LONDON — London Fashion Week’s three-day summer edition kicks off on Friday and the hybrid physical and digital calendar will see more than 30 brands launch their new collections.
The absence of the usual big names means that emerging brands get more attention. Here, WWD highlights four promising newcomers who are making their London Fashion Week debut.
Brandon Choi during a fitting of his fall 2022 collection.
Liam Leslie/Courtesy
brandon choy
Just wrapping up this year’s Central Saint Martins MA graduate fashion show, Brandon Choi is set for his solo debut with DiscoveryLab on Saturday. The half French, half Chinese designer from Portsmouth wants to bring a different perspective to the world of haute couture.
“My work addresses some important issues in society, such as sustainability, community and craftsmanship, and has elements of elegant simplicity mixed with a more raw, maximalist energy,” said Choi.
The Fall 2022 collection to be featured is based on her graduate collection, with three new pieces added.
“Many of the themes are an ongoing exploration of humble materials like cardboard, paper and calico, and the silhouettes continue to reference relatives from the golden age of haute couture,” Choi explained, adding that his brand essentially explores “how human sensibility and ritual-like haute couture craftsmanship meet, in a process-driven offering of construction and deconstruction and the search for unexpected beauty.”
For Choi, who had a highly creative upbringing and worked at places like Aganovich, Viktor & Rolf and Vivienne Westwood, fashion is an extension of sculpture, but one that people can wear and live.
“It can change our posture, evoke emotions and ultimately alter our appearance. Growing up, I was always fascinated by fashion and all the wonderful women in my extended family, particularly my mother’s sense of style. Discussions about style and clothing were always part of the conversation in my home,” she added.
Going forward, Choi hopes to take a slow approach with her namesake label.
“I’m not in a hurry and I want to take my time to create. Exploring more ideas and techniques and working within my capacity. For starters, I’d love to work on some custom pieces and commissions for clients, as well as do some consulting and other collaborative projects,” she said. —Tianwei Zhang
A preview of the ABAGA Velli spring 2023 collection.
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ABAGA Velli
The designer duo, Adémidé Udoma and Diallo Nehimiah Hasmat-AIi, behind the London-based label ABAGA Velli, began working together in 2019, and that relationship blossomed as they started a label together uniting their appreciation for the African diaspora.
“We felt that many diaspora-led brands were great in their own respective ways, but sometimes the attention to detail was lacking in contrast to the over-the-top focus,” said Udoma, who comes from a tailoring background. “For us, we always wanted to build something that was based solely on attention to detail culture and storytelling, rather than a streetwear kind of approach,” said Udoma.
He credits designer Michael Browne for showing him the ropes. Browne has his own namesake label and was the former cutter for Chittleborough & Morgan.
His debut collection, titled “All Roads Lead to the Horn,” is a tribute to growing up in an African home. Udoma often accompanied her mother to the tailoring of wedding clothes: “My mother’s tailoring is not necessarily seen as a luxury in Nigerian culture, it is very much functionality, whereas, in England, it is a big deal.” have your own personal tailor. ”
While the collection is inspired by the African diaspora, the brand has eschewed the use of wax prints and concentrated on tailoring and utilitarian pieces for an attribute of street attitude. Udoma likes the double breasted denim jacket more for sentimental reasons, as it was one of the first pieces he designed.
The designer pair have worked with sustainably approved fabric mills to source their materials, routinely using denim, seersucker and cotton from Japan for garments. “The reference price is a bit higher because of that, but that’s something I care about more than just lowering the price,” she explains, revealing that all the buttons used in the collection are recycled.
Udoma directed and wrote a film about the collection featuring musicians Mink and John Glacier. The short film uses excerpts from Brazilian critical thinker Paulo Freire on education. “Education is as much about the student teaching the teacher as it is about the teacher teaching the student,” she said, comparing her love of clothing to the tailors she has known over time who have taught her new things. — Hikmat Mohamed
Inspirations for Carlota Barrera’s spring 2023 collection.
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Charlotte Barrera
For London designer Carlota Barrera, her debut show at London Fashion Week is dedicated to her favorite country, Cuba.
“I have been traveling there over the years because my parents have a close relationship with it and the place of their honeymoon,” he explained.
Barrera looked to the streets of Cuba for inspiration for the fabrics and color combinations used in the collection. “I used yellow and brown, which can feel old-fashioned but can also be really fresh and modern,” she said, revealing that it’s personal to her because she’s seen the country from an insider’s perspective rather than through the eyes of a tourist.
This season has changed its characteristic muted colors for bright blue, white and emerald green colors that are used in many buildings in Cuba. Simultaneously, he sourced dead fabrics from Italy and Spain for the collection with a heavy emphasis on linen, a summer fabric commonly worn in Cuba.
The standout looks in the collection are Barrera’s summer interpretation of denim jackets in a trompe l’oeil linen. Other pieces include scanned prints of seaweed and water bottle caps that she collected from the sea. “It’s about making something beautiful, but at the same time saying, this is the ocean now, do we really want this?” she said.
Barrera’s best sellers are his intricately cut-out tank tops that play on male sexuality that he has been producing since his MA collection at the London College of Fashion in 2018. He went on to incorporate them into his tailored blazers and tuxedo shirts. “To me, that feels very special and it’s just wonderful that I can continue to make them in different colors,” she added. — HM
A sneak peek of Sans Peng’s spring 2023 collection.
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sanpeng
Wearing sexy corset tank tops and a floor-length jersey dress from the “Dune” universe, London-based Chinese fashion designer Sans Peng knows what makes East London partygoers they move
Aspiring to foster inclusivity in fashion and showcase sustainable practices, Peng founded her namesake genderfluid brand in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Drawing inspiration from her own cross-cultural queer experience, her spring 2023 collection, launching digitally with DiscoveryLab on Saturday, is a cultural study of her hometown of Shenzhen during the 1980s and 1990s, when the small fishing village began its transformation to become one of the most advanced metropolis in China.
“You might see a lot of sporty elements, wide legs, and cinched-waisted silhouettes, which is like a microcosm of the special era and geographic location that I was born in. Shenzhen was subtly influenced by Hong Kong pop music at the time. These classic elements of the year are still cutting edge for me today,” she said.
For the digital showcase, he created an additional series of shoppable pieces using high-end, recycled dead fabrics.
Having launched the avant-garde footwear brand Untitlab, Peng said that with his own brand he wants to focus more on combining his attention to detail and his obsession with craftsmanship, as well as “influencing more people to love themselves and nature.” ”. — TZ
Related:
Ones to Watch: London Fashion Week Fall 2022
Ones to Watch: London Fashion Week Spring 2022
Ones to Watch: June edition of London Fashion Week
Source: wwd.com