisted of a lot of people gawking, elbowing one another, and saying, “Is that really Joanna Lumley?”.

It was.