Photo: Niklas Halle’n/AFP via Getty Images
London Fashion Week was effectively canceled in the wake of Queen Elizabeth II’s death on September 8. And then there was a call between the British Fashion Council and the designers a week ago. On that call, London’s fashion community came together to go ahead with the planned week of events in a way that respected both the national mood and industry planning, which in many cases was already too far along to give. reverse. As Jonathan Anderson, the established founder of JW Anderson and creative director of LVMH-owned Loewe, put it clearly, the cancellation could have damaging implications for younger, smaller brands.
The calendar of parades, events and parties, which begin today, has been reduced in response to the death of the monarch, but the spectacle had no choice but to continue.
“What most people outside the industry don’t realize is that Fashion Week is primarily a business event,” says designer Rejina Pyo, who will go ahead with her show on Sunday morning. “It’s part of a global fashion calendar that is planned a year in advance and impossible to change at the last minute.”
Some decided not to participate. Burberry, which was scheduled to show a stone’s throw from Buckingham Palace, canceled its headline slot on Saturday night. In a “mark of respect”, it has now been rescheduled for September 26 with a new location. Belgian designer Raf Simons also canceled his show. Young London designers often anticipate and take advantage of the attraction of established names and advertisers.
London Fashion Week has long been an incubator for young talent with non-profit organizations like Fashion East contributing to its funding. Speaking off the record to The Cut, several young designers admitted they had to reconfigure their finances to put on a show after big-name sponsors withdrew their support, needing quick and smart thinking to ensure they can continue to present collections as planned.
Daniel W. Fletcher, 30, is one of the first designers showing this week. The Central Saint Martins-trained designer, who came in second place on Netflix’s Next in Fashion, shared that his show will mark the moment with a heartfelt tribute: “As someone who has experienced several major losses in the last 12 months, I am well aware of how different people deal with grief,” he tells The Cut. “The queen’s death is a huge loss for a lot of people, especially her family, so I want to be sensitive to this.” a regular reference to British culture and who previously organized anti-Brexit protests during London Fashion Week, says he will “pay tribute to this individual who has served our country for 70 years”.
Twenty-six-year-old British-American designer Harris Reed says that, having already paid for the show, canceling it simply wasn’t a viable option. “I think now is the time that we need to tap into the creativity that we have in the UK. Fashion is a medium that makes people dream, but it’s been a challenging few years,” explains Reed. “I think sometimes people think that fashion is frivolous, but for us it is a business. It’s so integral to having these moments twice a year where you show the world who you are and sell the next chapter of your company through entertainment.”
Like Fletcher, Reed, “on a deep level of respect,” paid tribute to the late queen with a final look that featured a bouquet of Her Majesty’s favorite flowers: the lily of the valley. But the tributes and direct references to the queen are not the only approaches that are expected in the coming days.
London-based Asian-American designer Chet Lo, who this season will make his first solo appearance on the London Fashion Week calendar after three seasons as part of the Fashion East talent incubator, explains feeling “disappointed ” when he heard that the big brands were canceling shows. . “So many young designers, like myself, have invested so much time, energy and capital in creating our shows, it was very worrying that all that effort might have been wasted. The repercussions would be quite damaging for the brand if the show doesn’t go ahead,” he said.
The understandably and legitimately doesn’t feel the need to explicitly pace it within its collection. “Of course, we sympathize with the British nation and the massive changes that are happening in the country right now, but my brand is incredibly focused on my heritage and background,” adds Lo. “My references are very different.”
JW Anderson confirmed that it would go ahead, but instead “it will be more intimate and private than ever.” “Now we must come together and continue to create the amazing stories this city is known for,” the brand wrote.
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Source: www.thecut.com