London Fashion Week A/W22 Roundup

London Fashion Week A/W22 is back IRL

London Fashion Week returned bolder and more eclectic than ever before. Although on the smaller side compared to the other stops on the month-long fashion world tour, no other city delivers the big risks and bold styling quite like our London designers. The London Fashion Week A/W22 line-up saw the emergence of some of fashion’s most promising new designers trying to make their mark and contribute to the ever-evolving industry, as well as the return of some of our big-name favourites setting the trends for the coming months.

Not even storm Eunice could dampen the mood as celebrities and influencers from all across the globe returned to the front rows of some of the biggest names in the industry, bringing the city back to life and giving us the Fashion Week we’ve been craving for the past two years.

Read – London Fashion Week S/S 2022 – Everything you Need to Know.

Harris Reed kicked us off with his A/W22 presentation featuring a live performance from Sam Smith. Supermodel Irina Shayk flew across the pond, fresh off the Michael Kors runway in New York, to close the Matty Bovan show. Connor Ives presented his second-ever collection with Jourdan Dunn in the front row.

Unlike New York, Fashion Week’s more polished, upscale looks with designs that are often more formal, designers at London Fashion Week embraced the relentlessly energetic and nonchalantly cool streetwear style oozing sex appeal in the unique way London does best. For his autumn/winter 2022 collection, David Koma was inspired by Britain’s favourite sports: football and rugby.

The collection featured an array of sporty separates, embellished motorcycle jackets, and occasion-wear with silhouettes from the sculptural silk taffeta volumes of haute couture to skimpy hemlines of mini dresses. The collection embraces the mixing of the archetypal English upper and working classes, creating pieces that combine the spirit of sportswear with regal sparkle and colours of precious stones.  

One of the clear standouts on London’s Fashion Week A/W22 schedule was Nensi Dojaka. After winning the LVMH Prize and the BFC Foundation Award in 2021, the brand has become a celebrity favourite with the likes of Zendaya, Bella Hadid, Rihanna and Emily Ratajkowski donning her designs to many high-class events.

Best known for bodycon pieces and Y2k-inspired sensibility, the autumn/winter 2022 collection took those elements and expanded upon them, resulting in pieces that were bold, powerful and sensual. Sending her now trademark lingerie-inspired dresses down the catwalks on the likes of Paloma Elesser and a pregnant Maggie Maurer, Dojaka also embraced tailoring and leather, with an emphasis on colour and texture, bringing the pieces to life and celebrating body diversity, modernity and sexiness.  

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Read – New York Fashion Week A/W22

Another brand that resonated well was Supriya Lele, with stars like Victoria Beckham and Mia Regan in attendance. In her autumn/winter 2022 collection, Lele uses the language of sexiness but shows how sex appeal is in the mystery. A triangle of lace peeks out under leather trousers, no dress or top is left demure and we also see the return of the cut-outs that the brand is so famous for.

It’s also the brand’s first time venturing into outerwear with Matrix-style coats that lean towards the likes of those we’ve seen on the runways of New York Fashion Week, but a low-slung, drop-waist lends a subtle, 20’s inspired femininity. Lele also uses models of different sizes on her runway, and notably doesn’t just cover them up while reserving more revealing pieces for conventionally slim bodies- she knows the power of confidence and that sexiness is about what lies beneath. 

Halpern has become the brand for partywear in London and the autumn/winter 2022 collection was glitzier and more fun than ever. Held in the Brixton Recreation Centre, the collection focuses on the question: ‘’What if it was all a dream?’’ and is about ‘’infusing real life with a kind of glamour that will lift the spirits’’.

The collection offered something for a range of women, from his signature disco aesthetic seen in flowing flares, eighties animal prints and electric shots of neon, to blush pink ruched column dresses, tie-dyed fringing and opulent satins, sequins and embellishments. It was a collection that embraced experimentation and innovation which, especially after the last two years, felt fitting for London’s left-field fashion scene.

London Fashion Show Live 2022

Fashion Show Live presented an array of emerging designers as they displayed their new collections on the catwalk at the Kia Oval Cricket Stadium. Many of the designers focused on sustainability as they used recycled fabrics and materials to create their collections in an attempt to eliminate fast fashion. Designer Olli Hull stunned with his ‘Act Normal’ collection which featured up-cycled streetwear pieces adorned with hand-painted illustrations that explore the impact that consumerism, social media and the fast fashion industry are having on our mental health. 

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Womenswear brand ChenChen Studio showed us the power of detail by elevating its relatively simple pieces with design elements such as delicate embroidery, double-cuffed sleeves, elevated shapes and unusual patterns. Bold colours and statement prints were also implemented throughout the collections, with brands such as Ethnic Revival, Caroline Bruce and GUIA applying these design elements to their pieces and passing on the already popular trends to autumn/winter 2022. 

Experimentation was also evident at Richard Quinn with his autumn/winter 2022 collection being described as ‘’a love letter to silhouette and craft.’’. The Peckham-based designer hosted his catwalk in Pimlico’s Royal Horticultural Hall, which he transformed with floor-to-ceiling pink draping, a pink carpet and flora and fauna borders, with crystal chandeliers held up by men in latex gimp suits.

The collection featured a series of 1960s-style cocoon coats and large structured hats, both in Quinn’s signature graphic floral print, as well as head-to-toe floral looks consisting of matching skirts, skin-tight polo necks, tights, bags, shoes and hats. More elaborate pieces included structured suits with stiff peplums embellished with floral beading- a display of Quinn’s intricate fabrications, detailed embroidery and elevated shapes that he’s come to be known for.

Author: Ellena Strestik