Each year thousands flock to England for London Fashion Week, which is hosted each September and February, for five full days of fashion and glam. 2024 marks 40 whole years of London Fashion Week. This means that London's position as a world leading creative fashion industry will be celebrated by the creative community across the world. This year eyes across the globe focused on the cultural hub of London as it both showcased the next generation of visionary creatives and promoted the emerging talent of young creators and designers. 250 designers and creators exhibited their work to a global audience, with 48 runway shows, 17 presentations, and 63 additional events.
This year at London Fashion Week, the overarching goal appeared to be that of balancing nostalgia and innovation in a currently changing industry.
The fashion industry has grappled with constant technological change and ever changing consumer priorities. The anniversary of 40 years of London Fashion Week has allowed for a moment to reflect on the rich history of its past and also provide reassurance for an uncertain future ahead for certain brands. The challenge for fashion companies, especially Burberry, lies in the ability to recapture the spirit of its earlier days while both being able to adapt to the high demands of a more socially conscious and digitally driven audience.
Burberry emerged during LFW as the quintessential success story of all of fashion week, despite the company’s recent financial struggles. They are known as the brand that has navigated the waters of changing taste during economic turbulence, but they have still been able to manage to remain one of London’s most desired and sought after brands by bringing in a record number of spectators to their stunningly chic fashion shows. Although countless emerging labels and brands have come and gone, Burberry’s enduring presence in the fashion world proves that a company can still create beautiful items even during financially hard times.
The action of London Fashion Week began with the colorful celebration of women’s influence in fashion with the Brazilian embassy launching their “A Chain of Women” campaign, which highlights certain brands that are owned by women from South America. This showcase included intricate designs from PatBo and Farm Rio which expanded insight to those watching to the creative power that Brazilian women possess in the industry. Brazilian women creators used the focus of their opening show to stress the importance of gender equality in fashion. The tone set by these female designers and creators was one that stayed relevant for the entirety of London Fashion Week.
Despite the seriousness of the first event of London Fashion Week, the following event that was scheduled allowed for everyone attending to let loose and enjoy themselves. The globally popular brand H&M held a performance in the Copper Box Arena by Swedish fashion icon, Charli XCX. This event was hosted in order to attempt to combine both the fashion and music communities together in the hopes of creating a uniting wide community. Community seems to be a key theme that has consistently appeared throughout the entirety of the 2024 London Fashion Week.
The event that brought the eyes of the world to London was that of the S.S. Daley show, which triumphantly made its return to London Fashion Week. Pop icon Harry Styles has been the reason for all the commotion surrounding this particular runway show. Early this year Steven Stokey-Daley, owner and creator of S.S. Daley confirmed that Styles has taken a stake in the business by lending financial assistance and providing a new sense of appeal to the brand. Styles was seated on the very front row of the show next to Vogue's esteemed Anna Wintour. Styles rarely makes public appearances these days, and the media had a field day with his presence at London Fashion Week. This drew millions of views and attention to the brand of S.S. Daley and placed even more attention upon London Fashion Week, as a whole. S.S. Daley has recently secured a highly esteemed prestigious Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design, which made people flock to their stunning venue at the Royal Academy of Arts to observe their new collection. The Fall 2024 S.S. Daley collection finally revealed their new womenswear collection. The designs from this runway show took key concepts from a masculine aesthetic and added a contemporary twist. This particular design company used their runway show at London Fashion Week to challenge the traditional gender boundaries that can be found in the fashion world.
Nensi Dojaka, a world renowned design winner, has been busy working with a Calvin Klein collaboration. She has expressed a desire to use her collaboration in order to help Calvin Klein explore femininity. She desired to re-paint the image of women by showing both vulnerability and strength through her designs. She is impacting Calvin Klein through her creative and expressive ideas by using sculptural metal hardware throughout the entirety of the collection. Dojaka is breathing detailed new life to this Calvin Klein campaign as it ensures both support and wearability.
This London Fashion Week many designers showcased what they believe is trendy, appealing, and attractive. Several common themes in designs that were displayed across the entirety of the week were glitter and animal printed pants and a variety of mini skirts. Slim-cut leather trousers, ankle boots with an attached heel, and both sheer vests and blouses are other designs that were fully present. Effortlessness was also portrayed through oversized sunglasses and baseball caps. Denim, spurs, and boots were contrasted with ruffles, bloomers, and floral prints. Bows were a feminine touch that many designers employed on their womenswear collections, such as the Richard Quinn collection. Richard Quinn’s show was staged at The Dorchester, which is the exact location that the famous Hubert de Givenchy hosted his very first London fashion show. This particular collection has been described and indeed appears “refined, elegant, and regal.” Business wear was another theme that was present at London Fashion Week in both the menswear and womenswear shows. The pinstripe appears to be making a comeback as seen in Erdem Moralıoğlu’s new designs. London is world-renowned as a breeding ground for fashion’s best and brightest from Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood and even Stella McCartney. This city is indeed known for emerging talent and being a place where designers can freely showcase this talent.
Celebrities bring eyes from across the entire world to the city of London during fashion week. In addition to the previously mentioned icon, Harry Styles, there were countless notable celebrities that made their appearance. Paris Jackson, Barry Keoghan, Gabrielle Union, and Naomi Campell are just a handful of the many celebrities that made their appearance at this exquisite event. Rhianna even made an appearance dressed beautifully in a beige fall colored dress paired with strappy stiletto high heels. Out of these celebrities, Harry Styles received the most attention due to the fact that he had not been to London Fashion Week in a total of 10 years.
This particular London Fashion Week has been one to be remembered throughout time with the celebrity attendance to the new fashion trends, this particular fashion week has been phenomenal. New star designers debuted, new icons were made. The 2024 London Fashion Week will be consistently looked back upon as one where creativity shone through the runway shows in the bustling city of London. 40 years of this event have already gone by and hopefully there will be countless more years of the celebrated London Fashion Week.
References
Don-Alvin Adegeest. (2024). London Fashion Week at 40: Balancing nostalgia and innovation in a changing industry. FashionUnited; FashionUnited. https://fashionunited.com/news/fashion/london-fashion-week-at-40-balancing-nostalgia-and-innovation-in-a-changing-industry/2024091861939
Fiona Sinclair Scott, & Dolan, L. (2024, September 18). On its 40th anniversary, London Fashion Week has plenty to celebrate. CNN; CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/18/style/london-fashion-week-40th-anniversary/index.html
Giovana Gelhoren. (2024, September 16). Celebrities at London Fashion Week: September 2024. Yahoo Entertainment; Yahoo Entertainment. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/celebrities-london-fashion-week-september-180349034.html
https://people.com/all-the-celebrities-at-london-fashion-week-2024-photos-8713355. (2024). See the Best Photos from London Fashion Week, from An Icons-Only Party to Rihanna’s Mane Event. Peoplemag. https://people.com/all-the-celebrities-at-london-fashion-week-2024-photos-8713355
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