Last summer, Burberry took over The Newt in Somerset for a celebration of the ‘great British summer’. Cue sun loungers, golf buggies and a hot air balloon in the British fashion house’s signature check – even the 2,000-acre Somerset estate’s manicured croquet lawn had been cut into the motif.

For summer 2026, Burberry is heading further afield, leaving behind the fickle British climate (The Newt takeover ran with the playful tagline, ‘whatever the weather’), and heading towards the sun-soaked shoreline of the south of France. There, creative director Daniel Lee has put his stamp on the historic Hôtel Belle Rives in Antibes, just along the coastline from Cannes on the Côte d'Azur.

Burberry takes over Hôtel Belle Rives for summer

Founded in 1929, the art deco landmark began life as a guest house before being expanded into the current hotel, with early guests including F Scott Fitzgerald, who wrote part of his final novel Tender Is the Night at the then-Villa St Louis. Retaining much of its original 1920s decor, Hôtel Belle Rives – which features the Michelin-starred La Passagère and Fitzgerald Bar – is perhaps most notable for its terrace and jetty, where guests can sunbathe or swim in the Mediterranean waters.

It is here, in the ‘beach club’, that Burberry’s influence is most felt, its sun loungers and parasols reimagined in navy blue Burberry check, evocative of Hôtel Belle Rives’ signature hue. The motif also features across the hotel’s interiors – including with the original 1920s lift – while custom ‘Burberry Cap d’Antibes’ logos replace the jetty’s signage, as well as appearing across the back of the terrace’s deck chairs.

Elsewhere, expect Burberry-branded ice lollies, as well as a roster of activities organised by the house across the summer, including jetskiing, which was purportedly invented in Juan-les-Pins in the 1930s (Hôtel Belle Rives is situated in the historic resort, one of the various holiday spots on the Cap d’Antibes).

It is one of the various initiatives from the British house, which is perhaps most associated with the drizzly autumn and winter months, to put its stamp on the summer season. These also include a collaboration with swimwear label Hunza G (first founded in 1984, it was relaunched by Georgiana Huddart in 2015 and has developed a cult following), as well as a Ryan McGinley-shot High Summer campaign starring Simone Ashley and Tom Blyth at a British lido, a traditional outdoor swimming pool.

‘A lido holds a particular kind of nostalgia for the British,’ Lee said at the time. ‘The moment the sun comes out, we make the most of the weather. We wanted to bring to life a warm summer’s day spent in and around the water with friends.’

Burberry’s Hôtel Belle Rives takeover runs until 30 September 2026.

Hôtel Belles Rives, 33 Boulevard Edouard Baudoin, 06160 Antibes, France.

burberry.com

At Prada’s S/S 2026 menswear show, co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons revealed the usually hidden windows of Fondazione Prada’s Deposito, where the house has held its runway shows since 2018. Flooding the space with natural light for the first time, the OMA-designed set – which featured a series of 1970s-inspired floral rugs across the hangar-like space’s concrete floor – was a reflection of the collection’s escapist mood. ‘This is the first time the Fondazione is completely bare, with the light coming in,’ said Simons backstage. ‘We want everything to be light, fresh and colourful. When we started working, it was the easiest collection I have ever done. It's very free.’

The best colourful outerwear to brighten spring days

Alongside vivid raffia hats, boldly adorned floral tabards and a series of bloomer-cum-cargo pant micro-shorts, were colourful mackintosh jackets – including one in vivid, pillarbox red that featured in the Wallpaper* March Style Issue as part of a digest of S/S 2026’s trends. ‘Outerwear eschewed the usual hues of grey, brown and black for bold colours that befit spring,’ we said of the season’s liberated mood, with such colourful overcoats making appearances at Auralee, Loewe, Dries Van Noten, Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello and Polo Ralph Lauren (the last captured another, but intertwining trend, that of preppiness – one also defined by a bold use of colour).

Spanning both mens and womenswear, these colourful jackets, overcoats, windbreakers, anoraks and macs make the perfect transitional outerwear – their unrestrained palette the perfect match for spring’s brighter (but oftentimes cool, and sometimes unpredictable) days. After all, on the crest of summer, it is a time to embrace hope and renewal in both life and wardrobe. Our picks of spring’s best colourful outerwear – each light enough for warmer days – are a good place to start.

In early 2026, the UK reported more than 40 days of consecutive rain – which might have inspired the resin puddles that populated the runway at Daniel Lee's Burberry show, held in February at London's Old Billingsgate Market. It recalled another memorable show from the house, Burberry Prorsum A/W12 by Christopher Bailey, where flecks of confetti simulated a rainstorm, with models carrying striped umbrellas to protect them from the shower.

Protection against Britain's inclement weather has been the impetus behind Burberry since it was founded in 1856 by Thomas Burberry in Basingstoke, Hampshire. In 1879, he would develop gabardine, a breathable, lightweight, waterproof cotton; later, in 1895, he used the new material to create the Tielocken coat, a belted overcoat with a hook fastening that was adopted by soldiers during the Boer War. It would be the precursor to the trench coat, Burberry's defining innovation, which was introduced during World War I after a commission from the British Army. Double-breasted, with buttons instead of hooks and epaulettes on each shoulder, as well as a detachable warmer, the trench has been in production by the house ever since.

It is why the Burberry trench, recognisable for its distinctive chequered lining, is the star of the house's 170th anniversary celebration this year. It's no stranger to the spotlight, having been worn by the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo on the silver screen. Meanwhile, a new photographic series by Tim Walker, The Trench, Portraits of an Icon, captures a cast of 23 characters, including Kate Moss, musician Little Simz, actress Teyana Taylor and tennis star Jack Draper. ‘The trench coat is the foundation of Burberry; it's a symbol of resilience, innovation and personal style,' says Lee, Burberry's current chief creative officer. ‘It's enduring – it's become an essential part of British culture.'

The trench has also served as a creative canvas for Lee and his predecessors, including Bailey (2001-2018) and Riccardo Tisci (2018-2022). In their hands, the trench has been in constant metamorphosis, adorned with ruffles, studs or sequins; abbreviated in length or supersized; or even transformed into a dress. We've taken an exclusive look inside the Burberry archive, selecting eight design classics from the last two decades that capture the trench's shape-shifting appeal – from the Quality Street metallics of Bailey's S/S13 collection to the haute couture-inspired contours of Tisci's A/W 2022 trench-cum-gown, or simply the insouciant London cool of Lee's A/W 2023 debut.

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A version of this story appears in the May 2026 Design Issue of Wallpaper*, available on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News + now. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

Photography assistant: Clare Chong. Set design assistant: Jo Currie. Production runner: Ella Souzan Clarke.

From abstracted plays on domestic spaces at Prada and Marni, to sets celebrating icons of urban architecture at Burberry and Dior, the A/W 2026 season offered much in the way of innovative set design.

As always, these temporary constructions can tell us as much about a designer’s current preoccupations as the garments they send out into them. For Loewe’s Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez it was an invocation of play, at Prada Raf Simons and Miuccia Prada are thinking about what is revealed when the surface layer is stripped away, and for Demna, it was investigating the ‘Gucciness of Gucci’ – a quest which, ahead of his first outing for the brand, led him back to Florence, the city in which it all started. Discover some of the stand-outs from fashion month below.

The standout show sets of fashion month A/W 2026

Burberry

Midway through February, it was reported that it had rained every day of 2026 in the UK – a news story that Daniel Lee might have had in mind whilst conceptualising the set for Burberry’s A/W 2026 collection. Trompe l’oeil puddles of resin scattered the tarmac-effect runway at Old Billingsgate Market, which was transformed into a night-time vignette of Tower Bridge, replete with that most familiar urban sight: scaffolding.

If a former 19th-century fish market seems an unlikely venue for London’s most high-profile luxury brand to show a collection, consider that gabardine, the fabric created by Thomas Burberry in the 1870s, is to this day a mainstay of angling attire – indeed, a quote singing the praises of Burberry from the Fishing Gazette was used in early advertising for the brand. The infusion of that practical, outdoorsy heritage with contemporary cosmopolitan glamour translated into a collection of opulently finished outerwear – from signature trench coats reimagined in silk or with ruffled lapels, to rich swathes of shearling.

READ: A first look at Burberry’s A/W 2026 show set, which depicts London landmarks ‘under construction’

Diesel

Diesel’s A/W 2026 runway set consisted of around 50,000 pieces of memorabilia from the brand’s archive, a monumental time capsule dedicated to almost 50 years of partying. Displayed under bleached lighting, the installation was awash with high-voltage colour, with objects ranging from a fringed parasol and inflatable beach doughnut, to a coffee machine, motorbike, and lava lamp. Creative director Glenn Martens described the season’s mood as ‘waking up in a place, with no idea what happened last night’: think crinkled denim and ripped hems. Judging by the contents of the eclectic clutter, the place could be anywhere from a roadside motel, MTV Beach House, or a teenager’s bedroom. Pick your poison.

Marni

If ‘familiar’ is a recurrent, self-confessed description of Meryl Rogge’s aesthetic tastes, it’s certainly not meant as a synonym for ‘samey’. There is always a little surprise, a fun tweak, or a new addition that keeps things fresh and exciting. For Rogge’s debut collection for Marni, this took the form of palm-size sequins, pointed mules with laces on the toes, and pants with two sets of stacked belt loops. And in the set design – a collaboration with Wallpaper*’s Designers of the Year 2021 Formafantasma – it meant something that looked ‘as if a room has been carefully disassembled and reassembled in another order,’ as Formafantasma’s Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin told us before the show.

The bones of the space were augmented with wood-effect panelling and fabric-covered benches, and a giant door mat in lieu of carpet. Mirrored panels, which were hand-painted with ‘fragments drawn from quotidian life’ like car headlights and office chairs, played with perception. Are they images? Or are they portals?

‘The decision to carefully hand-paint these ordinary details was important,’ say Trimarchi and Farresin. ‘Spending time rendering something banal gives it attention without turning it into spectacle. In a moment when most images are produced and consumed quickly, the act of painting introduces care and slowness. It allows us and hopefully others to look again at things we normally overlook, to pause for a second longer than usual.’ It’s a message that carries through to Rogge’s attitude toward design: robust, realistic and resonant.

READ: Formafantasma created the ‘familiar yet unsettled’ show set for Meryll Rogge’s Marni debut

Gucci

A few hundred metres from the Palazzo Gucci in the Tuscan city of Florence sits one of Europe’s most prominent art museums – the Uffizi, in an architectural complex begun by Giorgio Vasari in the year 1560. It is home to such illustrious works from the Western canon as Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus, da Vinci’s The Annunciation, and Caravaggio’s Medusa. It was also the starting point for Demna, the Georgian designer who took the helm of the 105-year-old brand in 2025, when the shape of the A/W 2026 show space began to form in his imagination.

‘When I left the museum and stepped into Piazza della Signoria, the first thing I saw was Palazzo Gucci,’ the designer wrote in a letter published online the day before the show. ‘In that moment, I understood the place Gucci holds within Italian culture.’

His recreation of something resembling the storied museum, in Milan's Palazzo delle Scintille, was executed with typical Demna-like innovation: all hard edges and ultra-modern materials. The slick geometric hall was clad in travertine Stoneleaf, made from ultra-fine sheets of Italian marble bonded onto sheets of fibreglass and transparent resin. Classical sculptures were made out of plaster using 3D scanning, and then treated to look like aged marble. The runway itself was marked out by a skinny beam of fluorescent light, through which models sauntered and languished at a museum-appropriate pace.

READ: Demna’s first runway set for Gucci is an imagined museum filled with sculptural greats

Prada

If Prada’s A/W 2026 show was, as Wallpaper’s Jack Moss described, ‘an exercise in extreme layering’, the Deposito of the Fondazione Prada, where 15 models showed a total of 60 looks, was in many ways its antithesis – or perhaps its logical conclusion. The collection itself was cleverly conceived to reveal itself through the gradual stripping away of garments, so that by the time each model had taken her fourth turn about the room, coats and scarves had given way to light cotton pinafores and bloomers. However, the set had been stripped already, leaving only an eerie whisper of what might have been there before, like when you see a partially demolished house. Fireplaces exposed to the elements. Masonry jaggedly revealed. Interior made exterior.

In a continuation of the sliced-open palazzo created by OMA for the menswear offering in January, artefacts which spanned five hundred years – from 16th-century tapestries to modernist lampshades – were effectively suspended around the perimeter of the room, each level an echo of a floor without a floor. Walls were delicate pastel shades with intact wainscotting juxtaposed against the imprint of former joists, or the patinated shadow of where a dividing wall once stood.

‘Their meaning is layered [and] inherently personal,’ explains Prada of the mish-mash of objects within the space: a Venetian mirror, various consoles, paintings from different periods and more. The house’s co-creative directors and their respective tastes and preoccupations are keenly visible in this selection, but they also leave room for imagination. By revealing so little, we are left to fantasise for ourselves about who the inhabitants of this dilapidated, but once grand, former dwelling might have been.

Dior

What more appropriate way to kick off Paris Fashion Week than a promenade in the Jardin des Tuileries? And for Dior, no less. The 1st arrondissement park has been open to the public since the late 17th century and has been a fixture of Parisian life ever since, not to mention a favourite subject of Impressionist scenes and a backdrop for revolution. This March, it became the site of Jonathan Anderson’s second womenswear collection for Dior, in a show space described as ‘an imitation of a park, within a park’.

Designed around Le Bassin Octogonal was a structure which drew from the familiar grass-green garden furniture that is scattered throughout the park, with a runway which snaked 360-degrees round the perimeter of the water, and across its centre (water which was filled with imitation water-lillies, an unmistakably Andersonian touch, and a nod to the eight murals by Monet which are housed at Musée de l’Orangerie in the western-most corner of the Tuileries).

In a conversation which aired before the show, Anderson told his friend, designer and podcaster Bella Freud that he ‘will always feel like a tourist in Paris’ and yet the city itself seemed to look upon him as a treasured friend this A/W 2026: the early-spring sun shone brightly, and the water reflected dappled light throughout the scene.

READ: Jonathan Anderson’s latest Dior show was a walk in the park

Saint Laurent

Now in his tenth year at Saint Laurent, for A/W 2026 Anthony Vaccarello chose to focus ‘on the house at its most foundational’. For the collection, this meant mega-watt sex appeal, body contouring, and the glorious revival of Le Smoking. And for the setting – it could only mean Paris, and that perpetual, romantic emblem of the French capital, Le Tour Eiffel. Gustave Eiffel’s iconic landmark has been a mainstay visual for what is arguably the city’s most illustrious house since the days of the maison’s namesake. Vaccarello himself has regularly used it as a backdrop for his work with the brand – sometimes with the runway literally beneath its iron frame.

This season, the glittering structure was glimpsed through vast windows, part of a set designed to evoke the apartment once inhabited by Yves Saint Laurent himself, with his partner Pierre Bergé. That duplex, at 55 rue de Babylone, is now the stuff of legend, its contents scattered to the four winds after Yves’s death, but once upon a time it was home to a vast collection of artworks (from Burne-Jones to Mondrian), furniture, and books. Archival photographs of the space show the same wood panelling and thick-pile carpet that we saw at the show space, which also featured a replica of a bust owned by Saint Laurent and Bergé, blown up to oversize proportions.

Loewe

How better to dress the backdrop to a collection foregrounding ‘joy, experimentation and play,’ than with toys? The work of Cologne-based artist Cosima von Bonin was a key influence for Loewe’s Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez this season, finding its way into both the ready-to-wear and the mise-en-scene. Known for creating larger-than-life plushies and other animalistic sculptures, often fabricated in textiles or constructed from found objects, von Bonin’s mark was left in the show space by a host of black velveteen sea creatures who rubbed up against journalists on the high-gloss, oversize shoebox style seating. These critters and creatures (the soft toys, not the journalists) were dramatically shrunk down too, appearing as hard-shelled minaudièrs and dinky bag charms throughout the show. The room itself, at Château de Vincennes on the very fringes of the city, featured high-contrast, optimistic decor: stark white walls and vivid vinyl yellow floor which echoed the sheen of moulded latex and lacquered leather seen on the runway.

Chanel

‘Matthieu Blazy does it again’ was Wallpaper’s first reaction to Chanel’s A/W 2026 show. After last year’s electrifying debut, Blazy had set the bar at lofty heights for himself, heights he cleared with no trouble in this latest go-around. Drop waists, metallic hair, and some of the most coveted shoe of the 2020s were all part of the magic, but as we’ve already come to expect from Blazy’s tenure, so was the set design. Where his first two outings, for ready-to-wear and couture, saw an immersive take on the solar system, and then something rather more down-to-earth in the form of sugary pink mushrooms, respectively, A/W 2026 featured enormous cranes in Playmobil primary colours, piercing the space within the Grand Palais’ main atrium.

With their resemblance to stage rigging, these monumental installations were assembled on a glitter floor to evoke the joy of dance – reinforced through a soundtrack of Lady Gaga remixed with dialogue from Billy Elliot. The whole effect was a glorious reminder of what Blazy’s Chanel is to be: totally joyful.

READ: Matthieu Blazy’s sophomore Chanel collection is made for ‘women to be unapologetically who they are’

For those in London, it is a familiar sight: landmarks sheathed from view in tarpaulin hoardings or edged with scaffolding, ready for months-long renovations and repair (memorably, Big Ben’s Elizabeth Tower was hidden away for five years, its spruced-up clockface revealed in full in 2022).

This evening at London’s Old Billingsgate Market, Daniel Lee played with the idea of a city ‘in construction’ for his latest Burberry show, presenting the A/W 2026 collection amid a recreation of London’s architecture – most notably, the recognisable neo-Gothic spires of Tower Bridge – deconstructed into toy-like blocks and wrapped in scaffolding. Across the rubber floor, resin puddles ‘echo London’s rain-soaked streets’, while low lighting and black velvet seating capture what Lee calls an ‘after dark’ mood.

A first look at Burberry’s ‘under construction’ A/W 2026 show set

Lee, who has been the house's creative director since 2022, said the show’s design reflects the distinctive energy of the city – one of ‘work-in-progress and constant evolution’. Indeed, the Yorkshire-born designer – who studied at London’s Central Saint Martins before roles at Phoebe Philo’s Celine and Bottega Veneta – has sought to put Britain’s creative energy and evolving traditions at the forefront of his vision for Burberry.

‘You walk down the street and you’re surrounded by people from so many walks of life, all living together,’ he said after his first runway show in February 2023. ‘There is great music here, great theatre, great art. I want to shine a light on those things and show a positive side of Britain to the world. That’s something I missed in recent years and that’s what I’m trying to celebrate.’

Over the course of his tenure so far, he has drawn inspiration from British music festivals and period dramas; collaborated with the Royal Ballet on costumes; worked with artist Gary Hume on the set for his S/S 2025 show at the National Theatre; as well as cast a slew of notable actors and musicians in his campaigns and runway shows (these have spanned Richard E. Grant, Skepta, Vanessa Redgrave, Mary Berry and Barry Keoghan, among several others). This evening’s show will mark the first time Burberry has shown at Old Billingsgate Market, which is a London landmark in its own right. Constructed in the 19th century on the banks of the Thames, it would go on to become the largest fish market in the world.

With the A/W 2026 collection itself – soundtracked on the runway by longtime collaborator, DJ Benji B – Lee says he wanted to capture the ‘ease with which Londoners put together an outfit’. The house’s trench will remain central, appearing in new deconstructed iterations and evolving into eveningwear, while a black and white palette, interspersed with rich inky blues and purples, ‘gives the effect of something a little more sophisticated, dressier, cleaner or sleeker’. ‘[The collection] returns Burberry to the city and to going out in a particularly London way,’ says Lee.

Follow our London Fashion Week coverage here.

In 2009, John Galliano – then in the heady heyday of his tenure as creative director of Dior – was drafted to design the Christmas tree for Claridge’s, the storied hotel on London’s Brook Street. In typically theatrical style, he eschewed the traditional conifer for twisting branches inhabited by leopards and parrots – the designer described it as ‘icy frozen snow scenes mixed with a tropical twist’. Of the break with tradition, The Guardian headline ran: ‘Help, the fashion police have kidnapped Christmas!’ Undeterred, the next year, Galliano unveiled a majestic ‘tree’ recalling coral and adorned with floating sea creatures.

In the years that have followed, Claridge’s has drafted a roll-call of international fashion designers and brands to put their stamp on the lobby tree, from the traditional (Christian Louboutin chose gold and red baubles to decorate his frosted winter wonderland) to the conceptual (Louis Vuitton’s take was a tree-shaped pile of the house’s signature trunks). Other designers have included Karl Lagerfeld, Kim Jones, Dolce & Gabbana, while those outside of fashion have included Kally Ellis of McQueens flowers and Sir Jony Ive & Marc Newson.

This year, it is the turn of Burberry and its creative director Daniel Lee to imagine this year’s tree, which was unveiled today (25 November 2025) in an early-morning ceremony in the hotel’s lobby. At the centre of the 16ft tree’s design are the numerous bows that adorn it, each one crafted from surplus Burberry fabric (Lee said he chose the leitmotif because the bow was a ‘Victorian symbol of unity’). The top of the tree features a golden crown in lieu of a star or fairy, while the floor around the tree is piled with Burberry cushions and populated with oversized chess pieces.

Elsewhere, other decorations look to the great outdoors: the tree is also adorned with foliage and thistle, the latter a nod to Scotland and the Highlands, where the house’s scarves are produced. ‘Rugged British landscapes are the most beautiful,’ Lee tells Wallpaper*. ‘Natural tones of greens, blues and browns blend in texture. For the Christmas Tree, we wanted to bring the outdoors in.’

The tree is part of a wider takeover of Claridge’s by Burberry: hotel guests will be greeted by Claridge’s doormen wrapped in chequered Burberry scarves, while the house’s signature pattern also adorns key holders and the sofas in the hotel’s traditional seated lifts. Meanwhile at the bar, a special Burberry cocktail will be available, while trolleys of sweets will allow indulgences to be delivered to guests in Burberry check cones. Finally, a pop-up store has been erected, allowing guests to purchase a selection of gifts chosen for the holiday season – from a ‘Scarf Bar’ to Burberry baubles.

It is not the first time that Burberry has been in charge of the Claridge’s Christmas tree: a decade ago, in 2015, then-creative director Christopher Bailey – a designer who Lee says has been an inspiration for his own tenure at the house – constructed a tree made from gleaming gold and silver umbrellas. After his appointment in 2022, Lee said that the first-ever fashion show he attended was Bailey’s A/W 2012 outing for Burberry, which memorably featured an artificial downpour. ‘I’m really happy because it feels full circle,’ he told Vogue at the time.

burberry.com

Within the manicured grounds of Kensington Gardens in Hyde Park lies Perks Field, a private garden built in the 17th century by George London and Henry Wise. It’s a site that Burberry once favoured for its runway shows, erecting glass-roofed tents beneath which they have housed live orchestras, festooned walls with the literary workings of Bruce Chatwin, and cloaked with heavy Durham quilts and fringed suede.

The house’s current creative director, Daniel Lee, has so far opted to show in sites of cultural significance across London – filling the National Theatre with the work of YBA legend Gary Hume, and last season, transforming the Tate Britain with tapestry-draped interiors that mimicked the warmth of British country homes. For his S/S 2026 display, however, Lee has chosen to return the brand to Kensington Gardens for the first time in nearly a decade (it last showed a womenswear collection there in 2016, within a glass house conceived by then-creative director Christopher Bailey.)

Burberry returns to once-favourite show location, Perks Field, with a dreamy sky-printed tent

Aptly, given its location, this season the Burberry show tent is directly inspired by the house’s outdoor heritage. Employing the weather-proof gabardine fabric Thomas Burberry pioneered in the late 19th century, its roof is printed to look like the sky on a summer’s day – not unlike the glorious weather that, ironically, settled over the city at the close of a busy London Fashion Week. Gabardine is a material that has long offered warmth and shelter from the unpredictable British skies, ‘as it has for generations of adventurers and explorers’, said the brand.

The collection itself will look to the intertwined relationship between fashion and music in Britain, its tent setting evoking the feeling of summer festivals. Moving between the wardrobes of genres from Britpop to Grime, looks embrace the eclectic attitude of festival dressing: rain-proof outerwear paired with a ‘visual remix’ of textures, from skirts made entirely of tiger-eye beads to chainmail mini-dresses, worn with mud-ready leather boots. The resulting wardrobe promises a particularly textured and energetic outing from Yorkshire-born creative director Daniel Lee, which the designer hopes to reflect the varied and evolving nature of the UK’s music scene itself.

‘Music is about self-expression, creativity, and belonging,’ says the designer. ‘From festivals and stadiums to open-air concerts, every summer the UK comes to life with style and sound.’ Continuing to explore British identity while bringing Burberry’s decades-long codes into the present, the display will mark a joyful chapter in Lee’s vision for the house as it stands as the last remaining juggernaut brand on the London Fashion Week calendar. The city, the brand says, will always remain ‘our creative backdrop and our spiritual home’.

This summer, the runway leads to the Riviera. Primarily across Europe, luxury hotels are quietly slipping into their seasonal roles as extensions of major fashion and lifestyle brands. Behemoths such as Burberry and Dolce & Gabbana are migrating from urban fashion capitals to the coast in the coming months, trading marble flagships for fresh ocean air and beachfront real estate. The formula is straightforward: exclusive pop-up boutiques flanked by monogrammed loungers and umbrellas, and occasionally, chef-led restaurants. Here are some of the hotel takeovers making a splash this summer – where you too can pop up in style.

Fashion hotel takeovers happening this summer

Burberry at The Standard Ibiza

Hot on the heels of its takeover at The Newt in Somerset, Burberry is off to embrace the Mediterranean sunshine, landing at The Standard, Ibiza, until October. The hotel’s seasonal rooftop bar and restaurant, Up, has been Burberry-ified with a bespoke check pattern in bright yellow. This energising design adorns the site’s loungers, parasols, and seating, as well as a photo booth in the lobby. Starting in mid-July, weekly DJ nights, featuring guests such as Phil Mison, Eric Duncan, and Nicolas Matar, will be accompanied by a curated cocktail menu. For those who can’t get enough of the partnership, Burberry and The Standard also propose a summer capsule collection ‘for warm days and balmy nights’, with swimwear, sunglasses, and hats available for purchase.

The Standard, Ibiza is located at Carrer de Bartomeu Vicent Ramon, 9, 07800 Ibiza, Balearic Islands, Spain.

Dior at Jumeirah Capri Palace

For the fifth time, Jumeirah Capri Palace, which recently unveiled new suites by Patricia Urquiola, welcomes the return of Dioriviera to its seafood restaurant, Il Riccio. The breezy setting, surrounded by Anacapri’s rocky cliffs and adjacent to the island’s magical Blue Grotto, is now decorated with Dior’s Toile de Jouy pattern and animal statues. Guests can choose to sip limoncello spritzes on the beach club terrace or dine at the restaurant, on dishes such as spaghettino with sea urchins. Meanwhile, a Dior boutique pop-up features a summer-ready wardrobe.

Il Riccio is located at Via Gradola, 4, 80071 Anacapri, Italy.

Dolce & Gabbana at Four Seasons Hotel Taormina

Despite occupying its privileged hilltop position for centuries, San Domenico Palace, Taormina, entered the modern zeitgeist in 2022 after serving as the fictional ‘The White Lotus’ hotel. The property, which was acquired by Four Seasons in 2020, is also a beloved part of the Dolce & Gabbana universe, as the Italian brand has taken over its pool area for a couple of years in a row. The now familiar bespoke Blu Mediterraneo theme, seen across parasols, cushions and towels, seeks to reflect the region’s vibrant seaside blues and celebrates the artistry of handmade Sicilian ceramics. Wallpaper’s fashion features editor Jack Moss visited the activation last month to celebrate Dolce & Gabbana’s ninth collaboration with Mytheresa, describing the experience as ‘a day of sunshine, food and spritzes’. Until the end of the season, guests will also be able to browse an exclusive pop-up boutique offering a selection of clothing and accessories, including some location exclusives.

San Domenico Palace, Taormina, A Four Seasons Hotel is located at Via S. Domenico, 5, 98039 Taormina, Italy.

Herno at Phi Beach

The rugged granite landscape of Baja Sardinia provides the perfect backdrop for Herno’s sophisticated take on exploration, travel, and outdoor living. In collaboration with Phi Beach, the Italian brand is showcasing its vision of seaside leisure for the second consecutive summer, lasting through the first week of September. Alongside dressing the exclusive club’s cabanas and deckchairs in sandy, deep brown tones, Herno has also introduced its first fully designed restaurant, Herno Suite. Here, chef Claudio Marenzi presents culinary delights on ceramics inspired by the Erno River, paying tribute to the brand’s roots. With a focus on natural aesthetics and sustainability, bill holders, menus, and coasters are made from natural cork sourced from Sardinia. A selection of ‘open-air accessories’ is available for purchase, including beach towels, tote bags, water bottles, baskets, and hats.

Phi Beach is located at Via Forte Cappellini, 07021 Arzachena, Italy.

Jacquemus at Monte-Carlo Beach Club

As part of a strategic transformation of the area, Monte-Carlo’s emblematic beach club has reopened for the season with a complete redesign of its deck and pool area by French interior designer Dorothée Delaye. Adding a burst of Provençal panache, a sun-kissed collaboration with Jacquemus is underway until 7 October. Inspired by ‘La Croisière’ collection unveiled in Paris in January, the takeover dresses sunbeds, towels, and parasols in banana-yellow, coconut milk, and black stripes. This theme extends to the adjacent Pool Café, which features speciality brews and an Olympic-sized pool, as well as two newly opened Jacquemus boutiques, featuring sketches by Renoir and Matisse on their walls.

Monte-Carlo Beach Club is located at Av. Princesse Grâce, 98000 Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Monaco.

Louis Vuitton at White 1921 Hotel

For the third consecutive year, the Arnaud Donckele & Maxime Frédéric at Louis Vuitton restaurant has returned to the White 1921 Saint-Tropez hotel for the season. Michelin-starred chef Arnaud Donckele and chef pâtissier Maxime Frédéric present a bountiful menu, available for lunch, tea time, and dinner, spotlighting local, seasonal produce and creative twists. Think dishes such as grilled blue lobster enriched by a shiso-infused sauce, or Wagyu beef served in a fragrant bouillon. The restaurant’s interior features natural macramé touches paired with rattan furnishings and tables dressed in seasonal Louis Vuitton tableware. Crockery is adorned with interpretations of the maison’s signature Monogram Flower.

The Arnaud Donckele & Maxime Frédéric at Louis Vuitton restaurant is located at Hotel White 1921, Trav. des Lices, 83990 Saint-Tropez, France.

Missoni at JW Marriott Venice Resort & Spa

Nothing embodies summer quite like Missoni’s signature zig-zag motif, a warm-weather staple cherished by many for its cheerful, multicoloured hues and light texture. On the private Isola delle Rose in Venice, the Italian label has established a bijou pop-up store at the JW Marriott Venice Resort & Spa, making it convenient for guests to stock up on its beachwear essentials. A serene blend of blue and azure, combined with warm ochres and beige, dominates an exclusive collection of men’s and womenswear, ranging from swim trunks and bowling shirts to bikinis and long cover-ups. This same pattern features in the shop’s sofas and pouffes, as well as the large-scale bunny welcoming visitors. The pop-up is open at JW Marriott Venice Resort & Spa until 15 September, with another Missoni Resort Club takeover occurring in Oku Ibiza in the form of a branded poolside lounge.

JW Marriott Venice Resort & Spa is located at Isola delle Rose, Laguna Di San Marco, 30133 Venice, Italy.

Alo at Mandarin Oriental, Bodrum

Turkey is familiar territory for Alo Yoga, which launched its first Istanbul brick-and-mortar store last year. This summer, the lifestyle brand has set its sights on the Aegean coast – in particular, Mandarin Oriental Bodrum’s private shoreline, to debut a second boutique, an immersive beach club experience, and wellness workshops. Complementing the oak and pine beach umbrellas are branded cotton towels and seating in an earthy hue, while a customised cart offers refreshments served in coconut cups. Until September, international Alo instructors will lead a wellness programme for hotel guests, including sunrise yoga and pilates alongside sound healing and meditation sessions.

Mandarin Oriental, Bodrum is located at Gölköy, 314 Sokak No.10, 48483 Muğla, Turkey.

This past February, for his A/W 2025 collection for Burberry, Yorkshire-born creative director Daniel Lee was inspired by the British tradition of the ‘weekend getaway’ to the country. ‘It’s that slightly eccentric, somewhat bohemian need to travel,’ he said at the time. ‘Long rainy walks in the great outdoors to disconnect and day trips to grand stately homes.’

Presented amid a tapestry-strewn set at London’s Tate Modern – evoking sprawling country estates – it spoke to a honing in on the British eccentricities for which Burberry remains best-known. As such, he drafted an array of British actors best known for their work in the ‘country house’ genre to walk in the show – including Richard E Grant (Gosford Park), Elizabeth McGovern (Downton Abbey) and Lesley Manville (The Crown) – while an earlier S/S 2025 campaign was a Richard Curtis-worthy London rom-com starring Kate Winslet, Aimee Lou Wood and Nicholas Hoult, among others (the short film was titled ‘London in Love’).

‘Whatever the weather’: Burberry takes over The Newt in Somerset

Now, following a recent collaboration with King Charles’ Gloucester residence Highgrove – whereby artist Helen Bullock’s botanics adorn trench coats and cardigans, inspired by its fabled gardens – Burberry have taken over another country estate, The Newt in Somerset. Owned by South African businessman Koos Bekker and his wife Karen Roos, the luxury hotel and spa is located in the 18th-century Hadspen House, a West Country estate best-known for its bucolic gardens and 2000-acre working farm (as such, the majority of produce for the hotel’s various rooms and restaurants is sourced from the grounds).

Burberry’s take on the ‘summer escape’ sees the hotel – which is spread across the main house and a converted ‘farmyard’ location – adorned with a custom green version of Burberry’s signature check, reflecting The Newt’s own hallmark pond-green hue. The collaboration was previewed last month at the 2025 RHS Chelsea Flower Show (The Newt was the headline sponsor), and this week comes to life, seeing the check decorating sun loungers at its spa and pool, wrapped across electic buggies and parasols, mown into The Newt’s croquet lawn, and even appearing on a hot-air balloon which allows guests to take flight in style.

Designed to ‘capture the essence of a great British summer in the countryside... whatever the weather’ (true to form, as Wallpaper* decamped to the Somerset estate, it was grey with a little drizzle), guests of The Newt can partake in an array of Burberry-ified experiences across the grounds. These include badminton (complete with custom Burberry racquets and Burberry-logo net), swimming (guests will receive a Burberry towel when swimming in the hotel’s pool or lake) and picnics on signature check blankets.

Then, of course, there is the Burberry-check hot-air balloon, allowing the adventurous to view the estate from on high – a nod to the house’s history outfitting balloonists in the early 19th century. These included Air Commodore Edward Maitland, who flew 1,117 miles in a balloon wearing Burberry gabardine in 1908 (the extraordinary journey took him from London’s Crystal Palace to Meeki Derevi in Russia).

A special pop-up boutique has also been erected on the grounds, comprising swimwear, outerwear, hats, scarves and umbrellas, alongside pieces from the S/S 2025 collection. Presented at the brutalist National Theatre in London, the collection was inspired by what Lee called the ‘easy elegance’ of the work of YBA Gary Hume, who also created the show’s set, a collection of cut-out medical green tarpaulins referencing his 1990 installation ‘Bays’. ‘There was a real bond of being two creative people,’ Hume told Wallpaper* at the time.

To celebrate the launch, Wallpaper* journeyed to The Newt to join the festivities, which saw Burberry’s guests – travelling to the estate from around the world – tour the meticulous gardens (currently under the stewardship of Italian-French architect Patrice Taravella and his vast team), play croquet and badminton, picnic on the lawns and enjoy the spoils of The Newt’s grounds. For those planning their own summertime escapes, Burberry’s ‘great British Summer’ at The Newt runs until 18 August 2025.

Burberry at The Newt in Somerset runs until 18 August 2025.

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As seen in the March Style Issue of Wallpaper*, photographer Luca Strano and stylist Nicola Neri capture the mood of undone elegance that ran through the S/S 2025 menswear collections with a series of collaged and layered-up looks – a proposition for translating the runway into the everyday.

Titled ‘Cut and Paste’, the photo series offers lessons in embracing fashion’s new mood of eclecticism – a throughline of the S/S 2025 season – whether doubling up on jersey vests or shirts for a subversive twist on basics, leaving buttons undone to expose slices of skin, or tying-up the arms of a sweater for playful new proportions.

Cut and paste: how to wear the S/S 2025 menswear collections

Other garments come with layering built in, whether the trim of lace that emerges from beneath an otherwise quotidien grey sweater from JW Anderson, or a trompe l’oeil belt on a pair of Prada trousers (co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons describe their S/S 2025 collection as one where nothing is quite what it seems).

Elsewhere, a diaphonous sheer top by Dries Van Noten is worn over an Hermès blazer – a satisfyingly strange take on eveningwear – while T-shirts and jackets hang from the waistband of trousers to surreal effect. Meanwhile accessories – from colourful lace masks to colourful nylon sneakers and metal brooches – contribute to the season’s uninhibited mood.

Explore the looks below.

Model: Owen Ruppersburg at Milk Management. Casting: Svea Casting. Set design: Harry Stayt. Grooming: Lachlan Mackie. Photography assistants: Elliott Gunn, Luca Viopelle. Fashion assistant: Sophie Bell. Set design assistant: Marko Ilic. Production assistant: Archie Thomson.

A version of this article appears in the March 2025 issue of Wallpaper*, available in print on international newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today.

Burberry’s A/W 2025 collection marked the end of London Fashion Week yesterday (24 February 2025) with a ‘blockbuster’ show.

Here, creative director at the storied British fashion house Daniel Lee, took inspiration from ‘the exquisite, faded interiors and bohemian characters of British stately homes … and long rainy walks in the great outdoors.’

Burberry A/W 2025 beauty: long hair by Shiori Takahashi

The beauty team this season comprised Ama Quashie on nails alongside make-up artist Ammy Drammeh, who created perfected skin with flushed cheeks, giving the impression that models were briskly striding through England’s green and pleasant land. The set design courtesy of Bureau Betak – previewed by Wallpaper* ahead of yesterday’s show at The Tate Britain– featured swathes of fabric, fittingly printed with bucolic oil paintings by the British masters.

It was Shiori Takahashi’s hair styling, however, that was the central focus of Burberry’s runway beauty offering, interplaying with the work of casting director Anita Bitton. ‘The casting was amazing, as always, and the models had stunning long hair,’ Takahashi tells Wallpaper*. ‘So the idea was to create outdoorsy, windswept hair, naturally moving in the wind.’

Poignantly, Iris Lasnet – daughter of the late British model Stella Tennant – walked the blue-carpeted runway, with golden-blonde strands extending well below her waist, which had been belted with a burgundy leather trench coat. Reportedly, this is the runway debut of Lasnet, 20, also wears a septum ring in tribute to her mother, who famously had her own pierced during the 1990s and worked closely with Burberry throughout her career.

‘I used alcohol-based products to create a textured finish and ensure the hair stays in place. Additionally, I applied a small amount of matte wax with my fingers to specific areas for added definition,’ explains Takahashi.

‘We also created some shorter hair looks based on a Nick Cave reference, running fingers through the hair to create natural toughness. For the braided looks on four models [Annemary Aderibigbe, Assa Baradji, Elodie Guipaud and Sacha Quenby] we created extra-long micro box braids,’ Takahashi continues. ‘Each model had a team of three to seven braiders working on their hair backstage.’

Actor Elizabeth McGovern and Scottish legacy model Kirsty Hume, wore their long hair in shades of silver. Takahashi set McGovern’s salt and pepper strands in almost damp-looking waves, raking the top layer away from her face to mimic the pull of gale force conditions. In Hume’s case, her shock of bright white blonde closed the show. Parted down the middle, it was also integrated into the styling, tucked into the semi-open funnel neckline of a black leather parker coat.

‘Our cast of actors just chimed with the bohemian irreverence,’ said Daniel Lee in a statement. ‘And, of course, they know how to make clothes come alive.’

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The tapestry-draped interiors of British country homes have inspired this season’s Burberry show set, held in London’s Tate Britain and conceived by creative director Daniel Lee and Paris-based production company Bureau Betak.

The space – which takes over the gallery’s main thoroughfare – features a carpeted runway in Lee’s bold Burberry blue, while enormous draped tapestries line the walls. Guest seating is also draped in the patterned fabric, which features bucolic scenes of nature.

First look at Burberry’s A/W 2025 show set

He notes that inspiration for the new collection (shown this evening as part of London Fashion Week A/W 2025) comes from the idea of the ‘weekend escape’, imagining ‘long rainy walks in the great outdoors to disconnect and day trips to grand stately homes’. ‘It’s that slightly eccentric, somewhat bohemian need to travel – weekend luggage included.’

‘Part fabulous tale, part fact’, the collection’s garments are rooted in a countryside sensibility, whereby motifs from ‘the faded interiors and fabrics found in the great country houses of England’ are transposed onto contemporary outerwear and scarves. Tapestries, wallpaper and wall hangings were all inspirations, says Lee, noting a mood at once ‘faded and noble’.

In part, the collection arose from the tropes of the British country house in television and film, which he calls a ‘potent touchstone’. As such, he chose a cast not only of models but also of actors, including Richard E Grant (Gosford Park), Elizabeth McGovern (Downton Abbey), Jessica Madsen (Bridgerton) and Lesley Manville (The Crown).

The casting follows a recent all-star campaign for the British heritage house, which returned to Burberry’s roots with a story of London romances in the rain, starring Kate Winslet, Nicholas Hoult, Richard E Grant, and Jodie Turner-Smith.

‘Interplay is a great word and something we considered in the collection,’ Lee exclusively tells Wallpaper*. ‘There’s an interplay and a deliberate tension between the indoor furnishing fabrics and outdoor clothing and accessories. You’ll see velvet brocade jackets, which echo flocked wallpaper you’d see in a great country house, and pheasant prints which are intricately cut to create feathered trims and so on – all interplay, all new propositions.

‘It’s something we wanted to further explore at Tate Britain as our venue. All the cleverly hung art is involved in its own complex dialogue, its own interplay, and that speaks directly to the collection.’

The choice of Tate Britain was personal for the brand. Burberry’s headquarters on Horseferry Road are just a stone’s throw away from the Pimlico gallery. Meanwhile, some digging into the house’s extensive archive led to the discovery of a photograph of the ‘Radcliffe’ trench photographed outside Tate Britain in the 1970s.

It’s a venue that also cements Burberry’s link to London, which the brand says ‘remains our creative backdrop and our spiritual home’. To celebrate Britain’s rich cultural output has been a driving force of Lee’s tenure since he presented his first collection for the house in 2023. (The latest show will mark the start of a one-year partnership with Tate, supporting conservation work at Tate Britain’s Painting Conservation Studios.)

‘[I want to] show a positive side of Britain to the world,’ Lee said at the time. ‘There is great music here, great theatre, great art. That’s something I missed in recent years and that’s what I’m trying to celebrate.’

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The S/S 2025 shows offered a typically transporting array of runway sets and show spaces, which spanned the romantic, the playful and the surreal, alongside the downright cinematic. Like Anthony Vaccarrello’s opulent, monolithic set for Saint Laurent – an enormous gilded circle that hovered over a circular blue runway – made all the dramatic by rain pouring through its open-to-the-elements ceiling.

Other brands drafted artists to create installations to backdrop their shows: there was Jonathan Lyndon Chase’s ‘messy, complicated’ domestic scene for Acne Studios, or Gary Hume’s reimagining of a 1990 work, ‘Bays’, for Daniel Lee’s latest Burberry show in London. Meanwhile, perhaps the most Instagram-friendly moment of the month came at Bottega Veneta, where Matthieu Blazy created a menagerie of leather beanbag animals inspired by a scene from E.T. (read on for the full story).

Here, selected by Wallpaper* fashion features editor Jack Moss, are the most breathtaking runway sets fashion month – a celebration of the architecture of fashion.

The best runway sets of S/S 2025

Artist Jonathan Lyndon Chase’s twisted living room for Acne Studios

‘The idea for this collection started from a twisted domestic scenery. I asked myself whether classic domestic codes could actually be translated into fashion,’ explained Jonny Johansson of his surreal S/S 2025 Acne Studios collection, which reimagined home furnishings – from curtain ties to wax tablecloths – as clothing. Backdropping the show was a ‘complicated and messy’ domestic scene by Philadelphia-based artist Jonathan Lyndon Chase, comprising soft sculptures of lamps, radios and cats, alongside recycled furniture from Leboncoin scrawled with his playful motifs. Evoking a twisted living room, the artist told Wallpaper* that the installation was a musing on ‘emotions and the body, and how they affect the space around you’. Read more.

Bottega Veneta’s menagerie of bean-bag animals

‘I was interested in the power of “wow”,’ said Matthieu Blazy of his latest collection for Bottega Veneta, which was inspired by a sense of childhood wonder, 'the joy of looking, discovering and dressing’. It was a mood reflected in the show space, a menagerie of leather beanbag chairs for guests to sit on – a reference, the designer said, to the scene in E.T. when the titular extraterrestrial hides amid a pile of soft toys in Elliott’s closet. Spanning killer whales, bunnies and foxes, the beanbag design was inspired by Zanotta’s ‘Sacco’ easy chair, with Blazy working with the Italian design company on the unique project. Read more.

Gary Hume’s reimagining of a 1990 work for Burberry

At London’s National Theatre, Daniel Lee looked towards artist Gary Hume – best known for being a part of the YBA movement, and currently showing at Sprüth Magers in London – to create the runway set for his latest Burberry collection, inspired by the artist’s 1990 work ‘Bays’. Originally staged as part of the notorious East Country Yard Show, the work comprises a series of lorry tarpaulins, hung like curtains and slashed to recall doorways and windows. Over three decades on, they were reimagined in medical green, lining the lobby of the brutalist theatre, which was partly chosen for the way it recalls the original concrete industrial space of the 1990 show. ‘I hadn’t touched the pieces in a long time, and so when Daniel asked me if I could participate in his show, I said yes,’ Hume told Wallpaper*. ‘There was a real bond of being two creative people.’ Read more.

Balenciaga’s dining-table runway, inspired by Demna’s childhood

Demna said that this season began with reminiscences of holding fashion shows on his grandmother’s kitchen table in Georgia as a child. ‘My early memories of fashion start with me drawing looks on cardboard, cutting them away and making “fashion shows” on my grandmother’s kitchen table,’ he wrote in a letter to guests. ‘Thirty-five years later, this show reconnects me to the beginning of my vision. It’s a tribute to fashion which has a point of view.’ For the runway set, this scene was blown up to surreal proportions, with an enormous polished dining table – around which VIP guests sat – serving as the show’s runway.

Loewe’s ‘radically reduced’ runway set, featuring a Tracey Emin sculpture

Jonathan Anderson described his latest Loewe show as an act of ‘radical reduction’, an attempt to replicate the ‘eye going into focus’ as your eyes adjust to a darkened room. The show space, constructed in a box in the grounds of Paris’ Château de Vincennes, was similarly spare: a vast white space with a circular runway that ran around a 2007 sculpture of a metal bird on a narrow, totem-like plinth by British artist Tracey Emin. Anderson said he liked the idea of the looks circulating around the sculpture ‘like a sundial’. ‘Caught in a moment of pause, [Emin] encourages us to imagine the bird’s imminent flight, and ultimately its freedom,’ said the designer via the collection notes.

Chanel’s blown-up birdcage, marking the house’s Grand Palais return

Chanel’s S/S 2025 show marked a triumphant return to the Grand Palais, the longtime site of the house’s runway presentations after the Beaux-Arts building was renovated to host the fencing competition during the Paris Olympics. Under the enormous glass roof, the house erected a giant birdcage, complete with the house’s double-C motif interwoven into its design. At the end of the show – which drew on bird motifs, from feather trims to feather prints – the actress-singer Riley Keough was lifted upwards on a swing inside the cage, singing a version of Prince’s ‘When Doves Cry’ as models took their finale circuit. It was a nod towards one of Chanel’s most memorable ads: the 1991 Coco L'Esprit de Chanel campaign starring house muse Vanessa Paradis as a feathered bird in a cage (though this time, the enormous fluffy white cat was missing).

Louis Vuitton’s raised runway, constructed from hundreds of the house’s signature trunks

There was a hint of nostalgia to the runway set for Nicolas Ghesquière’s latest show for Louis Vuitton, which was staged on a raised runway and lit by a ‘Louis Vuitton Paris’ neon sign, recalling the amped-up fashion shows of the 1980s and 1990s. The runway itself was crafted from what appeared to be hundreds of Louis Vuitton’s signature trunks – spanning an array of eras and styles – all stacked up and hammered together, rising from the floor of the Louvre venue as the show began.

Archer-artist Sagg Napoli creates a fantastical show set for Dior

Maria Grazia Chiuri’s latest show began with the multidisciplinary Italian artist-archer Sofia Ginevra Giannì (aka Sagg Napoli) marching down the runway, bow in hand, before entering a Perspex corridor and firing shots on target. Carrying on the tradition of Chiuri collaborating with women artists, she had also designed the runway set. It saw the space in the gardens of Paris’ Musée Rodin transformed with an installation evocative of wrought-iron gates adorned with looping texts from the artist, who draws on the culture of southern Italy in her work. Meanwhile, an enormous Big Brother-style eye served as Sagg Napoli’s target – light work for the artist, who also has competed in national Italian archery competitions.

Alessandro Michele’s romantic, dust-sheet covered set for his Valentino debut

Fashion month’s most-anticipated moment took place in a judo stadium on Paris’ outer reaches, entirely transformed for the occasion by Italian design maverick Alessandro Michele, who was making his debut for Valentino after a two-year hiatus (he left his role as creative director of Gucci in 2022). Evoking what Michele deemed a 'Pavillon des Follies’ (which was also the title of the collection), the typically theatrical space saw the designer assemble a jumble of chairs, furniture and lampshades which were all covered in dust sheets, while the runway itself was made from shattered mirror, casting shards of light on the models’ faces. It provided an apt backdrop for Michele’s romantic exploration of beauty. ‘When I say beauty, I am clearly not referring to its universalistic, dogmatic and normative mythologisation,' he wrote in an introduction to the collection. ‘I rather allude to that unique capability to deeply feel and connect with something.’

Saint Laurent’s rain-soaked show space, which paid ode to Yves Saint Laurent’s Marrakech

It was a return to Saint Laurent’s Rue de Bellechasse headquarters on Paris’ Left Bank for Anthony Vaccarello’s latest womenswear show for the house, a location that he had not shown at since his debut eight years ago. The monolithic set, created by Bureau Betak, comprised an enormous gilded circle – open to the elements – under which models walked on a slick blue runway, evocative of the blue used in the Saint Laurent gardens in Marrakech. It was made all the more strking by the fact that the rain was pouring, a final cinematic flourish to the already dramatic mise-en-scène.

Gucci’s setting sun at Milan’s Triennale Milano design museum

Milan’s temple to design, the Triennale Milano museum, provided the setting for Sabato De Sarno’s latest Gucci show, following a menswear presentation in the historic space earlier this year. This time, the designer created an enormous curving runway that looped around the museum’s ground floor, where various ‘rooms’ were designed to evoke a sunset, moving from yellow to orange to Ancora red, the deep oxblood hue that has become central to De Sarno’s tenure. The idea behind the exuberant collection was to capture a moment in time, just as the sun is rising or setting: ‘a moment to seize and live to the fullest’.

Fendi’s futuristic runway set, which came with a final surprise

It was only fitting that what will be Fendi’s first collection of its centenary year (the brand turns 100 in 2025), was celebrated in theatrical style. In the centre of the vast, sound-stage-like space on the outskirts of Milan was an enormous, futuristic white box, into which models streamed after taking their loop around the square-shaped runway. It was to provide a moment of surprise: as the show ended, the box opened up, revealing a tableau of models inside. In their flapper-inspired dresses and nostalgic, crystal-adorned looks, it was a clash of past and present: ‘I wanted something romantic, something with a debt to the 1920s from the 2020s,’ said Kim Jones, artistic director of Fendi’s womenswear and couture.

For more on the latest fashion weeks, see our reports from the Paris, Milan, London and New York S/S 2025 shows.

In 1990, Sarah Lucas and Henry Bond took over a cavernous multi-story industrial warehouse in London’s Docklands, giving themselves and a handful of other rising Goldsmith graduates a vast floor each to fill with their work. Described by critics as a display of ‘calculated anarchy’ in rooms far larger than any gallery would dream of offering them, the controversial East Country Yard Show was just one example of the enterprising antics of the newly-bonded YBAs, who were on the cusp of forcing British art into a daring new era of openness and creativity.

One of these artists was the soon-to-be stratospheric Gary Hume, who presented a series of hauntingly beautiful pieces made from forest-green industrial tarpaulin used to cover lorries on the docks. Entitled ‘Bays’, they were slashed and sewn to resemble entryways and windows in the style of his famous ‘Door’ paintings, which infused human emotion into abstract hospital doors rendered in candy-coloured Dulux paint. Unlike his widely-exhibited ‘Doors’ however, Hume hadn’t returned to ‘Bays’ until 2024, when he received a message from Burberry’s creative director, Daniel Lee.

Gary Hume on his collaboration with Burberry’s Daniel Lee

‘I don't know how he came across them,’ the artist says. It’s a drizzly Sunday evening, and we’re sitting beside each other on the floor in a quiet corner of an otherwise busy opening at Sprüth Magers gallery in Mayfair. It’s been a big week for the gentle-natured artist, who is showing a new body of work here as part of three concurrent London exhibitions marking 25 years since he represented Britain at the Venice Biennale. ‘I hadn’t touched the pieces in a long time, and so when Daniel asked me if I could participate in his show, I said yes.’

Shown this afternoon at the National Theatre, an original set inspired by ‘Bays’ provided a backdrop to Lee's confident new collection for Burberry. ‘The green in the pieces was weirdly very similar to surgeon’s gowns, so there was this nice mixture of modernism and a feeling of being saved,’ says Hume of the original works, versions of which adorned the concrete walls, their medical green echoed in snaking metal seats through the theatre. Similarly foreign and familiar, Lee’s clothes dug deeper into his succinct vision for the British house, bringing fresh summery lightness to trenches, checks and silhouettes that twisted ideas of classic English glamour. It was, says the show notes, grounded in ‘joy and a warm sense of familiarity’.

Previously staging his shows for Burberry in tents, the decision to show inside the Brutalist monolith on the South Bank was actually driven by Hume. ‘Well, it was very difficult, I think – for them,’ he says with a smile. ‘We needed to find a space big enough for the works. Fortunately, I wasn’t the one suffering, saying, “We think we might be able to get this amazing concrete building made in a Brutalist style”. The tarpaulins were first shown in an industrial building, it was raw concrete, and the National Theatre has got a sensation of that. It's very beautiful.’

Though he’s dressed beautifully for the opening, in a soft ecru cashmere jumper and smart black suit trousers, fashion is a world unfamiliar to Hume. ‘Well, to be honest, I don’t really know,’ he answers when I ask what he thinks of Lee’s work. ‘I work six days a week and I’m covered in paint all the time. My clothes are old, and they go down the line until they become studio clothes, then they're covered in paint. That's when I'm really happy, and that's when I feel most myself.’

Despite this, he felt an admiration for the way ex-Bottega Veneta designer works. ‘There was a real bond of being two creative people,’ the artist says. ‘It's fascinating and fun to be around someone who has to work so quickly. There's so much pressure on him. This show you’re in now, this is two years’ work, and Daniel is showing, I don't know, three months’ work or whatever it might be. I think we were wowed by each other – that he's like that, and that I can spend two years. It's just two different ways.’

Turning to the twisting, dark and pastel paintings on the walls of Sprüth Magers, the result of these two years, Hume pauses. Like many of his later works, they explore feelings of awe and alienation through the natural world, in particular seeking something stirring in the otherworldliness of birds. After a moment, he says they were an exercise in getting lost – a goal surprising for an artist as established as he is, at a moment he is being celebrated for a milestone as significant as his 1999 Venice Biennale display.

‘I’m very, very keen on the shape that swans make,’ he explains. ‘Other than that, I didn't want to know what I was doing. I wrestled with all of the paintings, because even when I found them to be good, I then broke them. I made them over and over and over and over and over again until they just arrived. It was about being lost really. I wanted to be lost until I was found.’

At the end of our interview, I ask if he ever thinks about how his work makes others feel when they encounter it – here in the intimate space of the gallery, or surrounded by crowds at a fashion show. ‘I don't think about it,’ he says. ‘But that you're human, and that you were born, and you're looking at a picture, that is fucking fantastic.’

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Soft curves, streamlined silhouettes and sleek fabrics: the A/W 2024 menswear collections were imbued with a new flamboyance, seeing classic ensembles reimagined with a sense of panache and performance.

There was Loewe, where creative director Jonathan Anderson looked towards the ‘iconography’ of Hollywood and the ‘collaged realness’ of social media with a collection adorned with theatrical flourishes. This included bows and beads alongside the delirious illustrations of Los Angeles-based artist Richard Hawkins (‘it’s all about different types of validation… how we perceive ourselves to the outside world,’ said Anderson at the time).

At Saint Laurent, Anthony Vaccarello proposed louche, oversized tailoring and outerwear which recalled the 1980s silhouettes of American Gigolo. ‘Fluid, with an intentional slouch, an illusion of fabric turning liquid,’ said the designer. Meanwhile, Dolce & Gabbana’s latest menswear offering was titled ‘Sleek’: a ‘story of elegance and handmade… a sartorial essay,’ described Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana of the largely black collection, which demonstrated their tailoring prowess.

Here, taken from the September 2024 Style Issue of Wallpaper*, photographer Matthieu Delbreuve and fashion editor David St John James put a series of these menswear looks centre stage in a series titled ‘Quiet on Set’.

Model: Indy van Opstal at Ford Models Paris. Casting: Svea Casting. Grooming: Chris Sweeney at One Represents using Sunday Riley and Sisley. Interiors: Olly Mason. Photography assistant: Kevin Ramos. Fashion assistant: Olivia Meghan. Interiors assistant: Archie Thomson. Production assistant: Minna Vauhkonen.

This article appears in the September 2024 issue of Wallpaper*, available in print on international newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today.

As seen in the September 2024 Style Issue of Wallpaper* – a reflection on a season defined by tactility, texture and touch – 12 of A/W 2024’s defining men’s and womenswear moments, from scrunched-up Miu Miu gloves and decadent Ferragamo feathers to seductive leather ties and cocooning balaclavas.

Soft touch (top left)

Enveloping textures, the pleasure of clothing on the skin: this season is all about tactility. Cue a melange of furry, fuzzy, soft-to-the-touch textures – whether the teddy-bear feel of a Dries Van Noten bag or the fluffy finish of a Carven skirt.

Match point (top right)

This season saw designers explore the co-ordinating accessory, albeit in an unexpected manner – at Gucci, the tone of a leather glove met that of a handbag, part of Sabato De Sarno’s ongoing investigation of colour and texture.

Parallel lines

The stripe is one of Missoni’s enduring motifs, often appearing in vivid colour combinations. Designer Filippo Grazioli paid homage to the pattern in playful style, like with these shaggy knit stripes, which adorn an elongated overcoat.

Glossed over

Slick, high-shine textures lent this season’s menswear a futuristic sheen. At Jil Sander, lustrous crackled-leather overcoats appeared as part of a collection that designers Lucie and Luke Meier described as an ‘immersive capsule, smooth and embracing’.

Back out

At Prada’s womenswear show, the backs of tailored jackets were sliced away, as if to expose their lining, appearing as part of a collection that saw co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons excavate historical silhouettes.

Hands on

At Miu Miu’s show, rolled-up sleeves and heavy, worn-leather gloves suggested a woman at work. Indeed, gloves – largely oversized and scrunched up – appeared throughout the collections, with iterations at The Row, Marni and Balenciaga.

Tied up

The tie was reimagined by a gamut of designers. At Prada, it formed part of Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons’ riff on the corporate uniform, while at Bottega Veneta, ties were cut from leather in Matthieu Blazy’s typically seductive style.

Fine feather

A fascination with old Hollywood glamour permeated Maximilian Davis’ collections for Ferragamo. Flourishes of feathers sprouted from necklines or heeled pumps – an ode, said Davis, to the liberatory dress codes of the 1920s.

Slim chance

Menswear designers provided a long and lean riposte to the oversized silhouette that has dominated recent seasons. Silvia Venturini Fendi was one such voice, presenting slim, straight-cut tailoring, inspired by the contrast between ‘town and country’.

Hood times

The idea of protection featured prominently, with designers creating silhouettes that wrapped and enveloped. At Issey Miyake, balaclavas appeared as part of a collection that saw Satoshi Kondo explore the instinctual ‘act of clothing the human body’.

Second skin

This season’s slick boots offer up a glamorous way of protecting the body as the temperature drops. Such is the case with this pair by Daniel Lee, whose latest collection for Burberry is inspired by the ‘heritage of the British outdoors’.

Buckle up

A defined waistline added a nostalgic elegance to the season’s menswear silhouette, whether in nipped-waist tailoring, tie-fastening overcoats or eye-catching belts, like those at Prada, which were perhaps A/W 2024’s most covetable accessory.

Models: Jimai Hoth at PRM Agency, Mohammed Banze at Wilhelmina. Casting: Ikki Casting at WSM. Set design: Kei Yoshino at Bryant Artists. Hair: Mayuko Nakae using Oribe. Make-up: Sunao Takahashi at Saint Luke using Chanel Fall-Winter 2024 Make-up Collection and No.1 de Chanel Skincare. Manicure: Sabina Uzunovic at Snow Creatives using Kure Bazaar. Photography assistants: Callum Su, Joshua Hippolyte.

This article appears in the September 2024 issue of Wallpaper*, available in print on newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

September, so said legendary American Vogue editor Candy Pratts, is the January of fashion. Following a brief summer break after the conclusions of menswear and haute couture – which took place over June and July – Women’s Fashion Week S/S 2025 arrives in New York next week on September 6 2024, with subsequent stops in London, Milan and Paris. Think of it as a new fashion term.

The schedule is now set, with a few surprises along the way. Among them, the news that Pieter Mulier will show his next Alaïa collection in the city on September 6, heralding the start of fashion month. It is over four decades since the house’s eponymous founder, Azzedine Alaïa, first showed in the American city, when he presented a collection in September 1982 to an audience which included Andy Warhol and Paloma Picasso. No doubt Mulier – who has garnered plenty of high-profile devotees of his own – will draw a similarly starry crowd. Meanwhile, Ralph Lauren will show the day prior with a special show in the Hamptons on September 5. London-based label Cos has also announced a return to New York, having shown last season in Rome.

Elsewhere, it will no doubt be the season of debuts: chief among them is the much-anticipated arrival of Alessandro Michele at Valentino, who will show as part of Paris Fashion Week. Eyes will also be on Givenchy, Chanel and Dries Van Noten which – at the time of writing – are each without creative directors.

Here, everything Wallpaper* knows about Women’s Fashion Week S/S 2025.

Women’s Fashion Week S/S 2025: what to expect

New York Fashion Week S/S 2025 (6 – 11 September 2024)

New York Fashion Week S/S 2025 will begin – unofficially – on September 5, as American fashion behemoth (and member of the Wallpaper* USA 400) Ralph Lauren presents his latest collection in an exclusive show in the Hamptons, the beachside Long Island locale which has long played host to the rich and famous. ’The Hamptons is more than a place,’ said Lauren in a statement. ’It’s a natural world of endless blue skies, the ocean, green fields, and white fences, rusticity and elegance with a quality of light that drew artists here decades ago. It has been home, my refuge and always an inspiration.’

The day afterwards, Pieter Mulier will show his latest Alaïa collection in New York, four decades after Azzedine Alaïa first showed in the city in 1982. It will be his second time showing outside of Paris – an intimate show at the designer’s brutalist home in Antwerp, Belgium took place in 2023 – and will no doubt be one of the highlights of the schedule. ’A city close to Pieter Mulier’s heart and the maison’s,’ said Alaïa on Instagram. It will be accompanied by ‘a series of exclusive moments’ which will take place in the city from 6–8 September. Meanwhile Cos – which last season showed at Corsie Sistine in Rome – will return to New York with a show on September 10 in Brooklyn. ‘New York is a dynamic city with so much character – it’s a place of inspiration, full of interesting and creative people,’ says the brand’s design director Karin Gustafson. Another new arrival is Off-White, who under creative director Ib Kamara will swap Paris for New York, showing on the afternoon of Sunday 16 (the title of the show is ‘Duty Free' and will take place at Brooklyn Bridge Park). Nanushka will also debut at the week, showing on the afternoon of September 7.

Elsewhere, expect a continuation of the Tory Burch renaissance as the designer presents her S/S 2025 collection on the evening of Monday 17, while New York stalwarts Coach, Michael Kors and Carolina Herrera will all show during the week. Wallpaper* USA 400 members Willy Chavarria and Peter Do, the latter showing his third collection for Helmut Lang, will round out the schedule, alongside rising names Zankov and Diotima. Tommy Hilfiger has also confirmed a spot on the week’s schedule, having initially been absent. He will show his latest collection at 6.30pm on Sunday 16.

London Fashion Week S/S 2025 (12 – 17 September 2024)

Beginning slightly earlier this season to avoid a clash with Milan Fashion Week (which starts this season on September 17), London Fashion Week will continue its 40th birthday celebrations with a packed schedule comprising the usual slew of energetic, emerging labels amid a smattering of more well-established names. Of the latter, Burberry will remain the chief draw for international editors visiting the city – Daniel Lee will show his fourth runway collection for the British label – while JW Anderson will present another agenda-setting collection on Sunday morning, his usual slot.

Other names showing this season are Simone Rocha, Roksanda, Erdem, Ahluwalia and Aaron Esh, alongside a new edition of London-based incubator Fashion East (participants are yet to be announced). Watch out for Derrick – Luke Derrick’s burgeoning London-based label had plenty of buzz last season for its sleek, contemporary riff on men’s tailoring – and Nensi Dojaka, who returns to the schedule after a hiatus. Feben will also return to London, having shown last season with the support of Dolce & Gabbana in Milan. Look out too for the rebirth of Kent & Curwen, with the British label having been purchased by Chinese golf brand Biem.L.Fdlkk Garment in 2023.

London Fashion Week will also have a new home this season, the central Newgen space moving from Old Selfridges Hotel back to 180 Strand.

Milan Fashion Week S/S 2025 (17 – 23 September 2024)

Milan Fashion Week will run a day longer this season, part of a re-jigging of the fashion month schedule led by Camera della Moda, the week’s organising body. ’I’m very satisfied with this synergetic effort by the four main players on the fashion circuit,’ said the organisation’s president Carlo Capasa. ’[We] had for some time been asking for an extension of the Milan Fashion Week, given its calendar of over 200 appointments.’

As such, the week will begin with Fendi on September 17, the Roman house presenting its S/S 2025 collection at 3pm (this time, the show will take place on a Tuesday, as opposed to its usual Wednesday). Elsewhere, expect a continuation of Prada’s ‘fairytale ravescape’ set which it revealed as its menswear show in June (the house’s womenswear sets usually riff on their menswear predecessors ), alongside similarly blockbuster shows from Gucci, Versace, Ferragamo, Dolce & Gabbana and Bottega Veneta.

Absent from this season’s schedule is Tom Ford – after the departure of creative director Peter Hawkings earlier this month – and Giorgio Armani, the latter showing in New York off-schedule in October. Also currently absent are MSGM and Blumarine (David Koma will show his debut as creative director next season), while Central Saint Martins graduate Susan Fang will show with the support of Dolce & Gabbana on Sunday morning.

Paris Fashion Week S/S 2025 (23 September – October 1 2024)

No doubt the biggest moment of Paris Fashion Week will be the arrival of Alessandro Michele at Valentino, who will present his first runway show this September (the ex-Gucci creative director’s first collection for the house, titled ’Avant les Débuts’ was revealed in a surprise lookbook drop this past June). ‘It’s an incredible honour for me to be welcomed at Maison Valentino. I feel the immense joy and the huge responsibility to join a maison de couture that has the word “beauty” carved on a collective story, made of distinctive elegance, refinement and extreme grace,’ said Michele in a statement issued after his appointment in March 2024. He will show on the afternoon of Sunday 29.

A number of other houses – among them Givenchy, Dries Van Noten and Chanel – are currently without creative directors. Givenchy is absent from the schedule (the new creative director will likely debut in February 2025), Dries Van Noten is slated to show on the afternoon of Wednesday 25 (it will be the first show since the eponymous creative director exited in June), and Chanel will retain its usual spot on the morning of Tuesday 1 October. An otherwise busy schedule – as has become the norm for the city – will include shows from Loewe, Louis Vuitton, Rick Owens, Dior, Saint Laurent, Hermès and more. Balenciaga, meanwhile, will show on the evening of Monday 30, shifting from Sunday morning.

In other news, Paris label Coperni will host its S/S 2025 show on October 1, 2024 at the so-called happiest place on earth – Disneyland Paris. Founders Arnaud Vaillant and Sébastien Meyer have said the collection will blend ‘magic with reality, paying tribute to the beloved Walt Disney Animation Studios movies of our childhood’. Meanwhile Ganni, the stalwart of Copenhagen Fashion Week, will shift to Paris this season, following the appointment of Laura du Rusquec, previously of Balenciaga, as CEO this past April.

Stay tuned for more from Women’s Fashion Month S/S 2025.

As Salone del Mobile wrapped up in Milan, eyes turned eastwards to the floating city of Venice, where this past weekend the 60th Venice Biennale was inaugurated with a typically packed roster of events and openings to cater to the thronging crowds from the art world and beyond. At its centre was the 60th International Art Exhibition, titled ’Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere’ – the Adriano Pedrosa-curated group exhibition paying ode to ’foreigners, immigrants, expatriates, diasporic, émigrés, exiled, [and] refugees’ – which was supported by Parisian fashion house Dior, a continuing nod to house founder Christian Dior’s roots as a gallerist in the 1920s and 30s.

Dior was not the only fashion house present, though. As ever, fashion brands and designers seized the opportunity to forge their cultural links to the arts – with Venice providing a typically seductive backdrop. These included Burberry’s sponsorship of the British Pavillion (to celebrate, a party at the city’s legendary watering hole Harry’s Bar), Golden Goose opening the doors to ’Haus’, a new multidisciplinary cultural space (their celebration comprised a vast candlelit dinner in the hangar-like main hall), and Tod’s celebration of Italian craftsmanship which coincided with their own sponsorship of the Italian Pavillion. Here, as the 60th Venice Biennale opens to the public, the best moments where fashion met art.

The best fashion moments at the 60th Venice Biennale

Setchu collaborate with Savile Row tailors Davies & Son at Palazzo Venier

Sometimes it is illuminating to take the familiar out of context; such was the ambition behind Japanese label Setchu’s latest project, a collaboration with storied Savile Row tailor Davies & Son. Choosing to present the collaboration on neutral ground, the Palazzo Venier in Venice on the opening days of the Biennale, the presentation captured the uniqueness of the project, which traverses time and space. Central to the collaboration, which is led by Setchu designer Satoshi Kuwata – who originally trained on Savile Row – is an attempt to conceive a collection of truly contemporary tailoring, which melds Davies & Son’s time-honed techniques (it is the street’s oldest operating tailor shop) with Setchu’s unique take on the medium, which combines Western and Japanese approaches (Kuwata now lives and works in Milan). The result is three black-and-white outfits, for men or women, comprising sleek single-breasted overcoats and trousers, complete with Setchu’s signature sliced seams and darts which are edged with buttons. Completing the lineup is a pair of laceless shoes by cobbler George Cleverley, made from a single piece of leather. At the chic Venice installation – featuring Japanese objects, from paper lanterns died with sumi ink to ceramic stools and cerami mats – guests could set up appointments to be measured for the bespoke pieces. Further fittings will follow in Milan with Kuwata, in London at Davies & Son, or in New York City when the Davies & Son team travels stateside.

Burberry sponsors the British Pavillion, John Akomfrah’s ‘Listening All Night to The Rain’

Since the beginning of his tenure, Yorkshire-born Burberry creative director Daniel Lee has been keen to celebrate Britain’s diverse cultural output. ‘[I want] to show a positive side of Britain to the world,’ he said after his debut in February 2023. ‘There is great music here, great theatre, great art. That’s something I missed in recent years and that’s what I’m trying to celebrate.’ Just over a year on – and two collections later – Lee is true to his word as Burberry becomes the headline sponsor of the British Pavilion for the second consecutive year. This year’s Pavilion comprises a commission by artist and filmmaker John Akomfrah titled ‘Listening All Night to The Rain’, a multi-layered, multi-media piece which looks towards the sea to explore issues from environmental decline to migration. I’d got to a point where I thought a lot of what I want to say involves trying to pull people into positions of listening,’ he told Wallpaper’s Hannah Silver. ’[The work] is both looking ahead to the things that we are definitely interested in the present, but a lot of it is also to do with the immediate past and the things we haven’t really paid attention to, [and] sometimes they are related. There’s much to hear.’ Read more.

The British Pavillion runs from Saturday 20 April to Sunday 24 November 2024.

Golden Goose continues its Haus of Dreamers project

Coinciding with the Biennale, Golden Goose opened the doors to ’Haus’, a multidisciplinary space in Marghera, an industrial suburb of Venice where the brand was founded in 2000. Comprising an academy, where over the Biennale’s opening weekend locals could attend a number of workshops and talks, an extensive archive of rare Golden Goose sneakers and clothing, an auditorium, and a vast hangar-like room where guests enjoyed a candlelit dinner on Friday evening, it will continue to evolve as the months go on. Earlier in the night, guests were taken on an immersive tour of the space, which included an opportunity to customise a pair of the brand’s new Marathon sneakers, inspired by 1970s and 1980s running shoes, alongside installations and performances by Argentinian visual artist Andrés Reisinger, Italian sculptor Fabio Viale, French-Italian painter Maïa Régis, and Puerto Rican singer Mia Lailani. Viale’s was perhaps the most striking of the evening: a vast burning pyre erected in the rectangular pool in the Haus’ forecourt. It follows last year’s Haus of Dreamers event, which introduced the project with a series of events across the floating city – including a spoken-word performance by Quannah Chasinghorse on the Rialto Bridge.

Tod’s celebrate the art of Venetian craftsmanship

Tod’s’ involvement with the Venice Biennale this year was twofold. First, they were the sponsor of this year’s Italian Pavillion, which was titled ’Due qui / To Hear’ and created by artist Massimo Bartolini alongside curator Luca Cerizza at the Biennale’s Arsenale venue (the installation comprised a vast scaffolding maze, alongside a sound installation featuring music by Caterina Barbieri and Kali Malone, and British composer Gavin Bryars). Secondly, the Italian brand used the event to celebrate its own deep-rooted history of creation and craft by uniting with Venetian artisans to reinterpret the Tod‘s famed Gommino driving shoe. Cue a dramatic array of original works inspired by the perennial style, created by craftspeople working across mediums, from glassblower Roberto Beltrami and goldbeater Marino Menegazzo to traditional Venetian mask maker Sergio Boldrin. Meanwhile, a limited-edition collection of pieces, inspired by Venice, will be available for purchase.

The Italian Pavillion runs from Saturday 20 April to Sunday 24 November 2024.

Dior supports happenings across the city, including the Beinnale’s International Art Exhibition

Christian Dior began his career not as a couturier, but as a gallerist, co-founding Paris’ Galerie Jacques Bonjean in 1928, before going on to be linked with Galerie Pierre Colle, which hosted works from artists including Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró and Salvador Dalí. As such, art has long permeated the Dior universe, something celebrated this year in a wide-ranging sponsorship from the Parisian house which stretched across locations and events. First, Dior supported the Biennale’s main group exhibition (the International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia), which this year was curated by the artistic director of the São Paulo Museum of Art, Adriano Pedrosa. Titled ’Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere’, Pedrosa said the exhibition paid ode to ’foreigners, immigrants, expatriates, diasporic, émigrés, exiled, [and] refugees—particularly those who have moved between the Global South and the Global North. Migration and decolonisation are key themes here.’

Elsewhere, the ’Cosmic Garden’ exhibition – which includes works by Madhvi Parekh and Manu Parekh created alongside the Chanakya School of Craft, with whom Dior creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri has collaborated extensively – is supported by Dior at Salone Verde – Art & Social Club. Meanwhile, at Museo Fortuny, guests can discover Eva Jospin’s Selva exhibition, a Parisian artist whose layered cardboard grottos provided the backdrop to Dior’s S/S 2023 womenswear show. Finally, Dior also collaborated with the Venetian Heritage Foundation to partner on the extravagant Naumachia Ball on April 20, 2024 at the Arsenale Vecchio of Venice, with funds largely supporting the renovation of the Arsenale’s Porta Magna and the ’House of Gold’ Ca’d’Oro museum.

’Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere’ ,the International Art Exhibition of the 60th Venice Biennale runs from Saturday 20 April to Sunday 24 November 2024.

Balenciaga spotlights the Rodeo bag with theatrical installation

For the Biennale, Balenciaga transformed its Venice store into a red-curtained installation to celebrate the arrival of the brand‘s summer collection (the S/S 2024 show itself had featured a similarly theatrical set). In particular, the Rodeo bag, a roomy, vintage-inspired handbag which can be customised with a multitude of playful charms in creative director Demna’s typically idiosyncratic style. 14 unique iterations were available to Venice shoppers, while the installation was celebrated with a cocktail on April 18.

Louis Vuitton brings French artist Ernest Pignon-Ernest to Venice

Fondation Louis Vuitton, the LVMH Group’s vast cultural outpost in Paris, brought French artist Ernest Pignon-Ernest to Venice for this year’s Biennale, staging an exhibition of his work at the Espace Louis Vuitton Venezia (the foundation’s Venice oupost, close to the famed Piazza San Marco). Titled ’Je Est Un Autre’, the exhibition – conceived by Pignon-Ernest for the space – continues his exploration of ’the foreigner’, a perennial theme which has run throughout his oeuvre since he began his career in the 1960s. An early proponent of street art – with works appearing in places across the world, including Naples, Rome, Soweto, Haiti, Paris and Algiers – his pieces often feature portraits of figures who operated on the margins, from Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, who travelled across the country to escape persecution from the Soviet regime, to Arthur Rimbaud, Antonin Artaud, Jean Genet, and Pier Paolo Pasolini. The new exhibition is curated by Suzanne Pagé and Hans Ulrich Obrist, in dialogue with Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster.

Ernest Pignon-Ernest ’Je Est Un Autre’ runs at Espace Louis Vuitton Venezia from Saturday 20 April to Sunday 24 November 2024.

The A/W 2024 show season finally came to a close last week (12 March 2024), with Celine presenting its latest collection via film (it had been shot across several different art deco locations in Paris). The house also announced the imminent arrival of its first-ever beauty line, Celine Beauté, designed by Hedi Slimane; a pale pink lipstick in the shade ‘La Peau Nue’ was applied to models by Aaron de Mey, providing the perfect teaser of what’s to come.

Prior runway collections, which were staged across February and early March in New York, London, Milan, and Paris, also brought forth a wealth of stand-out beauty moments, of course. They saw designers reuniting with long-time collaborators across hair and make-up – Guido Palau, Anthony Turner, Lynsey Alexander, Peter Phillips, Pat McGrath, and Diane Kendal included – and also pairing up with skincare and nailcare brands, such as 111Skin, Augustinus Bader, MyBlend, and Biosculpture.

Here, we recap A/W 2024 beauty highlights, from curly grey wigs at JW Anderson to gilt eyeliner at Chanel, and perfectly manicured nails at Hermès.

1. The Skin

16 Arlington

16Arlington paired up with 111Skin for A/W 2024, with products providing the models with a discernible glow, before make-up was applied. (Any bare-faced beauty look, created by make-up artist Lauren Parsons in this instance, requires a meticulous, skincare-first approach). Prep began with mini facials, featuring lymphatic drainage to tackle the all-pervasive fashion week puffiness and fatigue, which was then combined with the Harley Street-based brand’s ultra-hydrating yet lightweight Y Theorem Repair Serum Light NAC Y2 serum, which is scientifically formulated to repair stressed-out skin.

Isabel Marant

At Isabel Marant A/W 2024, the runway was treated to the coveted ‘Glow by Bader’, with Augustinus Bader, responsible for skin prep backstage. Facialists from the Paris-based Académie des Facialistes worked with hero products such as The Face Oil, The Cream, and The Rich Cream (which all contain the brand’s patented Trigger Factor Complex, a cell-renewing technology featuring a blend of natural amino acids, high-grade vitamins and peptides) before key make-up artist Lisa Butler took care of product application.

2. The Make-Up

Dries Van Noten

Dries Van Noten’s A/W 2024 show (which turned out to be his final womenswear collection, after the designer announced that he would be leaving his namesake brand in June 2024) saw Lucy Bridge create ‘strange’ but beautiful make-up looks, which combined unusual colour palettes – such as grey and caramel-toned lipstick and bleached false lashes - using products from the Dries Van Noten beauty line.

Chanel

Chanel A/W 2024 by Virginie Viard drew inspiration from Claude Lelouche’s 1966 film A Man and a Woman (Un homme et une femme), starring Anouk Aimée. In it, Aimée wears a make-up look emblematic of the time, with winged liner and false lashes framing her eyes. Make-up artist Lisa Butler nodded towards this in the beauty for the A/W 2024 show, creating statement liner with a contemporary twist, using Chanel Beauty products in hues of pink, pale blue, orange, and gold to mirror the clothes.

Dior

Peter Phillips, creative and image director of Dior Beauty, combined pared-back, dewy skin (using the brand’s latest product Dior Forever Star Filter and the Dior Forever Skin Glow Foundation) with painterly pops of raspberry pink pigment in the corner of the model’s eyes, for Dior A/W 2024. This was inspired by the palette that Marc Bohan used in his collections for the house, and provided visual contrast with the latest, designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri, which comprised a neutral palette of black, white, beige, and blue denim.

Rabanne

At Rabanne A/W 2024, Diane Kendal (who has been heading up the fashion house’s beauty line since it launched in 2023) created glossy finishes on eyelids and lips, using moisturising products such as Rabanne Beauty’s tinted lip balm, which contains hyaluronic acid and pomegranate to moisturise and plump. The final effect was beautifully subtle, with lashes heavily coated in the brand’s deep black Famous Volumising 5-in-1 mascara to add definition to the model’s faces.

3. The Hair

JW Anderson

In line with Jonathan Anderson’s vision of British suburbia for the JW Anderson A/W 2024 collection – which included riffs on thermal underwear and subtle nods towards curtain twitching – Anthony Turner created a series of curly grey wigs that referenced the ‘blue rinse brigade’; the sort of styles that were once hugely popular by women of a certain age. To bring the look up to the present day, Lyndsey Alexander used a velvety, matte lipstick in the orange-red shade Vermillion from Merit Beauty’s latest range.

Loewe

Guido Palau worked with colourist Antonia Cometa on the hair for Loewe A/W 2024, which took the shape of futuristic bowl cuts inspired by anime. Using extensions that were dyed black, red, turquoise, and blue, with a single plait at the back of the head, Palau set the looks with one of the new products from his Zara haircare range, a delicately scented, fine mist hairspray that leaves barely any residue.

Issey Miyake

‘For this show, I was looking at a picture of how the fabrics were dyed. They twist them and they twist the twists around themselves. I want to bring that into the hair, twisty and knotty but very fluid and beautiful. Enveloping and beautiful,’ said Anthony Turner of how the clothes at Issey Miyake A/W 2024 influenced his concept for hair. Using Dyson’s new ‘Supersonic r’ hair dryer ensured that strands (first prepped with mousse and treatment oil) were sleekly blow-dried, before being sculpted into knots using a weaving needle and secured with kirby pins.

4. The Nails

Roksanda

For Roksanda A/W 2024, session manicurist Georgia Rae worked with Biosculpture – the cult nail brand used by professional nail artists, which has the staying power of a hard gel but simultaneously strengthens and cares for nails. The models’ fingertips were matched to their make-up look, designed by Sharryn Hinchcliffe using M.A.C: either a dark berry and black twist on a French manicure, or a nude shade tailored to individual skin tones.

Coperni

In keeping with the codes of Coperni, which tread the line between sci-fi fantasy and real-world technology – nail artist Marie Rosa used huge acrylic tips, painted matte black, to form alien-like talons for the Parisian brand’s A/W 2024 show. Opening with John Williams’ score for Stephen Spielberg’s 1977 film Close Encounters of The Third Kind, models carried sealed ‘Ziploc’ bags with ‘top secret documents’ contained within them – as though they were clutched in the grip of extraterrestrial life forms, running away with the evidence of their arrival on Earth.

Molly Goddard

Pleasing  partnered with Molly Goddard on the A/W 2024 show, with nail polish shades that provided a strong cohesion between the vividly coloured collection (described by the designer as ‘smushing, blobs upon blobs, two become one’). The look, created by Saffron Goddard, was based on the idea of trialling out multiple nail polishes at once, with two different hues painted abstractly on fingertips. This included ‘Borgonha Acai’, a glossy burgundy, paired with ‘Beach Ball’, a deep, opaque, and ‘Syrupberry’ (a vibrant pink) placed on top of ‘Don’t Lady Bug Me’, a rambutan red.

Hermès

At Hermès, nail artist Anatole Rainey created an impeccable, clean manicure, using polishes from the house’s beauty line. Products included Les Mains Hermès enamel base coat, followed by two shades of delicate pink (one slightly deeper than the other) before finishing with a Les Mains Hermès enamel top coat. A soupçon of Les Mains Hermès complete hand care cream, which contains white mulberry extract, moss and passiflora precious oil, and a plant-based emollient complex enriched with Pistacia lentiscus L. sap nourished the skin before the runway show began.

5. The Scents

Burberry

Burberry’s A/W 2024 show was held in a vast and dimly lit tent in London’s Victoria Park, adorned with dark green matting that was designed to look like grass. Daniel Lee had said that the collection was inspired by ‘Burberry’s heritage of the outdoors’. To enhance the verdant ambience, Perfumer H (the British perfume house founded by nose Lyn Harris) scented the space with its Ivy fragrance, which evokes an English garden in autumn, through notes of red berry, rose, frankincense, and musk.

Tom Ford

Tom Ford’s fragrance Vanilla Sex – which is described by the brand as a ‘beguiling, deeply seductive scent of vanilla resinoid, mahogany wood accord and roasted barley’ – set the olfactory tone of Peter Hawkings’ sophomore collection for the American brand, and was sent to guests with the show invites. Such names included the likes of Alec Wek, Uma Thurman, Dominic Sessa, and Sharon Stone, who sat front row as the show opened with the Basic Instinct soundtrack playing.

Jacob Cohën

At Jacob Cohën’s latest presentation in Milan, a sprinkling of snow fell from the ceiling of the Teatro Lirico and onto the model’s heads. As owner and creative director Jennifer Tommasi Bardelle let Wallpaper* know from the sidelines, each piece of the paper snow had been spritzed with Jacob Cohën’s signature denim scent, mixed here with a transporting note of pine, recalling Alpine forests.

London Fashion Week A/W 2024 heralded the 40th anniversary of the event that, despite earlier iterations, was inaugurated in the early 1980s by British PR maven Lynne Franks (Franks was said to be the inspiration behind Absolutely Fabulous’ Edina Monsoon). Since then, the week has held its unique balance of rising stars – perhaps best represented by fashion incubator Fashion East – and the city’s blockbuster names, from Vivienne Westwood to Burberry (and even featured an appearance from Queen Elizabeth II, who attended a Richard Quinn show in 2018). 

This latest edition continued the week’s legacy, beginning on Friday evening with a return to London Fashion Week from historic British house Dunhill after four years (it heralds the arrival of new creative director Simon Holloway). Elsewhere, the two biggest draws were JW Anderson – its eponymous designer Jonathan Anderson first rose to prominence at Fashion East in the 2010s – and Burberry, where Daniel Lee showed his third runway show for the historic British label in Victoria Park on Monday evening. Rounding out the schedule was a mix of the week’s stalwarts, including Molly Goddard, Simone Rocha, Roksanda, Erdem and Ahluwalia, alongside a raft of next-generation talent, from KNWLS, Aaron Esh and Conner Ives to the Central Saint Martins MA fashion show.

Here, reported from the shows, Wallpaper* fashion features editor Jack Moss rounds up the best of London Fashion Week A/W 2024.

The best of London Fashion Week A/W 2024

Burberry

It was a return to the great outdoors for Daniel Lee’s third runway collection for Burberry, shown yesterday evening in a vast tent erected in east London’s Victoria Park (on the floor were woodchips, while guests sat on enormous fleece cushions). It has been a thematic link that has run through his opening triptych, initially inspired by tents and outdoor-wear from the late-19th and early-20th centuries that he found in the British house’s archive. ‘Burberry’s heritage of the outdoors continues to inspire me,’ said the Yorkshire-born designer in a series of quotes issued after the show. ‘[This season], I wanted this collection to feel warm and protective.’

Soundtracked by a collage of Amy Winehouse clips and music – Lee said backstage that he was inspired by her tenacious desire to write about her life, in her own way – the collection doubled down on Burberry’s synonymy with outerwear, seeing a funnel-neck moleskin version of the trench coat, abbreviated parkas and puffers, and hefty shearlings appear throughout. The mood of textural richness was inspired, Lee said, by British and Irish wool and fabric (also used across long pleated skirts, zip-front trousers, and myriad enveloping, homespun knitwear). ‘[It’s] functional – these pieces are made for the outdoors,’ he said. The line-up of models, including Agyness Deyn, Lily Donaldson, Lily Cole, Naomi Campbell and Edie Campbell, recalled the 2010s, when Burberry was at cultural ubiquity. 

Backstage, after the show, Lee noted the trickiness of designing for a brand that is made to appeal to huge swathes of people: from royalty to football fans. With this collection – which was full of seductive propositions for real-world wintertime dressing – Lee made his strongest push yet. ‘I have to have a point of view,’ he said. ‘You can’t just make a simple trench coat forever.’

Aaron Esh

A brilliant winter collection from rising London-based designer Aaron Esh, inspired by the dress codes of his inner circle, closed out Sunday evening in an intimate show at east London’s Sarabande (Esh recently became part of the foundation, which was set up by Lee McQueen and offers studio spaces to emerging artists and designers). Building on his runway debut in September 2023, staged at Tate Modern against views of the London skyline, the designer once again noted the influence of his native city and its ‘rhizomatic’ streets. ‘It’s the clothes that I see when I’m at a house party; or the clothes someone would wear to do an off-licence run – big shades, ripped jeans, a blouse thrown over her shoulder,’ he told Wallpaper’s Hannah Tindle at the time.

It lends his work a kind of dishevelled sensuality, where slinky bias-cut dresses, smeared eyeliner, sunglasses, caps and hoodies meet intriguing tailoring, like a wide-lapelled tuxedo cut with a poker-straight hem (later, it evolved into an expansive overcoat), or the pinched hooded tailored jackets that the models grasped closed with their hands. Esh says that he hopes the ease of his clothing belies the craft and construction behind them, something that felt achieved here: his models looked as if wandering home from evenings out, or perhaps the morning after. Skinny jeans, meanwhile, heralded the return of a silhouette introduced by Hedi Slimane in the 2000s while at Dior Homme – the French designer’s singular, subculture-infused approach no doubt an influence on Esh’s growing oeuvre. 

JW Anderson

Nosy neighbours, M&S knickers, horse riding trophies – after the show, Jonathan Anderson laid out the nostalgic inspiration points for his A/W 2024 collection, presented this season at Marylebone’s Seymour Leisure Centre in a shift from The Roundhouse. ‘It was something twisted, in terms of the woman next door,’ he said, a mood elaborated in the press release as ‘a grotesque everydayness, in grotesque distortions and proportions’. So there were knit dresses with enormous stitches, trails of blown-up haberdashery adornments, layers of everyday ribbed underwear and vests, house slippers, and brassy grey curly wigs. In its strange banality it was surprisingly affronting, a further demonstration of Anderson’s ability to traverse the seductive and the ugly (the designer is perhaps only equalled by Miuccia Prada in his ability to strike this dichotomy so successfully season on season). 

Other pieces were designed to recall interiors, like a series of twisted dresses which evoked curtains and curtain ties, looping elegantly around the model’s bodies (their evolution into a version in pearl made for a convincing proposition for a contemporary wedding gown). Outerwear recalled British heritage styles, here blown up in size and slightly dishevelled, pulled up at the sleeve to reveal the lining beneath, while everyday staples like the striped sweater and sweatpant shorts appeared throughout. Anderson elaborated backstage that it was in part a consideration of Britain, a strange refraction of the country’s past – at once nostalgic and subverted, likening it to the slew of recent songs that have risen up the charts years after they have been released. 

‘Young people are discovering nostalgia,’ he said. ‘And then they glorify [things from the past], and it becomes a kind of future thinking in a didactic way. They’re like mixing things that my parents know, that we all know, and reconfiguring them. It makes nostalgia not such a scary thing.’

Simone Rocha

Simone Rocha described her A/W 2024 collection as the closing chapter of a triptych of works which began with last season’s ‘Dress Rehearsal’ – capturing the anticipation and fraughtness of the evening before a wedding – and continued with the designer’s haute couture collection for Jean Paul Gaultier shown in Paris last month, which was titled ‘The Procession’ and looked towards the nuptials themselves. Presented in medieval church St Bartholomew-the-Great in Smithfield, the conclusion was titled ‘The Wake’, with Rocha beginning the collection by looking towards the mourning attire of Queen Victoria after the death of her husband Prince Albert (famously, she would mourn the loss for over four decades of her life). It made for fertile ground for the Irish designer, whose collections have long had a swelling undercurrent of darkness despite the beauty of their execution. Here, pelts of faux fur sat on the shoulders of delicate, near-transparent tailoring, while corsets – adorned with shimmering crystal embellishment under the chest – seemed a continuation of her collaboration with Gaultier. Unexpected accessories came in the shape of soft-toy lambs carried in the models’ arms, a nod to the mythical animals which serve as church guardians, while mourning blacks were reimagined in tie-hem anoraks, worn with faux-fur stoles adorned with crystals. ‘This was the final piece of the triptych, because I was working on these collections at the same time,’ explained Rocha backstage. ‘I’ve been looking at a lot of preserved garments, a lot of archives, and I really wanted to take that and place it today.’

Molly Goddard

A vast mural by London Group artist Ivon Hitchens provided the colourful backdrop for Molly Goddard’s latest collection, staged at the main hall of Cecil Sharp House, the home of the English Folk Dance and Song Society in north London. The collection itself reflected the work’s freewheeling composition – Hitchens took three years to complete the 1954 mural, which depicts a mass of abstract figures dancing in a mythical woodland – with Goddard noting that this season she once again began the collection with an ‘experimental fitting’. In these, the designer takes vintage pieces, samples from her archive and toiles and begins to combine them as a starting point for the collection (she also noted inspiration from her eBay watch list, which with two young children is currently comprised of colourful baby and toddler wear). Here, it led her to a consideration of form – ‘shapes on top of shapes; garments combining – pulling in, pushing out, smushing’ – in part inspired by the haute couture silhouettes of Cristobal Balenciaga and Christian Dior, though relaxed with elasticated and tie fastenings for the everyday. Meanwhile, a continuing exploration of tulle – this season, Goddard described their construction as ‘blobs’, tightly ruffled shapes which provided dramatic silhouettes across skirts, shirts and dresses – met slouchy sweaters, cowboy jackets and polka-dot tops and bustiers in a collection of refreshing levity. 

Roksanda

Earlier this week, Zendaya wore a Roksanda look to Dennis Villenvenue’s Dune: Part Two London premiere: a plum-hued suit, jacket nipped in at the waist with exaggerated shoulders and loose-cut trousers, layered with a knee-length skirt. It turned out this was a sneak preview of the A/W 2024 collection presented yesterday, against the backdrop of the Tate Britain. (The suit opened the show with Law Roach, the actor’s stylist, watching on from the front row).

This season Ilinčić said she had been inspired by Le Corbusier, one of the Serbian-born designer’s ‘heroes’, and that she had recently spent time at the architect’s tiny holiday cabin, Cabanon de Le Corbusier. It was constructed in 1951 and located in Cap Martin, a coastal commune in the South of France. The interiors, and most notably the murals in the entrance hall, were subsequently referenced in the tapestries swathing around the body and trailing dramatically along the runway. Melton wool, a fabric ‘used in interiors and homes, places that provide refuge and comfort’, formed the opening suit and additional tailored pieces, where boucle, fil coupé jacquard, and a smattering of faux fur also lent themselves to the embrace of soft furnishings.

Roksanda is renowned for her considered use of colour, and of course, A/W 2024 was no different. The show notes reeled off a descriptive list of shades, reminiscent of the names that one might find on tins of expensive emulsion: Chartreuse-Verse, Canvas, Dark Flamant, Grey-Melange, Bleu-Cair, Pale-Lime, Light Hibiscus, Antique Rose, Peche-Clair. There were also sportier nods to windbreakers and wellingtons (footwear was produced in collaboration with Fit Flop), with the closing looks of the show taking the form of huge taffeta dresses that appeared almost tent-like, as though held up with a framework of poles. They conjured the idea of spending a windswept day along the coast, before returning to the warmth of a lavishly decorated home. Hannah Tindle

16Arlington

Writer and curator Charlie Fox’s 2019 exhibition My Head is a Haunted House, presented at Sadie Coles gallery, provided the starting point for Marco Capaldi’s A/W 2024 collection for 16Arlington. At the time, the group show was described by Fox as an attempt to recall ’the hallucinogenic memory’ of a childhood obsessed with werewolves, bats and monsters; here, Capaldi gave the monstrous a more elegant twist, seeing his sharp, streamlined vision for the brand enlivened with flourishes of strangeness, like swathes of shaggy faux fur or the clattering tinsel looks which closed the show. A pair of diaphanous white dresses, meanwhile, seemed to conjure Frankenstein’s bride, while shirts and sweaters tied around the neck in lieu of scarves suggested a mash-up of parts. ‘It’s not about Halloween – it’s about human nature,’ Capaldo said. ‘Hence the title of the show, I’m Not Sorry, It’s Human Nature, borrowed, of course, from Madonna. Those who go against conventions are often ostracised, but there’s so much strength and power and beauty in rejecting norms. These are the people I design for.’

Dunhill

For its first runway show since 2020 – and the first collection from newly installed creative director Simon Holloway – Dunhill chose the Duveen Wing of the National Portrait Gallery, a series of rooms inaugurated by King George V and Queen Mary in 1933. The historic venue hinted a return to classicism for the British brand (itself in its 130th year), a mood also captured in show’s the layout, which with its low-lit individual tables, gin martinis and dainty plates of cucumber and caviar sandwiches nodded towards traditional salon-style fashion presentations of the early 20th century.  

’This collection celebrates our origins and subsequent evolution into a unique British luxury house,’ explained Holloway of the A/W 2024 collection, which sought to capture Dunhill’s rich tailoring heritage and tradition of dressing figures from stage and screen (earlier in the week, the brand hosted a star-studded pre-BAFTA party, a hint towards this new direction). So the collection itself ran the gamut of what Holloway called the ‘finer things in life’ – whether motor racing (recalled in the suede field jacket worn by model Kit Butler, or the leather driving gloves throughout), jaunts to the great outdoors (gabardine chinos, blazers in heritage checks and cord, aran-stitch cashmere sweaters) or a swathe of evening wear, including an elegant ivory riff on the tuxedo with matching bowtie and overcoat (worn here with a sneaker).

‘[These are the things] we have always done best,’ concluded Holloway of the collection, which felt like something of a palette cleanser for his tenure ahead. ‘I hope we have re-captured that spirit, one that is at once refined and international,’

Fashion East

There was an interesting synchronicity to this season’s Fashion East designers Olly Shinder and Johanna Parv – the latter in her third and final season at the talent incubator – who both provided their own distinct riffs on the nine-to-five wardrobe. Shinder, who last season presented a debut collection of pieces inspired by the sporty, sleazy nightlife uniforms of Berlin and London, where the designer splits his time. Soundtracked once again by photographer Wolfgang Tillmans, here Shinder turned his attention towards the corporate uniform, which was ‘queered... displaced, subverted and refined’. So there was a take on ’middle managerial’ shirting, which appeared to have been grasped at the collar and sliced down the back, while other pieces continued Shinder’s more familiar exploration of workwear, with clean-lined functional sets with PVC at the sleeves and over the trousers, as if models were about to deal with hazardous materials (indeed, Shinder likened his studio this season to a lab). Completing the lineup were pieces primed for the dance floor: slick, semi-shirted latex bodysuits, or abbreviated mini shorts in black and silver. Judging by buzz, he already has an audience for these clothes.

Parv, meanwhile, is a designer who looks towards the functionality of sportswear through toggle and adjustable fastenings, and technical fabrics, attempting to replicate them across the full gamut of a woman’s wardrobe. This season, a polished collection continued this approach with what she said was inspired by the ‘topography of the city’, and the demands of urban life. The mood was darker, and more sensual than previously – the skirt suit was sliced open at the front and shoulders – while zip-up mini dresses were featherweight in their fabrication. As ever, a series of clever accessories accompanied in the form of leather bumbags and handbags with an adjustable nylon strap, evocative of those found on a backpack. It will be interesting to see what Parv does next.

A mood of escape and discovery permeated the S/S 2024 collections, with designers looking to journeys real and imagined to inspire their summertime offerings. Here, taken from the March 2024 Style Issue of Wallpaper*, we select 12 objects and looks that capture the freewheeling mood of the season – whether Matthieu Blazy’s around-the-world odyssey at Bottega Veneta, Hermès’ beach-primed fisherman’s sandals, or Jonathan Anderson’s crystal-adorned sunglasses at Loewe. 

In fashion: the best of S/S 2024

Wander lust: Ferragamo (top left)

Maximilian Davis’ collection for Ferragamo was rooted in an imagined exchange between his Caribbean roots and the house’s Italian heritage, epitomised by these vertiginous sandals, elevated on a sculptural sole and laced with coloured rocks.

Enquire at ferragamo.com

Globe trotter: Bottega Veneta (top right)

Describing it as an ‘odyssey’, Matthieu Blazy’s show for Bottega Veneta saw models march across a tiled world map, sporting huge woven leather beach bags, stacked with clothing and rolled-up newspapers, as if wandering back from a day at the beach.

Enquire at bottegaveneta.com

Fluid forms: Dior Men

Elements of femininity – think shrunken, crystal-embellished cardigans, feather-and flower-adorned hats, and pearls – pervaded Kim Jones’ Dior menswear, inspired by previous Dior creative directors, from Yves Saint Laurent to Gianfranco Ferré.

Available at dior.com

Craft union: Prada

Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons’ collection for Prada was one of material richness and intrigue, from floating translucent gowns to tasselled skirts in-set with eyelets. ‘We try to make the best out of our work, to make beautiful things for today,’ says Prada.

Enquire at prada.com

Great lengths: Dries Van Noten

There was an elongated line to this season’s menswear silhouette, which suggested a mood of ease and movement. This tabard by Dries Van Noten, with its subtle, 1970s-tinged print, formed part of a collection that encapsulates a ‘disrupted elegance’.

Available from driesvannoten.com

Big picture: Chanel

Chanel’s Virginie Viard looked to the French town of Hyères for inspiration, with her ensuing collection embodying the Riviera locale’s easy creative spirit. Camera-like quilted bags, complete with lenses, hung from models as if to capture the views.

Enquire at chanel.com

Track record: Wales Bonner

Inspired by Ethiopian and Kenyan marathon runners, Grace Wales Bonner’s ode to ‘long journeys and life missions’ was marked by a use of complex crafts in everything from woven zebra-print tops to macramé dresses adorned with Ghanaian glass beads.

Enquire at walesbonner.net

Action packed: Miu Miu

Miuccia Prada continued to explore notions of contemporary beauty for Miu Miu with a collection punctuated by sporty swimwear that crept above the waistline (as if clothes had been slung on after a morning in the surf ) and hiking-style sandals.

Available at miumiu.com

In proportion: Burberry

Daniel Lee’s collection for Burberry paid homage to ‘lightness, sensuality, beauty and elegance’, largely through proportion: the house’s signature trench sported a newly dropped waistline, while tailored trousers were replaced with long shorts.

Enquire at burberry.com

Escape route: Hermès

A soft and sultry summer mood permeated Véronique Nichanian’s Hermès menswear collection, which featured translucent layers, woven rope beach bags and this elegant riff on the fisherman’s sandal, made for clambering through coves and rock pools.

Enquire at hermes.com

Crystal clear: Gucci

The shimmer of crystal heralded the arrival of Sabato De Sarno at Gucci, with the house’s new creative director using it to adorn babydoll dresses and chainmail bustier tops in a collection designed to capture the insouciant glamour of Italian street life.

Enquire at gucci.com

Tunnel vision: Loewe

For his menswear collection for Loewe, Jonathan Anderson set out to create a silhouette that felt as if the viewer were looking upwards at the wearer through a fisheye lens. These oversized crystal-studded sunglasses completed the vision.

Available from loewe.com at selfridges.com

A version of this article appears in the March 2024 Style Issue of Wallpaper* available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today.

Models: Shuqi at The Milk Collective, Rex Rayner at Supa Model Management. Casting: Monica Domarke. Hair: Chris Sweeney at One Represents using Philip B. Make-up: Sandra Cooke using Giorgio Armani Beauty. Manicure: Ami Streets using Byredo. Photography assistants: James Donovan, Sarah Merrett. Fashion assistants: Kris Bergfeldt, Ady Huq. Digi tech: Al Habjan. Retouching: MGS Post.

Burberry is known for its quintessentially British heritage and trademark check, and this week it will mark the latest string to its bow – a distinctive takeover of Harrods, bedecking the historic department store in ‘Knight Blue’, the house’s signature hue which was introduced by creative director Daniel Lee at the start of his tenure in 2023. 

Lasting through the month of February, the takeover also coincides with Harrods’ 175th anniversary, the department store having been founded in 1849 by Charles Henry Harrod. This is the first such activation of the anniversary year, with previous takeovers including Louis Vuitton and Dior.

Burberry turns Harrods ‘Knight Blue’

Venturing into the special pop-up, the takeover begins with Harrods’ globally famed green-clad doormen trading in their uniforms for a ‘Knight Blue’ check – a new pattern taken from Burberry’s Spring 2024 collection.

The space itself will pay homage to Burberry’s ‘heritage of exploration’ with an adventurous capsule collection that nods to the great outdoors, and spans 40 pieces across womenswear, menswear and accessories, with new iterations of house staples: the Chess and Rocking Horse bags, the Box sneaker in a new colourway and exclusive eyewear. 

Meanwhile, Burberry has also pitched a ‘Camping Corner’, offering a collection of outdoor accessories to accompany a picnic in the park or a hike through the English countryside. Populating the tent-like space are various pieces primed for outdoor life, whether a bottle opener, hot water bottle, or special version of Romney’s Kendal Mint Cake, a popular confection among explorers and mountaineers. There is even a limited-edition orienteering map of Knightsbridge (for those resigned to city life, and made in association with Open City charity). 

In the ‘Picnic’ area, expect a special Burberry food truck (promising British pastries and hot drinks), alongside a special version of Harrods’ hamper. Companions come courtesy of a Burberry-fied take on the signature Harrods teddy bear, while a selection of Burberry trench coats is also on display – because what would a walk in the British countryside be without a little drizzle?

‘Burberry’s takeover of the world’s most recognisable department store, Harrods, brings together two icons of British luxury in a celebration of exploration and the outdoors,’ says Jonathan Akeroyd, chief executive officer of Burberry. ‘Daniel [Lee] has created a uniquely Burberry experience exclusively at Harrods that embraces our very British spirit of fun and adventure. We are excited to invite customers to immerse themselves in this world of modern British luxury.’

’We are excited to be collaborating with one of the world’s most celebrated luxury department stores,’ adds Lee. ‘Bringing together two iconic British brands by designing a capsule collection with product exclusive to Harrods and creating an experience in-store. The partnership is inspired by our heritage of exploration.’

The Burberry Harrods takeover will run from 1 to 29 February 2024.

burberry.comharrods.com

It has been proven that colours have a mood-elevating property, particularly when worn on your person. And when does one need a lift more than the first days of winter, when temperatures drop, skies grey, and the day seems over in a flash? 

Cue our edit of colourful cashmere, which not only protects and envelops against the elements – the noble fibre is well-known to be one of the world’s softest – but adds a much-needed jolt of energy to winter’s typically understated palette. 

From a vivid Hermès orange scarf to Extreme Cashmere’s electric pink sweater, our pick of rainbow-hued colourful cashmere for men and women – whether to gift to your loved one as the festive season approaches, or simply treasure yourself. 

Mood elevating: colourful cashmere for winter

Extreme Cashmere

Extreme Cashmere founder Saskia Dijkstra began the Amsterdam-based label with a simple desire: to create the perfect sweater. Crafted from impeccably sourced Mongolian cashmere – Dijkstra worked in garment production before founding the label – with the slightest stretch, this ‘Crew Hop’ sweater, was the result (the brand now does an extraordinary array of other cashmere garments, from tasselled skirts to balaclavas). We love this version in electric pink, for men and women – expect guaranteed compliments. 

Alternatively, their ‘Be Game’ cardigan (top) comes in a multitude of hues; buttoning completely down the back and front, different colours can be mixed and matched, half and half, as you choose.

Available from Mytheresa

Zegna x Elder Statesman

California-based cashmere Elder Statesman has always been known for a liberated use of colour, a philosophy it brings to a collaboration with Italian luxury powerhouse Zegna. Cue sweaters, hats and scarves in eye-watering shades, playful naive motifs and colour-soaked checks – all crafted from super-soft Mongolian cashmere. Best in class are these striped ultra-soft Oasi cashmere socks in the same kaleidoscopic palette as the collection.

Available from Mr Porter

Gucci 

Cashmere has long been a part of Gucci’s luxurious roster of fabrics, with this buttercup-yellow cashmere sweater a guaranteed injection of Italian sunshine. And, despite its bold palette, it is designed for ease – cut less like a jumper and more like an athletic sweater, it has a sporty ribbed crew neck and cuffs. 

Available from Mytheresa

Johnstons of Elgin

Johnstons of Elgin has been weaving fabric for close to two centuries in Elgin, Scotland, a small mill town on the River Lossie. Now the country’s only vertical weaving mill – where pieces are dyed, blended, spun, teased and produced – its output remains some of the best cashmere in the world. Which is not to say the company is staid: alongside classic beiges, greys, and whites, it also offers a vivid rainbow of colour – including this ‘Orkney’ blue beanie hat, inspired by the waters that surround the remote Scottish archipelago. 

Available from Selfridges

Hermès

What colour is quite so synonymous with luxury as the distinct orange hue of Hermès? The house’s ‘Unie Brodie’ – which translates to ‘plain embroidered’ in reference to the discreet Hermès stitching on its edge – is an everyday scarf originally designed for men in the house colour (though it could be worn by anyone). One of the Hermès’ ’muffler’ styles, it is large enough to warmly envelop the neck and face on even the coolest winter days.

Available from Hermès

Prada 

The cardigan – for both men and women – is having something of a comeback, largely down to Miuccia Prada, who has riffed on the knitwear staple at both Prada and Miu Miu in recent seasons. This butter-yellow one from Prada’s men’s collection, crafted from an amalgam of wool and cashmere, will give a satisfying injection of colour whether worn in the depths of winter or into spring.

Available from Farfetch

Raey

Crafted from recycled cashmere – no less soft or warm than its virgin counterpart – these satisfyingly long gloves by Raey are hand-knitted into the company’s distinct rib by Nepalese artisans. A pinch of extra-fine merino in the mix lends them a smooth finish and makes them less likely to succumb to the dreaded pill. 

Available from Matches

Barrie + Sofia Coppola

Released earlier in November, cult film director Sofia Coppola brought her distinct aesthetic eye to a collaboration with historic Scottish knitwear producer Barrie, which was recently purchased by Chanel. Promising the ‘ultimate travel wardrobe’ – ‘my fantasy of what you would bring on a trip with pieces that go together that are comfortable and casual,’ she said at the time – classic tones of black, navy and grey, meet flashes of khaki and pink, the latter adorning the collar and cuffs of this colour-block sweater.

Available from Selfridges

Burberry

Burberry check, redux. Daniel Lee’s electric-yellow take on the British house’s classic motif adorns this oversized and enveloping tasselled scarf, crafted from cashmere with a super-soft brushed finish.  

Available from Net-a-Porter

Loro Piana 

The sweetly titled ‘Clear Blue Clouds Me’ shade of this sweater might be more muted than some of the aforementioned styles, though the soft sky blue hue conjures up a similar feeling of levity. Crafted by Loro Piana – one of the most experienced and revered cashmere producers in the world – it is knitted to a traditional cable-knit pattern, though its cashmere fabrication makes it both soft and surprisingly lightweight. 

Available from Net-a-Porter

Dystopian herbariums, destroyed disco balls, serene meadows: this season’s best runway sets were a surreal trip through time and space. From the return of Prada’s oozing curtains of slime to artwork-adorned catwalks – including a smattering of Lynda Benglis sculptures at Loewe – we run through the best-designed show sets of S/S 2024 fashion month. 

Best in show: S/S 2024’s dramatic runway sets

Acne Studios

Acne Studios creative director Jonny Johansson drafted Austrian artist Lukas Gschwandtner – best known for his pillow-like sculptures which evoke the shapes of women reclining in historical portraiture – to collaborate on the Swedish brand’s S/S 2024 show set. Capturing a mood of ‘after-hours liberation’, the ecru canvas-covered space featured an enormous deconstructed disco ball as well as Gschwandtner’s ‘soft furnishings‘ which were scattered about the space. ‘[We were thinking about] soft furnishing that you sink into – you almost become them,’ he told Wallpaper*.

Read the story behind the Acne Studios S/S 2024 set. 

Miu Miu

A new video installation by Qatari-American artist Sophia Al-Maria provided the backdrop to Miuccia Prada’s latest collection, which explored ‘a rationale of beauty today’. Titled Gravity & Grace, the short film featured stunt woman Ayesha Hussain as a pair of ‘archetypal twins’ fighting each other with crossbows and swords in what Al-Maria called ‘an epic battle over POV’. ‘There is a theme of questioning what is real and what is not,’ she told Wallpaper*.

Read the story behind the Miu Miu S/S 2024 set.

Loewe 

Jonathan Anderson once again populated the Loewe runway with a series of sculptures by Lynda Benglis, following a trio of fountains by the American artist that backdropped his menswear show earlier this year. The large, twisting forms in metallic gold and silver were cast from manipulated pieces of clay; in the collection itself, they were reflected by jewellery created in collaboration with the artist’s studio. ‘She doesn’t need to use words, she's using something which is physical,’ Anderson said. ‘There’s something of her that I see in this collection – the attitude, the confidence.’ 

Sportmax

Drawing inspiration from Czech artist Krištof Kintera’s ‘Postnatural‘ works, which depict dystopian imaginings of botanical herbariums, the Sportmax showspace was intersected by a fluorescent-lit glass vitrine filled with colourful tropical flowers and plants. It provided a reflection of the collection’s experimental, science fiction-infused mood: from strange padded forms and sculptural silhouettes to austere white shift dresses recalling medical uniforms. 

Louis Vuitton

The as-yet-unnamed site of a vast Louis Vuitton project on Champs-Élysées – rumours are circulating are that it will be a hotel from the house – provided the setting for Nicolas Ghesquière’s latest womenswear collection. Still a building site, the former art nouveau bank was entirely covered in orange material, with a matching orange runway, grandstand seating and enormous light fixtures. Part of a continuing collaboration with Hollywood set designer James Chinlund, the house describes the setting as ‘simultaneously familiar and new’, a mood of disorientation captured in the era-hopping collection itself.

Prada

Following the house’s menswear show held this past June, Prada’s womenswear showspace – created in collaboration with AMO – saw a stainless-steel runway divided by dripping curtains of slime. ‘An environment of liquid partitions intertwined with elements of industrial architecture,’ described AMO of the setting, which provided the backdrop for a collection of material richness, from featherweight diaphanous dresses to tassel, eyelet and crystal adornment, each a demonstration of Prada’s decades-long commitment to craft. ‘We tried to make the best out of our work, to make beautiful things, for today,’ said Miuccia Prada, who co-creates the house’s collections with Raf Simons. ‘That may sound banal, but it is the truth.’ 

Bottega Veneta

Matthieu Blazy described his fourth collection for Bottega Veneta as a fantastical round-the-world odyssey, ’a journey of transformation and escape’ in which he imagined his protagonist for the season picking up elements of dress from journeys around the globe. The tiled setting – in part recalling those found around a swimming pool – reflected the mood, adorned with a world map playfully populated with illustrated penguins, sardines, crabs and roosters. 

Saint Laurent

Set against the dramatic backdrop of the Eiffel Tower at night – complete with shimmering light show – this season’s Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello show set comprised a series of monolithic stone and marble walls and sleek cuboid benches. ‘A modernist set of kaleidoscopic, mineral surfaces, affording views of the Eiffel Tower while highlighting its soft elegance,’ described the house.

Givenchy

Matthew M Williams’ latest collection for Givenchy was staged inside a new work by architect Gabriel Calatrava for the Collaborative Architecture Laboratory. An enormous inverted tent – affording views of Paris’ L’École Militaire at each end – the monochrome white interior was a reflection of ‘the collection’s themes of ease and elegance,’ said the house. Each of the set’s elements was rented or reusable. 

Burberry

Daniel Lee chose Highbury Fields – a historic slice of green space in north London – to present his much-anticipated sophomore collection. For the occasion, a Burberry-check-adorned tent was erected in the park; inside, a series of park benches covered with Burberry blankets provided the show’s seating.

Dior

Maria Grazia Chiuri continued a tradition of collaboration with women artists on her show sets this season. For S/S 2024, it was Italian artist Elena Bellantoni, who created a video installation that parodied sexist depictions of womanhood in advertising from the 1960s to the 2000s. ‘It is about breaking out of a semantic grid,’ the house described of the piece, which was displayed on vast LED screens around the space. 

Also see our highlights of the recent S/S 2024 runway shows:
Paris Fashion Week S/S 2024
Milan Fashion Week S/S 2024
London Fashion Week S/S 2024
New York Fashion Week S/S 2024

Fashion has well and truly infiltrated Frieze Week, with a slew of happenings across the city to coincide with the arrival of Frieze London 2023, which opens to the public tomorrow (12 October 2023). Whether fashionable new sponsors for the fair itself or the numerous other happenings across the city – from a blockbuster Gucci Cosmos exhibition to Dover Street Market’s annual Frieze takeover, as well as relaxing gong bath courtesy of Birkenstock, Tekla and Matches – there is plenty to keep both art and style aficionados amused throughout the week. Here, we run down the fashion-and-Frieze crossovers that aren’t to be missed.

Best fashion moments at London Frieze Week 2023

Stone Island and Dunhill become Frieze partners

The year’s Frieze in London welcomes two new principal partners: Italian streetwear label Stone Island and British heritage house Dunhill, the former supporting Frieze’s ‘Focus’ and ‘Frieze 91’ projects, the latter Frieze Masters. As part of the multi-year deal, Stone Island will give participating ‘Focus’ galleries – younger, less established institutions – a special bursary which is equivalent to 30 per cent of the stand fee. ‘Stone Island is built on community and creative energy inspired by research and innovation, characteristics that define the Focus section of Frieze’s art fairs,’ says Robert Triefus, the brand’s CEO. ‘Through this partnership, Stone Island will offer foundational support to some of the world’s most significant emerging galleries and artists for years to come.’ The partnership will be celebrated with a club night at Koko in Camden on 12 October, as well as a special collaborative collection with Dover Street Market, which will launch at the store the same day. 

Dunhill, meanwhile, will support this year’s edition of Frieze Masters Talks, a celebrated programme of conversations between various art world figures – this year’s participants include Sarah Lucas, Maggi Hambling, Rachel Whiteread and V&A East’s Dr Gus Casely-Hayford, among others. There will also be a dedicated Dunhill space at the fair, whereby the current collection from the house will sit alongside archival pieces, curated by Nick Foulkes, author of Dunhill by Design. 

Burberry supports Sarah Lucas at Tate Britain

Though it opened just prior to Frieze, British artist Sarah Lucas’ latest exhibition ‘Happy Gas’ at Tate Britain (until 14 January 2024) will no doubt attract those travelling to London for the fair (Lucas will also participate in Dunhill’s Frieze Masters Talks on 13 October at 3pm). The exhibition is sponsored by British fashion house Burberry, which under latest creative director Daniel Lee is hoping to forge greater links with Britain’s arts and culture scene. To coincide with the exhibition, Burberry released a special portrait of Lucas photographed by Anton Gottlob at Tate Britain and will host an intimate private dinner during Frieze Week to celebrate the partnership.

‘Humour, desire, domesticity’: read our review of ‘Sarah Lucas: Happy Gas’.

Gucci Cosmos takes over 180 Studios

Brutalist landmark 180 Studios plays host to Gucci Cosmos, a travelling exhibition that celebrates the Italian house’s archive and opens to the public on 11 October to coincide with Frieze Week. The immersive exhibition – comprising a number of garments and accessories that date from Gucci’s founding in 1921 to the present day – features dramatic set pieces from British artist and set designer Es Devlin. These include a pair of enormous white resin figures project with archival looks (an ode to Gulliver’s Travels), a luggage conveyor belt, and a surreal, futuristic imagining of the house’s archives. The exhibition will run until December 2023. 

Take a look inside Gucci Cosmos.

Dover Street Market launches ‘Frieze 2023 Happenings’

Dover Street Market’s London outpost continues its tradition of hosting a series of installations, activations and product launches to coincide with the arrival of Frieze Week. Beginning with a celebratory evening on 12 October – complete with food and drink from its in-house Rose Bakery – these include a special collaborative collection with Stone Island, the arrival of a slew of new Comme des Garçons collections, as well as various special projects with the likes of Mary McCartney, Jake Chapman, Dauphin x The Serpentine Galleries, Susan Nemeth, Angela Hill and Seana Gavin, among others. 

Tekla, Birkenstock and Matches provide a relaxing pit stop

Those seeking escape from the hustle and bustle of the Regent Park tents should head to Mayfair, where Matches is hosting a series of relaxing crystal-bowl gong baths in its Carlos Place townhouse. The occasion is Birkenstock’s recent collaboration with Danish lifestyle brand Tekla, a series of loungewear, clogs and sandals designed to capture the serenity of home. Attendees will also be able to shop the collection, launching exclusively at Matches, while the pieces can also be purchased online.

Gong baths will take place on 12 October 2023 at Matches Townhouse, 5 Carlos Place. Places can be booked here.

Thom Browne celebrates 20 years in business

American designer Thom Browne has arrived in London this week to celebrate 20 years of his theatrical collections, as documented in a new Phaidon-published tome. Browne hosted a dinner on Monday night (9 October) at London‘s V&A to mark the book’s launch – preceeded by a talk alongside critic Charlie Porter – as well as a special lunch on Tuesday alongside department store Harrods. A capsule collection – available on the brand’s website and in flagship stores around the world – will also celebrate the anniversary, featuring its year of founding, 2003, adorning a series of Browne’s iconic pieces, from varsity jackets and sports coats to a classic wool flannel pleated skirt. 

The Row hosts new work by jeweller Ana Khouri

Ana Khouri’s creations have long straddled sculpture and jewellery – Khouri had a background in fine art before starting the eponymous jewellery brand – making Frieze Week the perfect moment to reveal a new collection. Hosted by The Row in its London Carlos Place outpost, Khouri will reveal a new collection of pieces titled ‘Raw’, part of her ‘Edition’ line, which is released every two or three years. Mining Khouri’s fascination with gold – ‘its simplicity, the way it reflects the light and illuminates the skin’, as she describes – the various pieces are inspired by the process of digging in the dirt for gold. ’I was overwhelmed by a sense of reverence for the care involved in procuring such a gift from the earth and how that care can yield something so exceptional,’ she says. ‘Unearthing even the smallest fragment of raw gold, holding it in my hand, I felt enveloped by something larger – as if nature’s creative energy and my own had merged.’

Margaret Howell hosts exhibition celebrating Architectural Review’s memorable covers

Opening on 13 October 2023, Margaret Howell will host a new exhibition in her Wigmore Street store (featured in a recent behind-the-scenes film), celebrating two decades of Architectural Review covers spanning the 1960s and 1970s (eras of design that have long been a fascination for Howell). The exhibition follows a show hosted by the brand during the London Festival of Architecture 2023, whereby photographs of Britain’s cooling towers – ‘sculptural giants’ – were celebrated in a mesmerising display in the brand’s flagship store.

The Architectural Review Covers Exhibition runs at Margaret Howell, 34 Wigmore Street from 13 October – 5 November 2023.

Vestiaire Collective supports the Barbican’s new exhibition on ecology and gender

Fashion resale platform Vestiare Collective – which aims to provide a sustainable, circular way of buying and selling luxury fashion – sponsors a major new group exhibition at the Barbican, titled ‘RE/SISTERS: A Lens on Gender and Ecology’. Across various mediums – including photography, film and installations – the expansive exhibition sees 50 women and gender-non-conforming artists explore ‘the systemic links between the oppression of women and the degradation of the planet’. A particular focus is placed on work from indigenous communities, while several of the artworks look towards a brighter future: ‘a roadmap for creative forms of civil disobedience and protest: a lesser explored, cautiously optimistic route to reconsidering our relationship to the Earth’, as the institution describes. To celebrate the launch, Vestiare Collective will host a private view and dinner on 11 October 2023. 

‘RE/SISTERS: A Lens on Gender and Ecology’ runs from 5 October 2023 – 14 January 2024 at Barbican Art Centre

Theory ‘Shades of Fall’ 

To celebrate the launch of a new campaign, ‘Shades of Fall‘ – based on the idea of colour theory – American brand Theory hosted an exhibition of work by Wanda Koop and Kenny Rivero at No. 9 Cork Street Gallery (a partnership with Frieze, it was celebrated with an intimate dinner on Friday evening). The two artists offered their own colour theories as part of the campaign; ‘red is the most powerful and passionate,’ said Koop, while Rivero posited that ‘black is the uniform, the armour and the camouflage that lets me be everywhere and nowhere at once.’

Discover the best of Frieze London 2023 in our ongoing round-up.

It is said that when ‘Object’, a fur-covered teacup, saucer and spoon by Swiss surrealist artist Meret Oppenheim, was displayed at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 1936, such were the visceral reactions that one woman dropped to the floor and fainted. 

This season’s faux fur- or shearling-covered footwear might not have prompted such reactions when they appeared on the catwalks earlier this year, but in their underlying strangeness and seductive subversiveness, they nonetheless recall the surrealist spirit of Oppenheim’s work. 

Furry footwear to sink your feet into

There are the sprouting soles of Gucci’s elegant horse-bit pumps – which give the effect of permanently walking on a soft-pile rug – or Daniel Lee’s shaggy shearling mules, part of his debut collection for British house Burberry (revealed at London Fashion Week A/W 2023), where he once again showed his prowess when it comes to crafting unexpectedly covetable accessories.

Elsewhere, Massimo Giorgetti of MSGM showed soft toy-like furry heels within an illusory collection that he called ‘an infinite journey, a dream within a dream’ – set against a vast white space in Milan for impact – while elegant heeled pumps from Sportmax and Givenchy respectively come with a smooth exterior, the latter recalling the softness of velvet. Each is a pleasure to sink your feet into.

This article appears in the November 2023 Art Issue of Wallpaper*, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today.

Carpets, featured throughout: the ‘Epoca Silky’ carpet in Sand, Rust, Dark Grey, Grey and Caramel, all price on request, by Ege Carpets. 

One British institution meets another this week, as Burberry puts its spin on the London café to coincide with the arrival of London Fashion Week and Daniel Lee’s sophomore show, which takes place next Monday (18 September 2023).

The café in question is Norman’s in the north London neighbourhood of Archway, which opened its doors in 2021 – having begun life as a takeaway during Covid lockdowns in 2019 – and provides a playful take on the traditional greasy spoon. Dishes include riffs on fried egg and chips, sausage and mash, and beans on toast, as well as more distinct offerings (kedgeree arancini and cod’s roe with ‘Frazzles’ crisps have previously featured on the menu). ’Burberry for breakfast?’ asks the house of what will no doubt prove to be London’s covetable fry-up.

Burberry takes over London’s Norman’s Cafe

The takeover of the café – which will also feature a roving ‘Burberry at Norman’s Cafe’ food truck on The Strand and Duke of York Square, as well as plates adorned with the house’s motifs – marks the beginning of a new project, ’Burberry Streets’, a series of international takeovers that will centre on Lee’s now-signature Burberry blue (the shade appeared throughout his first collection, shown in February this year in London’s Kennington – see our London Fashion Week A/W 2023 highlights).

Titled ‘Knight Blue’ – a reference to the brand’s equestrian logo, which Lee has reinvigorated to symbolise his tenure – it will appear in locations across the city, including Bond Street and Piccadilly. The 'Equestrian Knight’ symbol will also appear across London – as chalk stencils on paths and in the city’s parks – while black taxis will be adorned with Lee’s ’English Rose’ print.

‘Burberry Streets’ also coincides with the arrival of Lee’s A/W 2023 collection in stores and online, including the house’s recently renovated Burberry New Bond Street store. Stints in Seoul and Shanghai will follow, part of a desire for Burberry to encapsulate ‘the art of discovery and exploration’ (Lee’s first show in part drew on the great outdoors, the space echoing early tent designs from the house made in the late-19th and early-20th century).

A further element to the takeover, involving another London institution – so far under wraps – will be revealed later in the week. The show itself will be held in north London’s Highbury Fields.

‘We are so excited to see Daniel's first collection arriving in-store and online,’ says Rod Manley, Burberry CMO. ‘With our redesigned website, new brand signifiers across product and branding and the launch of our global Burberry Streets initiative here in our home market, we're looking forward to sharing the new Burberry world with our clients.’

Norman’s Cafe is at 167 Junction Road, N19 5PZ. The week-long takeover will run until 18 September 2023. 

burberry.com

Burberry’s latest chapter – which began with creative director Daniel Lee’s debut collection for the historic British house last September – continues this week with the reopening of the brand’s store on London’s New Bond Street. 

Closed for several months, the 22,000 sq m space, which stretches over three floors, has been transformed with a minimal, open-plan design. Clean white walls meet moments of colour – curving blue and beige furniture populates the space – and checkerboard tiles in black and white. 

Burberry reopens on New Bond Street

An extensive array of products – including womenswear, menswear, eyewear and shoes – are displayed on block-like custom white fittings, in contemporary vitrines, or on industrial-style metal wall hangings, illuminated with bright white lights. In a statement, the house says that the ‘stripped-back setting [is] designed to spotlight key Burberry pieces’.

Other notable features include the recessed ceiling lights, which are arranged to recall Burberry’s signature check motif. The design was first introduced in the 1920s, and was riffed on across outerwear, kilts and tailoring in Lee’s debut collection – albeit in colourful style.

‘The store showcases our beautifully crafted products in a luxury setting that connects our customers with our brand and unique heritage,’ says Jonathan Akeroyd, Burberry’s CEO. ’We look forward to welcoming back our local and international customers to our new home – and unveiling Daniel’s collection when it arrives in store in September.’

Yesterday also saw the release of Lee’s sophomore collection for the house, a Pre-Spring 2024 collection that was revealed via lookbook. Checkered motifs recurred throughout – whether a warped Prince of Wales check or riffs on the classic Burberry plaid – across trench and car coats, quilts, kilts and blanket capes.

‘Daniel Lee’s expression of Burberry evolves,’ said the house. ‘The focus remains on British wardrobe archetypes, cut closer to the body, on British motifs and the British outdoors.’

Defining contemporary Britishness is intrinsic to Lee’s vision for the house, noting that he wants to highlight the country’s rich cultural output in his work (Lee recently created costumes for a Royal Ballet performance choreographed by Wayne McGregor). ‘You walk down the street and you’re surrounded by people from so many walks of life, all living together,’ he said backstage after his debut collection.

‘There is great music here, great theatre, great art. I want to shine a light on those things and show a positive side of Britain to the world. That’s something I missed in recent years and that’s what I’m trying to celebrate.’

Burberry is open now at 21-23 New Bond Street, London.

burberry.com

‘An ode to escapism’ is how Burberry describes a new campaign, ‘Burberry Summer’, which sees the British house swap drizzly London streets for sun-soaked beaches and sailing yachts. 

Continuing a longstanding collaborative relationship between recently installed creative director Daniel Lee and British photographer Tyrone Lebon – who shot Lee’s first campaign for Burberry, starring Vanessa Redgrave, Shygirl and Skepta and released prior to his debut collection earlier this year – it celebrates the house’s summertime swim and beach collection.

‘Burberry Summer’ by Tyrone Lebon

Spanning bikinis, swimming shorts and trunks, bucket hats, tote bags, towels, dressing gowns, and even a life jacket, the Burberry check appears across the collection. The recognisable print was first introduced in the 1920s as the lining for the house’s signature trench coats, and was reinvigorated by former creative director Christopher Bailey in the 2000s. ‘The check takes centre stage,’ says the house.

The cast of models – including Alex Schlab, Angelina Kendall, Candace Demers, Ishmael Auguiste, Kaedon Baxter, Matheus Mesquita, Sophie Alice, Tess Carter and Tianna St Louis – feature in various summertime scenes in the Elysian images, whether towelling off on the deck of a boat, submerged in water or reclining on a sandcastle at nightfall.

An accompanying video, recalling vintage home movies, is soundtracked by Vegyn, a British music producer best known for his work with Frank Ocean.

The series of images continues Lee’s reinvention of the house, which began with a debut collection shown at London Fashion Week A/W 2023 in February. The colourful collection – which featured mallard prints and blanket-style motifs – was a nod towards Burberry’s history of adventure (the set recalled early 20th-century tents from the brand) as well as an ode to its home city of London.

 ‘You walk down the street and you’re surrounded by people from so many walks of life, all living together,’ he said after the show. ‘There is great music here, great theatre, great art. I want to shine a light on those things and show a positive side of Britain to the world. That’s something I missed in recent years and that’s what I’m trying to celebrate.’

Watch the film, featuring a soundtrack by Vegyn, below. 

burberry.com

At his debut show for Burberry earlier this year, Yorkshire-born designer Daniel Lee – previously of Bottega Veneta – said that his vision for the historic house hinged on ‘showing a positive side of Britain to the world’. ‘There is great music here, great theatre, great art,’ said the newly installed creative director after the show. ‘That’s something I missed in recent years and that’s what I’m trying to celebrate.’

A new project, revealed today, looks set to do just that. Marking his first major collaboration at the house so far, Lee will create costumes for Wayne McGregor’s latest work for The Royal Ballet. The lauded British choreographer – currently the resident choreographer for the company – has not yet named this latest work, though today’s announcement says it will be set to music by Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir and take place over a single act.

Burberry to collaborate with The Royal Ballet

Premiering 9 June 2023 at London’s Royal Opera House, the work will also feature lighting design by Lucy Carter and set design by Cuba-born American artist Carmen Herrera, who passed away in 2022, aged 106. It marks McGregor’s 20th work for The Royal Ballet and follows his revival of ‘Woolf Works’ in March 2023.

‘For this extraordinary Royal Ballet project with the late, great minimalist artist Carmen Herrera, we dreamt of collecting together a stellar team,’ says McGregor. ‘Daniel Lee, an artist with unbridled imagination, is creating work of innovation, motion, and piercing beauty. And with his exceptional passion for all forms of dance, he felt like a natural ally. Together, with the Burberry team, we are working on something truly special – honouring Carmen whilst forging our own evolutionary path.’

‘It is such a pleasure, and of course an honour, to collaborate on this extraordinary project with so remarkable a team,’ adds Lee. ‘It’s always been a dream to create costumes for dance which is such a passion of mine.’

Tickets for the performance will go on sale 13 April 2023, available from the Royal Opera House’s website.  

burberry.com
roh.org.uk

London Fashion Week A/W 2023 continued the city’s unique amalgam of emerging talent and heritage names – the latter represented in perhaps the most anticipated show of the season so far, ex-Bottega Veneta creative director Daniel Lee’s debut at Burberry (yesterday evening, Monday 20 February). ‘I really would like [people] to see the new vision and feel reassured,’ he revealed earlier this year. ‘Like, “Oh, yeah, this makes sense: This is what Burberry should be.”’

Elsewhere, there was a return to the usual busy schedule, after last season was disrupted by the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the ensuing official mourning period (several shows were cancelled or rescheduled). Among the designers showing were JW Anderson (who swapped last season’s evening slot for 11am on Sunday morning), Conner Ives, Christopher Kane, Simone Rocha, Nensi Dojaka, Molly Goddard, Roksanda, and Julien Macdonald, who returned to the London runway on Sunday evening. Moncler’s blockbuster ‘The Art of Genius’ closed out proceedings with a live show at London’s Olympia on Monday, featuring collaborations with Alicia Keys, Pharrell Williams, Mercedes-Benz (see our preview), Adidas Originals, Roc Nation by Jay-Z and more. 

Here, Wallpaper* rounds up the best of London Fashion Week A/W 2023. 

London Fashion Week A/W 2023: the highlights

Moncler ‘The Art of Genius’

Moncler is known for its vast spectacles, which often involve open-to-the-public happenings; to celebrate its 70th birthday in Milan last year, 1,952 performers (a reference to its founding date) gathered on Duomo square in a meticulously choreographed showing of the outerwear brand’s might. For its latest project, ‘The Art of Genius’, Moncler decamped to London to close out fashion week in spectacular style, taking over the vast central hall of Olympia London with numerous immersive installations created alongside the eclectic cast of collaborators for which the brand’s ‘Genius’ project is known. These included Pharrell Williams, who created a surreal ‘outdoor’ space in the venue inspired by ‘glamping’, Mercedes-Benz, which revealed its collaborative art project-cum-vehicle Project Mondo G, and Adidas Originals, which imagined a ‘vertical LED glacier’ to showcase its clothing collaboration with the brand. Others included Rick Owens, Palm Angels, Salehe Bembury, Roc Nation by Jay-Z, FRGMT, and Alicia Keys, who performed for the thousands of attendees to close the evening. ‘This commitment to new forms of creativity and cross-fertilisation continues to this day,’ said Moncler. ‘What evolves are the spaces where this creativity takes place and expands going beyond boundaries. It is the ability to see and create together what we could never have imagined alone.’

Burberry

‘The winds of change’ – so began a new chapter in the 167-year-old history of Burberry as Yorkshire-born designer Daniel Lee marked his debut collection for the British institution in a specially erected tent in London’s Kennington Park. The expression was printed on a T-shirt mid-way through the blockbuster show, serving as a double entendre – a declaration of out-with-the-old, in-with-the-new, but also a nod towards the roots of the collection in Britain’s famously unpredictable weather. ‘I thought it was funny… change for me, change for the brand, change for the positive thing,’ said the ex-Bottega Veneta creative director post-show, noting that for him, Burberry is built on functionality and a desire to protect its wearer from the elements. As such, the space itself was a reference to tents sold by the brand in the late-19th and early-20th century; on each seat, a Burberry check water bottle was gifted to attendees, while piles of blankets were also stacked around the space (befitting the mood, warming hot toddies were also served). Outerwear, of course, was a focus for the designer; Burberry’s famed trench coat was blown up in size and came with faux fur-trimmed lapels, while deconstructed versions of the car coat, the duffle, and aviator also featured. Blankets featured in the collection, too, slung around the body or riffed on in cocooning overcoats, handkerchief-cut dresses and versions of the house check. 

But there was also a new eclecticism at play – notably in the swathes of colour and print, a marked contrast to forebear Riccardo Tisci’s pared-down palette of beige, white, and black – which the designer credited to being back in London after living in Italy while at Bottega Veneta. One particular print featured a duck, repeated across colourful clashing shirts, trousers and dresses. ‘[They are] very British – they are about London parks, and the rain,’ he said of the bird, which also reappeared as a playful knitted hat. ‘You walk down the street and you’re surrounded by people from so many walks of life, all living together,’ he said of being back in the city, name-checking the anarchic creativity of figures like the late Vivienne Westwood. ‘There is great music here, great theatre, great art. I want to shine a light on those things and show a positive side of Britain to the world. That’s something I missed in recent years and that’s what I’m trying to celebrate.’

Saul Nash

‘When you grow up in London, you wear a lot of ski outerwear, but you never learn to ski… it’s a symbol of aspiration that’s juxtaposed with the realities of inner-city living,’ said young British designer Saul Nash of the starting points of his latest collection, which was titled ‘Juxtaposition’. Known for his sportswear-inspired pieces that adapt to the wearer’s body in movement (Nash is also a dancer and choreographer, and this show featured moments of contemporary dance), the Royal College of Art graduate noted that this collection marked a step forward for the burgeoning label in pursuit of ‘function, hybridity and the elegance of a tailored silhouette’. ‘Now I’m 30, I don’t want to wear a tracksuit for the rest of my life, but I will always want to be in activewear,’ Nash elucidated, noting that the technicalities of skiwear and its links with aspiration and luxury reflected his own desire to refine his offering. As such, a sleek bonded skiwear-inspired jacket – cut with an elegant, narrow silhouette – was combined with the first fly-fronted trousers Nash has designed, while a longer gilet-style jacket (also in bonded technical fabric) was imagined with ‘the presence of a tailored coat’. Following his International Woolmark Prize win in 2022, Nash also continued to experiment in merino (one particular sweater was crafted with panels of ‘aerated ventilation’), while a footwear partnership with Ugg saw him customise a number of the brand’s styles with hardy Vibram soles.

SS Daley

A cameo from legendary British actor Ian McKellan – who read an extract from Alfred Tennyson’s The Coming of Arthur to the gathered attendees – continued Steven-Stokey Daley’s flair for the theatrical in his seasonal presentations (previous shows have seen appearances from the National Youth Theatre, of which the young British designer was once a part). Fresh from winning the 2022 LVMH Prize, Stokey-Daley said that the latest collection began with his listening to concept EP The Ninth Wave by Kate Bush, which revolves around a character being stranded in water (‘They’re absolutely terrified, and they're completely alone at the mercy of their imagination,’ said Bush in a 1992 interview). As such, nautical references abounded – ‘a sailor across time’, as the notes described – in oversized navy pea coats and shirts, berets and fisherman-inspired knits, while tailoring (a focus for the season) was reimagined with a ‘neat sailor’s collar’. The reference to water signalled something of a new chapter for fast-growing brand SS Daley: ‘The pull of the water has led us to a fresh new world, one that’s about the confidence of being who I want to be,’ said Stokey-Daley. 

Nensi Dojaka

The strength of Nensi Dojaka’s casting alone – which included appearances from supermodels Caroline Trentini, Mariacarla Boscono, and Imaan Hammam – signalled that the 2021 LVMH Prize winner remains one of the city’s hottest tickets. For good reason – Dojaka’s sensual, lingerie-inspired designs have a level of accomplishment and craft that sets her above many of her peers (her signature LBDs, with intricate strap fastenings and pleated tulle detailing, continue to stand out despite a proliferation of similar styles appearing on both the runway and high street). Like last season, a single flower was left on each attendee’s chair, a nod towards what Dojaka calls her ‘eternal inspiration’, the flower. As such, delicate red tulle flowers decorated the chest of a bra top, while fronds of tulle at the ankle of trousers ‘unfurled like petals’. A white ‘snowdrop’ dress, meanwhile, proposed a ‘new silhouette for evening wear: a fitted skirt in fine jersey, with further godets of tulle’ and was decorated with Swarovski crystals. Despite the sweetness of the reference, Dojaka’s designs have a severity of cut that avoids the saccharine, while new collection elements – like denim jeans, oversized blazers and an expansive black overcoat – exuded the sensuality and confidence now synonymous with the brand.

Christopher Kane

‘Housewives, cleaners, barmaids,’ said Christopher Kane of the muses for his A/W 2023 collection, which the Scottish designer noted began with memories of his mother, aunt, and neighbours in the 1980s. Shown in an office space close to Angel tube station, Kane riffed on these inspiration points with a typically intoxicating mix of sensuality and subversion: vast ruffles emerged from the waist of a red PVC skirt, the structured panels that rose from the back of dresses and around models’ necks were inspired by ‘chopping boards’, while kitschy prints of chicks, rats and pigs (generated by AI) adorned body-conscious gowns slit to the upper thigh. ‘A modern wardrobe for those who desire clothes that challenge sartorial tastes and standards,’ described the collection notes, referring also to delicate flower motifs – like those you might find on vintage home furnishings – which appeared throughout and  ‘softened hard-line silhouettes’. Such juxtapositions, Kane said, were an attempt to capture the ‘complexities of growing up in a working-class environment’ – a reference to his own upbringing, which continues to prove fertile ground for his work.

Erdem

Staged within a black-curtained studio space at London’s Sadler’s Wells theatre – lit only by a series of bare lightbulbs which lowered as the show began – Erdem Moralioğlu said that this season began with peeling back layers of wallpaper in his Bloomsbury townhouse to discover the ‘echoes of the building’s former residents’ (before the show began, ghostly murmurs and footsteps played in the space). The building’s past lives included ‘A Home of Hope for the Restoration of Fallen Women’ in Victorian times; ‘The women are long since departed, but the imprints and vestiges of their presence remain,’ read the collection notes. Noting inspiration, too, from American author Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s proto-feminist short story The Yellow Wallpaper – in it, the protagonist muses on fading yellow wallpaper and sees in it a series of hallucinations – the collection’s looks encapsulated a ghostly, faded glamour, their forms appearing from the darkness and tracked with roving spotlights. In the clothing itself, historical silhouettes in various jacquards and prints, recalling those found in 19th-century homes, were reinterpreted with Moralioğlu’s contemporary eye. Notes of subversion emerged in vast taffeta gloves (the appearance was that of a bell sleeve), unravelling hems and shades of bright yellow and citrine, while the designer’s richness of craft emerged in the expansive use of embellishment and embroidery throughout. 

JW Anderson

‘Looking back is not something I do very often, but occasionally it feels necessary as a way to move forward. The past can be a lens that brings the future into focus,’ said Jonathan Anderson of his latest collection for London-based eponymous label JW Anderson. It continued on from a move towards clarity and reduction signalled in his menswear collection earlier this year (‘I think we’re going to head into a season of stripping things back,’ he said at the time). Vast billboards – one the outline of an enormous phallus, another a playful riff on the Coca-Cola logo that read ‘Enjoy God’s Disco’ – populated the centre of the circular show space at Camden’s Roundhouse, comprising old advertisements for performances by subversive Scottish dancer and choreographer Michael Clark. Clark, whose eponymous dance company was celebrated in a recent exhibition ‘Michael Clark: Cosmic Dancer’ at London’s Barbican, provided the driving force of the collection: ‘Michael Clark is an incipit. A starter, a white page, the agitator who defied the system, who threw a couple of glittery fingers in the face of the dominating culture and created another,’ said Anderson via the collection notes. ‘As such, he is embedded deep, somewhere, in the foundation of JW Anderson and impels now the urgency of a blank slate.’

References to Clark appeared throughout the collection – the same phallus appeared on a crinkled T-shirt, while ‘Michael Clark’ was written on tank tops or handbags like memorabilia – though beyond the designer’s admitted fan-boy status, Anderson said that looking towards the choreographer’s wider body of work had drawn him to looking back at his own. ‘History and the long term: as perspective, not as a burden,’ the notes continued, elucidating that much of the collection was drawn from Anderson’s own archive: ‘15 years of JW Anderson are condensed here and now, redone and re-seen’. As such, references to previous collections abounded – furry bustiers with front chest pockets, jackets with vast shawl collars and sailor-stripe T-shirts emblazoned with the brand’s anchor logo had all appeared in previous iterations, here distilled with the clarity of mind which comes with the gift of hindsight. It made for a sleek, elevated collection from the designer, complete with the visual bluntness that defined his menswear offerings earlier this year at both the eponymous label and Loewe, where Anderson is creative director. ‘A constant exchange: then and now… Reducing, compressing, condensing… And starting again,’ he concluded. ‘I am curious, orange.’

Simone Rocha

Simone Rocha has often looked towards the traditional festivals and folklore of her native Ireland in her collections; this season, the designer’s typically poetic show notes – comprising a sparse but evocative list of descriptors – referenced inspiration from Lughnasadh, a traditional Gaelic holiday that celebrates the beginning of harvest. ‘Peeling the apple in the mirror to reveal your future love… the blood daubed on children's foreheads for protection from otherworldly beings and bad luck,’ read the notes, seeing Rocha inhabit a space between sweet and subversive in the collection – a juxtaposition which has provided much of the impetus behind her work. The use of raffia recalled the Lughnasadh tradition of weaving hay and wheat into ceremonial shapes – here imagined in intricately braided dresses or handfuls of raffia trapped under tulle to give gowns their shape – while delicate red ribbon, adorning dresses or hanging from beneath the model’s eyes like tears, referenced the festival’s link with blood (the god Lugh was believed to have poured his own onto the fields in order for the harvest to thrive). Other Rocha signatures were revisited this season, whether delicate sequin and crystal embroidery or the expansive, ultra-feminine silhouettes, as was menswear, which debuted last September. ‘There is a crossover of ideas and emotion, and influences of fabrications and silhouettes – they are coming from one place but each is their own individual character that responds and reacts to [the other],’ she recently told Wallpaper* of the addition. 

Roksanda

Roksanda Ilinčić chose the opulent art deco surroundings of the French drawing room in Claridge’s Hotel to host an intimate salon-style presentation of her eponymous A/W 2023 collection (befitting the mood, a single rose was left on each attendee’s seat, tied with a Roksanda-branded ribbon). An ode to ‘art, design and community’ as Ilinčić described, the collection drew inspiration from Japanese visual artist Atsuko Tanaka; in particular, her involvement in the midcentury Gutai movement, which often involved a harmony between the human body and artwork (one of the group’s leading forces Kazuo Shiraga would create paintings with his feet, for example, or roll in mud, rocks, and clay as performance). One particular work which Ilinčić looked towards was Tanaka’s ‘Electric Dress’, comprising hanging cylindrical lightbulbs in various bold colours in a structure that could be worn, here recalled in expansive jewel-toned gowns which took their sculptural forms from twisting foam loops. ‘The unexpected forms and notions of the collection invite a deeper connection between the creation of the body and craft, beauty and technology,’ said the designer, who described the collection as one of ‘unapologetic femininity’. 

Molly Goddard

Molly Goddard opened up her studio in east London’s Bethnal Green for a close-knit presentation of her A/W 2023 collection, which the designer said was an attempt to capture the feelings she had when starting her brand in 2012. ‘It was a time when working in fashion, to me, involved making clothes on my own and trying to get stockists,’ she elucidated. ‘Now, working in fashion involves many things I wasn’t expecting – events, award ceremonies, promotion, social media – it was nice to think about the simplicity of when I started and the passion that spurred on the work at the beginning.’ As such, Goddard had scoured old magazines with her sister and stylist Alice Goddard at the Central Saint Martins library, remembering how they would have worn the pieces she coveted at the time, and the clothing they had owned as teenagers growing up in London. ‘Leopard-print jeans we’d bought at Gap Kids in Whiteleys [shopping centre], screen-print sporty knitwear from Portobello [market], an exposed popper belt we shared from Claire’s Accessories,’ all of which appeared in various iterations throughout the collection, albeit in Goddard’s vivid style. A streamlining of her signature expansive silhouette (the designer is known for using yards of tulle in a single dress), made for some of the collection’s most arresting moments, including a cerise-pink dress with knife-sharp slits, out of which delicate panels of red tulle emerged. 

Conner Ives

Conner Ives wants to make people fall in love with fashion again, the designer told Wallpaper* in the run-up to his A/W 2023 collection, noting particular inspiration this season from the 1999 Paul Thomas Anderson movie Magnolia.  ‘What I love about that movie is that it really depicts incredible facets of humanity... I think working with the idea of a cast of archetypes that represent different ideas is the Conner Ives niche that I don't want to lose,’ he told Hannah Tindle. As such, the collection itself – shown in London’s Old Selfridges Hotel – saw Ives imagine an array of archetypal figures, conjured on the runway in the New York-born, London-based designer’s playful, 1990s and 2000s-tinged style (he is also known for a commitment to sustainability, with around 70 per cent of this season’s collection made from repurposed second-hand vintage). There was ‘The Glasto Girl’ (an ode to Kate Moss’ mud-stained 2000s looks at the festival), ‘The Shiny Set: Nan Kempner’ (referencing Nicholas Coleridge’s description of the shiny set in his book The Fashion Conspiracy), and ‘The Showgirl, Nomi Malone’ (‘it’s not Versayce, it’s Conner Ives!’ read the collection notes). It made for an emphatic offering from the young designer, whose irreverent approach feels like it’s capturing the zeitgeist. ‘Fashion nowadays feels more like a business, it’s no longer the escape it once was,’ Ives said. ‘It moved me to pursue a certain gravitas this season. I wanted to feel [what I felt as a teenager], I wanted fashion mania.’

Fashion East

Michael Stewart’s Standing Ground provided the opening act of this season’s Fashion East with an impeccably crafted collection that evolved his signature sculptural evening wear, which debuted last season at the talent incubator. A focus on silhouette and form remained at the heart of the offering – ‘histories of figuration, whether ancient or ancestral, are abstracted and animated in work that fortifies presence’, read the collection notes – whereby vivid tones of velvet and satin were crafted into elongated gowns, often with twisting padded detailing around the waist. The introduction of a series of Donegal wool overcoats, wide at the hips, showed Stewart is adding new depth to his offering, while tops, skirts and jumpsuits were also introduced this season. The way that the Irish designer weaves his expansive view of history – inspiration, he said, might come from Paleolithic figurines or silhouettes from the 1500s or 1950s – into these distinctly contemporary pieces, shows maturity and purpose. He’s one to watch.

Elsewhere, this season marked the debut of Estonia-born designer Johanna Parv, who was nominated for the 2023 LVMH Prize last week. A focus on sportswear provided the impetus for the collection, which combined moments of utility – drawstrings, stirrup leggings, cyclewear-inspired second-skin tops – with crisp, defined silhouettes and moments of femininity (the designer says her approach is a riposte to traditional sportswear design which was largely evolved on men’s bodies). Karoline Vitto, meanwhile, continued her own sensual exploration of the female form with garments that hung seductively on the body, often with sculptural metal fastenings evocative of contemporary jewellery. This season, the introduction of tailoring – albeit in the designer’s distinct asymmetric style – added new depth to her oeuvre. 

Harris Reed

The transformative power of dressing – a continuing theme of American designer Harris Reed’s work – provided the starting point of his A/W 2023 collection, as elucidated by actress Florence Pugh in a monologue that opened the show at London’s Tate Modern. ‘Clothing has a transformative power, whether for an actor, or simply a performer on the stage of life... the art of dressing up allows us to express who we truly are,’ she said, introducing a collection titled ’All the World’s a Stage’. Typically dramatic silhouettes – including vast orb-shaped millinery, pannier-style swathes of fabric at the waist, and an ‘upside down’ fishtail skirt – defined the theatrical collection, this season gilded in shimmering gold sequins and metallic lamé with rich black velvet providing a sleek contrast. 

AV Vattev

Bulgaria-born designer Antonio Vattev – who founded the eponymous London-based label Av Vattev after stints at Saint Laurent and Lanvin – titled his A/W 2023 collection ‘The Privilege of Observation’. It referred, in part, to the idea that Vattev was looking outwards this season, drawing inspiration from his longtime admiration of artists Georgia O’Keeffe and Christo. ‘[It] is a reflection of Antonio’s vision and lifestyle that goes with it,’ read the collection notes, which accompanied a campaign starring several high-profile fans of Vattev’s work, from British artist duo Corbin Shaw and Flora Miles to Grammy Award-winning musician Scribz Riley. The clothing itself recalled the visual immediacy of O’Keeffe and Christo’s work, here figured in graphic silhouettes and colourful undulating motifs which stretched across the shoulder of a garment like an O’Keeffe petal (Christo was referenced in pleated nylon raincoats, which recalled his dramatic wrapped forms). Cut-outs, something of a Vattev signature, also featured, as did a nod to his Bulgarian roots with traditional embroidery from the country reappearing throughout.

Stay tuned for more from London Fashion Week A/W 2023.

Something majestic and mirrored – reflective in surface, but sublimely at home with organic, natural surroundings – sits at the foot of Hallasan mountain on Jeju Island, in South Korea. It shimmers in the sun, rising amongst the sub-tropical landscape like a space-age temple, overlooking Sanbangsan mountain and the island’s southern shore.

Welcome to Burberry’s The Imagined Landscapes Jeju, a topographical sculpture that is the first of its kind on the South Korean island. It is designed as one of a series of the British heritage brand's global pop-up spaces, which aim to blur the lines between ‘nature and technology, the indoors and outdoors, the real and the imagined'.

Burberry The Imagined Landscapes Jeju: a space-age South Korean sculpture

The space, adventurous in its location and design – and a nod to the pioneering spirit of the brand's founder Thomas Burberry – has an undulating façade that echoes the topographic contours of maps. Inside, it showcases three immersive films by a trio of artists: Maotik, Cao Yuxi, and Lia Jiayu. The films explore themes including nature, physical distortion and the digital realm. The sculpture also houses a range of adventurous Burberry pieces, ranging from puffer jackets to new iterations of the label's signature trench coat, which was first introduced over a century ago.

For visitors who feel a touch peckish after visiting the viewing platform of the sun-reflecting sculpture, Burberry has opened Thomas’s Café just a stone's throw away. The café – which makes its first appearance in Korea – draws not only on Burberry’s beige tones and animal kingdom motifs, but also nods to local culture. The space plays host to chef Justin Lee of Seoul-based JL Dessert Bar, and features an assortment of sweet treats.

Keen to draw yourself even deeper into Burberry's world? As you view The Imagined Landscapes Jeju, you can also turn on a TikTok filter that will activate an augmented reality lens, giving the notion that there are sharks swimming in the sky.

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Stroll through SW1, one of the most prestigious postcodes in London, and you’ll be struck by the magnificent column-lined façade of Burberry’s newest flagship store. This striking three-floor, 857 sq m space, on the corner of Sloane Street and Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, outlines the brand’s new global design vision, which will be rolled out over the next year, conceived by Milan-based architect and designer Vincenzo De Cotiis.

On entering the boutique, the eye is drawn to a mosaic chequerboard floor, tesselated in Burberry's signature monochromatic colours, which works as a grid that visually unites each floor of the store. When conceiving the space, De Cotiis was intruiged by an interplay of juxtapositions, uniting the worlds of classicism and brutalism, through a union of contrasting materials, such as concrete and stainless steel, white terrazzo and champagne high-gloss metal. Geometric fixtures, glass and mirror sit alongside naturalistic structures, such as rocky plinths and organically curving soft furnishings.

Explore Burberry Sloane Street

There's also a modularity to the space, which features corners and enclaves that can be transformed into private consulation rooms, with the drawing of a concertina panel or a plush curtain. 

The Burberry Sloane Street flagship uses its ground floor to celebrate the label’s most iconic silhouette: the trench coat, in gabardine, a fabric invented by the heritage brand’s founder in 1879. Here, a circular space, populated with curving light tubes, serves to showcase the brand’s idiosyncratic design, with pieces suspended inside shining metal frames.

The SW1 postcode of the new flagship is also a topographical nod to Burberry’s connection with the London location. Thomas Burberry established his first London store in the area, which, 130 years later, remains the home of the brand’s global headquarters. Over the next 12 months, the label is set to open three more boutiques in major cities that reflect De Cotiis’ design vision: on London's Bond Street, at Plaza 66 in Shanghai, and on Rue Saint-Honoré in Paris.

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1 Sloane Street
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Two weeks before London Fashion Week kicked off its first fully digital-only men’s and women’s showing, a group of fashion insiders, from Paul Smith to Roksanda Illincic, wrote an open letter to Boris Johnson and the British government detailing the incredible hardship experienced by brands post-Brexit. In the wake of the United Kingdom leaving the EU in December, brands have been left floundering in the face of ascending import and export chargers, customer dissatisfaction and new expenses encountered from producing within their home country. 

With the UK currently in its third lockdown, labels are also still grappling with the ongoing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, with brands operating with revolving skeleton teams in their studios, or from their homes through Zoom. Brands big and small are also grappling with whether to present their collections according to London Fashion Week’s official calendar, or simply later when their collections are naturally completed. In the wake of this new informality, fashion week schedules are overlapping for the first time, with Tom Ford’s A/W 2021 show in LA (part of the New York Fashion Week schedule) taking place after London Fashion Week has begun.

Despite a deluge of socio-political drama, the concept of community remained a focal point of the A/W 2021 London shows. Nothing showed off this sense of unity more than the Institute of Digital Fashion and Soho boutique Machine A’s, A New Future project, which allowed the public to view the latest collections from brand’s including Richard Quinn, Eftychia and Martine Rose, through an AR Instagram filter, replicating a shop floor. Scannable QR codes were plastered on billboards around the city, from Shoreditch to Peckham, Notting Hill to Camden, alerting Londonders on their daily constitutional of the technology.

‘In a time where the fashion calendar feels very flat and with the industry questioning what fashion means today, we wanted to elevate the voices of talents, dissecting just that,’ says IoDF co-founder Leanne Elliott Young of A New Future. ‘An important part of our work and mission is to democratise the fashion landscape, evaluating how tech can be used to push past some of the archaic structures that the fashion industry as a whole is transfixed upon.’

One designer who finds the streets of a city essential to her output is Molly Goddard. She references the stalls of Portobello market or Japanese street style in her designs. ‘Usually I go to the library, pull research from everywhere, go to markets,’ said Goddard. For A/W 2021, she embraced a more concise development process from home, pulling from her own archive research folders and oft-referenced books including Tina Barney’s Europeans, David Douglas Duncan’s Goodbye Picasso and Terence Conran books featuring stylish people in wonderfully designed spaces. Her collection had an exuberance, optimism and ease, that celebrated British fabrics and mix-and-match thrift store eccentricity, featuring her signature mille-feuille tulle dresses, Pink herringbone tweed mini skirt suits, tartan kilts and Fair Isle sweaters, and also revived its recently launched menswear.

Optimism was also essential to Milan-and-London-based label Colville, which since its inception has embraced an effusive melting pot of references, and created covetable, well considered clothing that evolves each season. For A/W 2021, founders Molly Molloy and Lucinda Chambers created fluid silk dresses in vibrantly marbled and Arts and Crafts prints, sleeping bag coats, graphic floral shirting and chunky costume jewellery. ‘We start from a position of what we love and put on,' Chambers explained. ‘No one needs another black handbag.'

Colville's collection also tapped the 2021 fashion trend for a wardrobe we'll want to revel in when the world emerges from lockdown. This is a mindset adopted by the doyen of dramatic dressing Michael Halpern, who created a glamorous collection suited to how many see themselves emerging on 21 June, when the UK is purported to be loosening all of its Covid-19 restrictions. The designer's signature 1970s flares and mini dresses shimmered with sequins and bodysuits were swathed in leopard print. On the Fashion East catwalk, Nensi Dojaka also embraced an exuberant mindset, bringing, for the first time, flecks of fuschia to her underwear-inspired, and body-celebrating designs.

Erdem Moralioglu also posited on our post-pandemic wardrobes, with a collection that fluctuated between lounge and formal wear. In a balletic show video, the designer paired 1950s pleated skirts, round-shoulder jackets and bejewelled shirting with grey ribbed garments like leggings, sleeveless gloves and cardigans and silk pyjamas. There was a soft protectiveness to fabrics, like flows of feather trim and mohair knitwear, and models carried soft blankets instead of handbags.

‘Unashamed self-expression' inspired designer Harris Reed, who before his first show at London Fashion Week after graduating from Central Saint Martins, had already created custom clothing for Harry Styles in American Vogue, released an Instagram filter and a MAC Cosmetics make-up collection. Reed's gender-fluid and form-celebrating collection of demi-couture pieces embraces the decadence and glamour of early Noughties fashion, and featured twill tailoring frothing with ombre twill and gowns with layered petticoats, worn by male model Momo Ndiayen.

In London, designers unpacked the concept of isolation and liberation in equal measure. Eftychia's ‘Life Before Birth' video, lensed by Polly Brown, which featured an office attire-clad woman stuck indoors in a seemingly endless creative tailspin or purgatorial state of writer's block, a take on the designer's struggle with spiralling low mood during lockdown. Bianca Saunders' collection of shrunken silhouettes and water splashed-suiting, inspired by Jean Cocteau's experimental black and white film The Blood of Poet, which considers the role of the artist and influence to unnerving uncanny effect. Roksanda celebrated the power of familial companionship, shooting three generations of women, Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson and Daisy Bevan, in voluminous brushstroke-swathed gowns and sleek tailoring, enganging in moments on union and solitude against the backdrop of their countryside home during lockdown.

At Burberry, Riccardo Tisci was fascinated by the concept of freedom, even sending a branded picnic chair for guests to take a seat in while watching the brand's show from their homes. Tisci's menswear-focused offering – presented in a sleek gallery-inspired setting at the brand's Regent Street flagship – touched on the unrestrained expression, featuring deconstructed trenchcoats and duffle coats and gender-fluid kilts and pleated tennis dresses. Tisci was also inspired by the nature-inclined mindsets of Arts and Crafts artists, incorporating wild motfits into his designs, photographic feather and fur prints to leather trainers with uppers resembling hooves.

As Tisci reintrepreted the outerwear codes essential to Burberry's DNA, so Tod's also dived into its own design history. The Italian luxury specialist used London Fashion Week as the platform to showcase its Legacy project, a collaboration with Central Saint Martins, which saw its signature codes, from its ‘T' logo to its Gommino stud, reinterpreted by 35 students. The research and development results are part of a digital exhibition.

Priya Ahluwalia – the London-born menswear designer who launched her label in 2018 – was awarded 2021’s Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design (in recent years an accolade won by Alighieri, Bethany Williams and Richard Quinn). There’s a fierce finesse behind her steetwear-inflected garments, which for A/W 2021 were presented in a film by Stephen Isaac-Wilson. The collection featured colourful sportswear with spraypainted prints, corduroy suiting and patchwork denim, and incorporated upcycled and eco-aware fabrics including bamboo silk and deadstock shirting. Ahluwalia was inspired by Home Going, Yaa Gyasi’s 2016 novel about two half-sisters born in the 1700s and separated at birth to dramatic socio-political effect, thinking about the symbology of migration maps, and the nature of aesthetic elements plucked from different places. Colours in her collection also evoked the vibrant tones in art works by Kerry James Marshall and Jacob Lawrence.

Ahluwalia is one of a group of emerging designers with a strong interest in repurposing fabrics. For A/W 2021, fellow Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design winner Bethany Williams created a gender neutral capsule collection of coats exclusively for Selfridges, crafted from colourful recycled blankets, sourced around the United Kingdom. For his third collection, Bulgarian designer AV Vattev presented a retro-futuristic vision of landing on the moon, inspired by 1970s silhouettes and the style of David Bowie and Grace Jones. Fifty percent of the fabrics in his collection are sustainable, including upcycled Bulgarian Halishte.

For his sophomore outing on the Fashion East line-up, Maximilian Davies also looked to the futurism of the Sixties and Seventies. The designer looked to family photographs from when his grandmother emigrated from Trinidad to Manchester, combining the Sunday Best aesthetic of her dressing for church with a Space Age Courrèges-centric spin. Davies A/W 2021 offering featured psychedelic print bodysuits and mini skirts, silk satin body-hugging suiting and round-shouldered leather jackets, that took the notion of Sunday Best but for going to a nightclub. Davies also nodded to the beach-to-party outfits sported by his sisters in Trinidad, like swimming costumes and feathered head pieces. ‘What comes to mind when you think of the sixties and seventies fashion with the mindset of Carnival? Showgirls,' Davies explained. ‘I wanted to take what exists, but make it my own. I’m reclaiming these iconic moments and references for the Black community.'

‘The fragile rebel' is how Simone Rocha described the woman behind her A/W 2021 offering: part punk part pretty, representing both the soft and thorny facets of a rose. ‘I wanted to explore new ideas that had clarity and identity,' added the designer of the collection which incorporated shorter skirt lengths and leather, like cocooning biker jackets and poufy tulle and lace mini skirts. Despite not showing her collection to a physical audience, Rocha was keen to adhere to the usual narrative pace of her collection, which flowed from harder and more protective shapes into softer silhouettes and back again. 3D roses and floral embroidery were a focus, whether trailing along the lengths of patchwork day dresses or bringing structure and volume to ruffled tulle jackets. Conscious that her collection would first be viewed through a screen, Rocha was keen to bring even more adornment and attention to detail to designs, so when they are finally viewed in store, their embellishments will astound ‘I wanted to push through the screen,' she said.

As brands have emerged from the first global lockdown, two design tenets have appeared paramount: luxury labels must innovate and lead within today’s digital landscape, designing products that are trend-surpassing and expertly crafted. 

This duality in design is evident at Burberry, which embraces artisanal craft and digital technology with equal energy. Take the boundary-breaking British label’s S/S 2021 show back in September, which became the fashion event presented live on global gaming site Twitch. Through the channel's Stream Squad functionality, users were able to view the British label’s outdoors showcase from multiple perspectives and interact with each other using Twitch’s chat function. The history of Burberry is also intrinsically linked to craftsmanship – its founder Thomas Burberry invented the waterpoof fabric gabardine in 1879, which clothed polar explorers in the early 20th century.

The brand counts not only protective outerwear as part of its design DNA but also its coveted check scarf. In celebration of this warming style symbol, the label has released a series of behind the scenes shots celebrating the 30-step design process behind the style. Burberry's cashmere scarves are created in a 200-year old mill in the Scottish countryside, and require multiple manufacturing steps, including a six hour dyeing process to ensure a vivid colour, a teasing process on carding machines that separates individual cashmere strands, and an intricate weaving process on looms which are programmed for each pattern change. A washing process which removes leftover oil from the weaving process is carried out using local water from the River Lossie, connecting Burberry’s warming wares inherently to the great outdoors. 

The wider natural world is also of great importance to the British label. To drive change in the cashmere industry, Burberry partners with organisations including the Sustainable Fibre Alliance as they work to restore grasslands, promote animal welfare and support a decent living for cashmere goat herders. The Burberry Foundation also works with NGO partners to build a more sustainable, resilient and inclusive cashmere supply chain for the future.

INFORMATION
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Back in February, the blustery winds of Storm Denis were the main, outfit-ousting concern for attendees of London Fashion Week. As street style stars, paparazzi and journalists bundled from landmark locations in Bloomsbury and Bank, cooing at the A/W 2020 collections, the thread of Covid-19 had barely entered their brains. Now, the A/W 2020 shows – their twinkling venues packed with guests, international press and glamorous stars – seem part of a parallel universe.

In the seven months that have passed, the luxury landscape has changed beyond recognition. In July the British Fashion Council – based on statistics from Oxford Economics – warned the UK government up to 350,000 jobs could be lost in the wake of Covid-19, and that sales this year could fall from £118bn to £88bn. British brands have announced closures – Henry Holland went into administration in April, and Pringle of Scotland has been paused indefinitely.

But this tumultuous period has also been one of creative hope and innovation. In April, designers Holly Fulton, Phoebe English and Bethany Williams launched the Emergency Designer Network, a volunteer led enterprise created to support the NHS with PPE. Designers including Simone Rocha, Emilia Wickstead and Roland Mouret joined the initiative, and in July, 100,000 surgical sets had been distributed to 28 individual hospitals. Hosts of other British brands also supported the Covid-19 crisis, with Burberry fast-tracking the delivery of over 100,000 surgical masks to the NHS and mobilising its trench coat factory in Castleford, Yorkshire, to create non-surgical gowns and masks for hospital patients. The BFC also established an emergency Fashion Fund, an initiative granting financial support to 37 British brands, including Roksanda, Richard Quinn and Rejina Pyo, totalling over £1,000,000.

Amongst the uncertainty came the question of how to stage fashion week. In July, men’s and couture fashion week moved online, and as part of this from-home era, the BFC announced London Fashion Week was to move to an innovative gender-neutral digital platform. In the midst of new Covid-19 restrictions in England, limiting gatherings and social events, S/S 2021 launched with 50 digital-only activations,  21 physical and digital, and a sprinkling of small, socially-distanced physical-only events. These activations included pre-recorded films, staged in locations like Epping Forest and a 19th century church in Yorkshire, intimate salon shows and collection appointments at venues including Hauser & Wirth and the Victoria Miro museum.

No stranger to spectacle, even in the era of social distancing, Burberry kicked off the proceedings with an otherworldly live show, streamed for the first time on Twitch, the live streaming service beloved of gamers worldwide. Chief creative officer Riccardo Tisci teamed up with German visual artist Anne Imhof, famous for ‘Faust’, her eerie 2017 performance piece inside the Venice Biennale’s German Pavillion, which featured patrolling snarling Dobermans. For Burberry, Imhof devised an industrial circular stage setting in the midst of the British countryside, a symbol to Tisci of renewal. Models walked – accosted by The Matrix-centric minders, clad in suits and sunglasses – and they sported vibrant tailoring, logo-splashed sportswear, sparkling party dresses and deconstructed trench coats. Tisci spoke of devising a modern fairy tale, centred on a love story blooming between a mermaid and a shark. So models sported sou'westers, fisherman's coats and shirts with scribbled shark prints. The nautical theme nodded to the oceanic history of the house. It’s famed for inventing waterproof gabardine, worn by the Navy and Arctic explorers in the early 20th century.

Unsurprisingly S/S 2021 had a strong socio-political pull. Michael Halpern – who spent spring making PPE at Royal Brompton Hospital – celebrated the heroines of the front line in a heart-warming film, dressing night tube drivers, nurses, bus station managers and gynecologists in his extravagant ballroom-worthy designs, like plumed puff ball dresses, tartan boucle gowns and polka dot pyjamas. 

Socially-minded Bethany Williams has been collaborating with The Magpie Project since 2019. The Newham-based charity works with children and mothers who are homeless or at risk of homelessness – 80 per cent of who have no access to public funds (NRPF). An estimated 100,000 children in the UK live in poverty because their parents immigration status denies them access to the UK’s welfare system. For S/S 2021's ‘All Our Children’, Williams included the families which are part of The Magpie Project, in a film celebrating the force of familial ties, with mothers and children sporting colourful hand-painted pieces created in collaboration with illustrator and artist Melissa Kitty. Williams worked with deadstock, organic and recycled materials, and the collection also features patchwork sportswear spliced from Adidas Originals swatches, corsets created in collaboration with Welsh designer Rosie Evans and lunch boxes and reading wallets woven out of book waste, developed with Tottenham-based Stevan Saville.

Out of crisis often comes optimism, and for Molly Goddard positivity came in collection pouring over with prismatic colours. ‘When we first came out of lockdown and decided to do a show, I wanted to do something really pared back,’ she explained. ‘But as we returned slowly to the studio after months of working as a team over Zoom, I realised how dark and depressing the last few months had been and more and more colour crept into the collection.’ For S/S 2021, Goddard proposed ruffled gingham skirts, frilled tulle crop tops, poufing parkas, and punky striped vests in tones of sea foam, scarlet and fuchsia. These colours nodded to papier-mâché Claes Oldenburg sculptures, found in the art collection of Guiseppe and Giovanna Panza. Goddard also unveiled a collaboration with Ugg, on a series of stompy flatform slippers and fluffy flats.

Emerging British-Asian designer Supriya Lele also saw optimism in embellishment. When she returned to her South London studio post-lockdown, she noted that each day her all-female team were adding glamour to their once dressed-down outfits. For the first time she added sequin to her fabric roster of light jersey and chiffon, creating gauzy wraparound pieces like mini dresses, camisoles and sarong skirts in vibrant tones, which nodded to the hues of her Indian heritage. ‘I thought I’d inject a bit of sparkle into what I’m doing. I’m feeling a bit more optimistic in a way,’ she explained. The collection also nodded to Lele’s adolescence spent listening to heavy metal, featuring sequin skirts spray-painted punkishly with an Indian motif and sheer creased crop tops resembling faded band tees. Her azure blue, turquoise and magenta colour palette was inflected with moodier dark chocolate and slime green

For brands, so long bolstered to traditional modes of presentation, S/S 2021 also offered up a chance to experiment. Christopher Kane spent lockdown creating acrylic glitter glue images of women – humorously labelled his "brats" – and he presented his colourful spring offering in his Mount Street store alongside these escapist artworks. ‘Painting during lock down replaced the void of making collections,’ he explained. ‘It became a way to escape my own mind - no rules, deadlines, or pressures.’ Victoria Beckham too took time to reassess. ‘Limitations can be liberating,’ the designer explained in the introduction to her S/S 2021 film. Her streamlined collection featured easy fluid dresses with seductive cut outs, flared tailoring and denim. Beckham returned to the intimate salon-show format of her early presentations, showcasing her spring looks at the Victoria Miro museum.

In a year, when lockdown may one be our sole collective recollection, designers were also fascinated by the concept of memory. At Preen, designers and partners Thea Bregazzi and Justin Thornton decamped to their home in Suffolk during lockdown. There they discovered the belongings of its former resident, an American art critic. These trinkets informed a collection which Preen worked on with their daughters - one inspired by fragments of memory, featuring floral patchwork dresses and panelled trench coats, created from deadstock fabrics, elements of the brand's own history. Richard Malone was also fascinated by the concept of time, when considering how to design for ‘real life’ when it’s been altered irrevocably. During lockdown, he read I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid, and Doireann Ní Ghríofa’s A Ghost in the Throat, both works which deal with a contortion and curvature of time. His resulting collection offered up ‘rigorous comfort’ with voluminous draped dresses and high-shouldered tailoring, imagined in silk-like wool crêpe and velvet which Malone hand-washed in his own bath.

Having spent most of the year indoors (and possibly next year too), practical wardrobe solutions were also on the S/S 2021 agenda. For Roksanda Illincic who staged her presentation inside the Gasholders penthouse she designed last year – a space populated with soft tones and pieces by Charlotte Perriand and Lina Bo Bardi – recycled cashmere tracksuits bought a new ease to her aesthetic. Her set-up reflected the reality we’ve all faced since spring, featuring mis-en-scenes of lockdown life, like mothers and daughters lying in bed, and women washing up. Church’s also offered practical footwear solutions. The Northampton-based label, which usually presents its latest designs at Milan Fashion Week, debuted Dear Thomas, a film inspired by The Talented Mr Ripley, featuring modern twists on classic silhouettes, like sandals with tank-tread soles and a heeled version of its Dee Dee slide.

Simone Rocha also spoke of ‘looking for comfort and security in the extreme’. Her collections often denote feminine forms of protection, with models swathed in gauzy organza, layered silhouettes and resplendent ruffled embellishments. At her stripped back presentation at Hauser & Wirth, models strode within the stark gallery space, sporting voluminous designs that riffed on historical courtly elegance, like floor-pooling dresses in bias cut silk, taffeta knot detail gowns and metallic jacquard coats with emphatic waistlines. Beaded bralettes which tied with ribbon were designed to anchor the escapist silhouettes, and accessories placed emphasis on ergonomic design, like ballet shoes with rubber platform heels and net shoppers strung from sparkling beads.

For the last half decade, Margaret Howell has designed according to the tenets of timeless design. She spent lockdown at her home near the Suffolk coastline, gaining a renewed interest in sketching. The main design difference she noted was the inability to try on each piece in her S/S 2021 collection, which features oversized shapes like slouchy blazers, utilitarian pleated trousers and drop waist dresses in Swiss cottons and silks. Howell often revisits pieces in her archives – which look as contemporary today as they did when they were debuted – and blew up a polka dot print for spring. ‘My work has always been about trying to remain true to myself; it is a consistent style with subtle changes,’ she told Wallpaper* back in March. Howell's approach epitomises the importance of clothing that can withstand unprecedented lifestyle changes, balancing utility and luxury and resonating with shoppers whatever the season. 

British photographer and Wallpaper* contributor Jason Lloyd Evans has been shooting behind-the-scenes backstage snapshots from the runway shows of the world’s most creative brands, since the early 2000s. Here we reveal his favourite sublime snapshots, spanning the last eight years.

Armani Privé S/S 2012

‘Giorgio Armani hosted a “One Night Only” event in Beijing and seemed to be one of the first to really tap into the market and bring his show direct to his there. It was a great experience to go and cover the trip for them.'

Proenza Schouler S/S 2012

‘Proenza Schouler has always been one of my favourite brands to cover in New York. The brand's shows always have such a special casting, concept and collection.'

Burberry A/W 2013

‘Karlie Kloss and Jourdan Dunn showing their love for Christopher Bailey's Burberry. His shows always had a super positive energy.'

Givenchy S/S 2014

‘Being backstage at Riccardo Tisci's shows for Burberry was always an en experience, you never knew what you'd be allowed to shoot. The make up which Pat McGrath created for his shows was very special too.'

Chanel A/W 2015

‘Chanel doesn’t generally allowed backstage access and therefore it is always a bonus to be covering it for a special feature. This A/W 2015 shot from Karl's reign ran as part of a 12 page feature in 10 Magazine. Big, bold and beautiful.'

Gucci S/S 2017

‘Gucci really hit its stride under creative director Alessandro Michele – his eclectic collections are such a departure from what came before and add a real buzz to the Milan schedule.'

Tommy Hilfger S/S 2017

‘This LA show tapped into many emerging patterns in fashion. It was a collaborative collection with Gigi Hadid, it used the See Now Buy Now retail model and had real focus on consumer activation.'

Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda S/S 2018

‘I have been really lucky to cover Dolce & Gabbana's Alta Moda events. The summer show is always hosted in a stunning Italian location such as Sicily or Capri. The clothing is always exceptional.'

Alexander Wang S/S 2018

‘All the cool girls want to be in Wang's gang and that's the energy his brand's shows really tapped into. Case in point, here you find Bella Hadid, Kaia Gerber and Kendal Jenner.'

Valentino Haute Couture S/S 2019

‘This was one occasion where I was happy to be shooting the catwalk rather than backstage. The show, the venue, the music and the collection was incredibly moving, and many editors were weeping! At the end of the show, I whizzed to the front of the runway and caught these really intimate shots.’

Versace S/S 2020

‘This is part of a backstage series of portraits of Jennifer Lopez and Donatella Versace, after Lopez had walked the catwalk in a revisited version of the brand’s iconic Jungle Dress.’

Fendi A/W 2020

‘For Fendi, I captured days of clothing fittings, hair and makeup tests, the show’s set build and DJ meetings. How fashion shows are presented may change, but for me the creative and collaborative process that comes from them will always be at the heart of fashion.’

Quotes: Jason Lloyd-Evans. Additional writing: Laura Hawkins

INFORMATION

lloyd-evans.com

Scene setting: A huge raised runway greeted guests as they entered the vast National Hall at Kensington Olympia, with the sound of a clanging bell reverberating into the space. The runway was formed from squares of shimmering mosaic and the tiered catwalk featured two grand pianos at its highest point. As the show began, the famed pianists Katia and Marielle Labèque and producer Arca performed Distant Places composed by David Chalmin, Fantasy in F Minor composed by Franz Schubert and Four Movements for Two Pianos composed by Phillip Glass.

Mood board: Burberry has a long and prestigious history (it patented its signature Garbadine fabric back in 1988), so it was serendipitous that chief creative office Riccardo Tisci chose memory as his A/W 2020 theme, dipping into the references he developed in his formative years as a designer (think sportswear, romantic gothic and Italianate) and the heritage tropes of Burberry as brand. This meant an over 100 look trip down memory lane featuring smart deconstructed trenchcoats, shirt dresses and duffle coats in boldly hued check, bold rugby stripe knitwear and a host of alluring eveningwear looks, shimmering with rhinestone fringing and chainmail.

Finishing touches: The supersize bag was a standout on the S/S 2020 catwalk last season, and for A/W 2020 Tisci went all out with a supersize pocket bag and a weekender constructed from naturalistic weaved leather.

Scene setting: Guests gathered inside the cavernous Troubador White City Theatre in West London, where seated on soft, bleacher style seating, they sat facing an expansive wall of mirror. As the show began, the mirror was raised to reveal a rusty catwalk and ceiling lined with a huge Victorian-inspired sound system. Reflection and Victoriana; they marked two overarching elements in Riccardo Tisci’s third collection for the 1856-founded British house. Tisci has long been obsessed with the Victorian gothic and romantic, and the collection was a chance for him to look back into Burberry’s own nineteenth century heritage (Thomas Burberry patented gabardine in 1888), in order to reinvent it’s modern codes.

Mood board: For his debut show for Burberry’ Tisci divided his take on British lifestyle neatly into sections, with evening and streetwear sections. For S/S 2020 he was focused on hybridised style, incorporating tailoring with sportswear, workwear with whimsy. For women, fringed silk shirts with hand-sketched monkey motifs were paired with sharp suit trousers and deconstructed trenchcoats with lace and silk dresses. For men, suits had hybrid sleeves formed from casual gingham poplin, hooded sweatshirts were layered with lace and overcoats had sporty toggle details. When it comes to Burberry’s customer of the future, they favour a modern mix.

Finishing touches: Equestrian motifs are a long standing element of a chic, bourgeois look which was an all-out trend on the A/W 2019 runway. For S/S 2020, Tisci introduced its new equestrian-inspired Anne handbag, featuring Thomas Burberry monogram hardware - an essential for those with a high end, ladylike sensibility.

Scene setting: Burberry is not just a brand, it’s a British institution, so it’s fitting that for his sophomore collection for the label, Riccardo Tisci presented his show inside The Tanks of the industrialist Tate Modern. An expanse of cages lined the walls of the in-the-round space. As the show began, a host of over 100 adolescents clambered onto this construct, climbing up ladders, burrowing into tunnels, whooping, shrieking and hollering. The accompanying show music was created by MIA. She designed two soundscapes that moved through a series of genres from the 1990s to the present day.

Mood board: Burberry is a brand that has both high and low associations. Its signature check has transcended the British class system in recent decades. These touchstones are important to Tisci. During his tenure at Givenchy, his silhouettes masterfully bought together the world of streetwear and haute couture. His 106 look-strong men’s and women’s collection for Burberry, touched on sports and sophistication, the laddish and the ladylike, the elegant and the athletic.

Cue, like Tisci’s debut, a show split into sections. One abounding in football-strip shapes, deconstructed rugby shirts sported as skirts, sporty gem-embellished mini dresses, puffa jackets and bold Burberry check coats. The other more grown-up segment in a colour palette of predominantly signature beige, green and gold, featured deconstructed trenchcoats, leather pencil skirts, duffle coats and demure suiting. Clothes to entice a Burberry customer diverse in age and aesthetic persuasion.

Best in show: Last season Tisci pioneered bringing elegance back to the catwalk. The prevalence of foulard silks, sharp skirts and beige tones on A/W 2019’s catwalks so far, are a testament to his aesthetic effect. A series of women’s pieces only enhanced this further, including a trenchcoat spliced into sections, with a visible Burberry check lining and a silk skirt tessellated with the brand’s new Peter Saville-designed logo. §

Scene setting: There was something a little sinister going on at Palmer//Harding this season. For its S/S 2019 show, the brand created a set surrounded by strips of red plastic, like a bloody shower curtain or office blind, which cast its models in a haze of red light as they sauntered down the catwalk.

Sound bite: ‘We were thinking of this dangerous, seductive woman,’ said Levi Palmer, one half of the brand, backstage. ‘Because of the diaphanous shapes we design people see our label as really quite feminine and delicate. But our woman is really in control, and in modern society that can be quite intimidating to some men.’

Mood board: The collection of versatile pieces will bring verve to the wardrobe of the Palmer//Harding woman. The brand is renowned for its shirting, and these were imagined in hybrid styles, with ruffle details or as spliced shirt dresses. There were gauzy trenchcoats, feminine peplum-detail trousers and abstract print blouses, all given a harder and uncanny edge when paired with red tights and doused in that eerie red light.

On Monday evening during S/S 2019’s London Fashion Week, newly-appointed chief creative officer Riccardo Tisci raises the curtain on his vision for Burberry. It’s a reveal that’s been rife with speculation and intrigue. Since Tisci took the helm of the British heritage label in March, we’ve seen the announcement of a collaboration with Vivienne Westwood, a new Peter Saville-designed logo, and just this week, the 24-hour release of a Thomas Burberry monogram t-shirt.

With all this drama, it seems fitting then, that Burberry’s Regent Street flagship in Central London – which opened in 2012 – was once a theatre. For days its windows have been shrouded in paper, tessellated with the brand’s sans serif ‘T’ and ‘B’ logo, while inside the space has been completely transformed into an opulent performance-inspired interior, lined with sumptuous velvet curtains, glossy lacquered wood fixtures, mirrored and studded leather plinths and plush pile carpet.

The store's impressive atrium with its central double staircase has been reimagined into a gallery format, in its midst sits the main spectacle. An immersive three-storey scaffold rises up in the centre, offering a series of rooms and levels, categorised according to both heritage and contemporary Burberry classics – the car coat, the trench coat, the signature check, the foulard scarf and the updated belt bag. All are available to purchase exclusively from Burberry’s Regent Street space until 3 October.

British artist Graham Hudson is the creative force behind the installation. Renowned for his exploration of temporality and societal structure, his work often involves sound, performance and video; he assembles makeshift sculptures using found and everyday objects like cardboard boxes, crates and umbrellas. This large-scale work, Sisyphus Reclined, takes its title from the Greek myth of King Sisyphus, who after deceiving Zeus, entered the Underworld, and was condemned to roll an enormous boulder up a hill, only for it to roll down when it nears the top, repeating the action for eternity.

‘To use that grandeur makes the whole installation seem absurd,’ says Hudson, of his lofty reference to classical mythology. ‘The tale of Sisyphus is quite funny, it’s like the concept of a repeat download, or repetitive strain injury.’ Repetition is at the centre of this concept. Sisyphus Reclined resembles a Madame Tussauds-meets-mad-prosthetics workshop with three floors of imaging, casting, modelmaking and experimenting with the sinews, muscle and make up of the human form.

In the belly of the scaffold structure, an arm-like robot – used in the automobile industry to heavy lift on factory floors – studiously drills out 3D replicas of human forms, and intricately mirrors the labels of their clothing or the tattoos on their skin. On the middle floor, a functioning workshop surrounded by computers and technicians, transforms 2D images into 3D composites.

‘We’re blurring the line between the studio and the finished product. And turning the volume up on what I’ve been working on,’ he adds. The second storey’s eccentric studio space, sits surrounded by human body casts in plaster, jesmonite and pastel-hued silicone. It features casts that are mashes up of bodybuilders and classical forms, like Alexandros of Antioch’s Venus de Milo. A surface lined with dinosaur talons, half-finished casts and oddly shaped human parts is a disconcerting evocation of the antiquities, which lined Freud’s desk. ‘The stuff of nightmares,’ Hudson adds.

The top level hosts a ‘Photogramatory’ – an image studio composed of 80 digital SLR cameras and a constellation of lights, which capture a 360-degree image of a human encircled in its centre. ‘The top floor is the ultimate selfie booth’, says Hudson. The stairs leading up to the final level are lined with vast bottles of Protein shakes and empty photo frames. ‘They are sold to men to build muscle and women to lose weight, so it’s like a motif of how you create yourself. It’s classicism, narcissism, the Instagram ideal.’

In a final immersive flourish, a host of turntables wrap customers in unusual human sounds, eerily sped up or slowed down, as they explore the installation. ‘We’re playing DJ sound tools, which are like shoutouts that you play over a song,’ Hudson says. ‘They veer between sounding like something from The Exorcist, Alvin and the Chipmunks, someone is in an underground jail or rising towards an ecclesiastical moment, the voices of all the figures that are going to be coming to the installation.’

Sisyphus Reclined is an eclectic contrast to the newly redesigned gallery levels encircling it. In a nod to the signature shade of Burberry’s trench coat, the sleek and polished store interiors have been layered in 19 shades of beige. For 24 hours after Tisci’s debut show for the brand at 5pm BST on Monday, a capsule collection of men’s and women’s pieces from the catwalk will be available to purchase exclusively from the levels surrounding the store’s central atrium.

Hudson’s exploration of the human form draws parallels with Tisci’s transformation of the Burberry brand. Like the robotic arm in the belly of the installation, he too is devising new silhouettes and contours for the physical form. ‘I wasn’t really thinking of that,’ Hudson smiles. ‘But Sisyphus Reclined seems to have synced up quite nicely!’

INFORMATION

‘Sisyphus Reclined’ is on view until 26 October. For more information visit the Burberry website, or the Graham Hudson website.

ADDRESS

121 Regent Street
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Scene setting: The weekend before his anticipated runway debut, newly appointed chief creative officer Riccardo Tisci revealed his transformation of Burberry’s Regent Street flagship. The space – reimagined as a sleek gallery space features sections dedicated to the British heritage brands most renowned signatures – and is swathed in velvet curtains, plush pile carpet and glossy lacquered and mirrored surfaces. These furnishings formed the backdrop to Tisci’s runway debut. Its sumptuous Vauxhall location was lined with beige velvet stools and polished wood armchairs, and a snaking raised catwalk surrounded by panels of mirror. Like the beige curtains in Burberry’s flagship, the glass wall and ceiling space was shrouded in darkness and covered with swathes of fabric. As the show began, these were released, with the audience illuminated by sunlight and serenaded with an exclusive soundtrack by Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja.

Mood board: Britain’s identity is in a state of flux, and it was the different facets and decades of its heritage that fascinated Tisci. The vast, 130-plus looks from the men’s and women’s collection were divided into sections. Take the opening element of power-ready executive silhouettes; reinterpreted trench coats in silk or with chain detailing, blouses in deconstructed Burberry check, pinstripe tailoring and soft car coats. Or the second punky section which recalled the couture-meets-street aesthetic Tisci honed at Givenchy, all thick sole creeper Mary Jane sandals, buckle-detail trench coats, cowhide prints and trousers with suspenders. The third section culminated in elegant jersey eveningwear – draped and chain detail black dresses, a snippet of the night time silhouettes which became a Tisci signature at Givenchy, sure to drum up drama on the red carpet.

Best in show: Last month Tisci unveiled Burberry’s new Peter Saville-designed logo; one imagined as a series of tessellated ‘T’ and ‘B’ sans serif letters. This print featured on a series of sleek foulard silks cut into gauzy blouses, skirts, headscarves and trenchcoats with flowing silk panels. A symbol of Tisci’s new visual language for the house, and a marker of a triumphant debut collection.

Time takes on mysterious and shifting forms during a fashion show. The event, which is usually over in a mere 15 minutes, represents past months of moodboard research, fabric sourcing and sampling, and rigorous catwalk production. It also simultaneously presents clothes which will be worn in the future. The concept of passing time was pivotal to Burberry’s February 2018 show, presented last night on 17 February at the Dimco Buildings in West London, as it also marked Christopher Bailey’s final outing for the brand, after an incredible 17 years at its helm.

For his final runway outing, Christopher Bailey teamed up with United Visual Artists, presenting its large scale installation Our Time (2016), as part of his final catwalk show. The London-based art practice explores abstract concepts, like language, time and sensory perception in its large scale works, and have worked with institutions including The Barbican, the Seoul Museum of Art and YCAM, Japan.

Our Time (2016) on loan from the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) Australia had never been seen before in the United Kingdom. An immersive and expansive kinetic sculpture, the artwork is made up of a series of hanging mechanical pendulums, which move slowly thorough the air and swing to their own rhythm. They appear to defy gravity, and act as a palpable visualisation of time passing.

‘Whether it’s a fashion show, an art installation or a piece of architecture, most creative processes are working towards a point of time when they’re considered to be finished,’ says UVA co-founder Matt Clark of his interest in presenting Our Time as part of a fashion show. ‘A piece of clothing can be worn, a work of art can be experienced and a building can be lived in, but absolutely everything will be subject to entropy. I like to explore the spaces between traditional disciplines – this project proposed a number of interesting dynamics between fashion, art, performance and architectural space.’

Instead of the sound of a chiming clock which has previously accompanied Our Time, the installation was presented against an exuberant disco runway soundtrack by Jimmy Somerville, The Communards and Bronski Beat. The artwork’s swinging pendulums moved slowly through the air during the show, as if pulled by invisible pieces of string. They encapsulated a visual snapshot of Bailey’s time at the house – 17 years distilled into minutes, presented against a youthful and energetic catwalk collection that celebrated the codes of the house, from the trench coat to the cape, the Burberry check to the military coat.

Not just a snapshot of Bailey’s illustrious past and a celebration of the present, the runway show was also nod to the future. Bailey presented his final interpretation of the Burberry check, one finished with a rainbow print, and a dedication to the LGBTQ+ communities. As the show culminated, the brand’s band of models walked the runway under a pyramid of rainbow laser light. Time is past, present and future – this was a sensory celebration of its many facets, moments and opportunities.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Burberry website, and the United Visual Artists website

Scene setting: Last month, Burberry announced that Old Sessions House in Clerkenwell was to be the location of both its September show and ‘Here We Are’ – a photography exhibition tracing British life, and featuring the works of a renowned mix of artists. The 18th-century former courthouse boasts a grand columned exterior, while its interiors comprise a labyrinthine arrangement of connected rooms, a vast mezzanine and a grand dome modelled after the Pantheon in Rome. Guests entered the recently restored space, taking seat across a network of rooms lined with miscellaneous seating, from wooden stools to plastic chairs, and photographs by Martin Parr, Alasdair McLellan and more.

Mood board: Burberry revealed a collaboration with Russian streetwear supremo Gosha Rubchinskiy in June, made up of a series of S/S 2018 pieces featuring the Burberry check. Rubchinskiy’s models rocked full baseball cap-topped looks in the brand’s signature tartan, which evoked the nineties ‘chav’ era that the brand attempted to shake off way back when. For the brand’s September 2017 show, Christopher Bailey bought this look back in a big way. Offering a determinedly younger aesthetic, a majority of the eclectic looks were finished with check baseball caps, while Burberry’s iconic print was reimagined in raincoats and macs cut from translucent plastic. Models paired windbreakers with regimental garb, piled colourful knitwear on top of gauzy lace skirts, and layered sheer evening dresses over sporty t-shirts, styled with a new off-kilter sensibility.

Finishing touches: Emphasising the offbeat aesthetic of the collection, models – both men and women – sported oversized single earrings, sparkling with rhinestones. They also carried tartan bags resembling fabric vanity cases or oversized shoppers. These accessories spoke of the newer, younger, Burberry boy or girl, who grabs an earring, a trailing knitted scarf, a pair or spare knitted socks, and the nearest zip-up accessory before disappearing into the night.

In the 20th century, Henry Moore attempted to define the body more than any other artist, visualising its form in magnificent bronze sculptures, shapes that are now synonymous with modern British culture. Moore’s vision was distinctive: feminine forms that were both classic and modern, larger-than-life, and characterised by their complex, concave surfaces with sensuously scooped-out voids.

Now, the work of the foremost sculptor of the British body is the inspiration for clothing made to hang on it, serving as the springboard for Burberry’s freshly launched collection. The process, design references, and final pieces from the collection, shown earlier this week during London Fashion Week, are now on view at Makers House as part of the fashion house’s exhibition, ‘Henry Moore: Inspiration & Process’, alongside more than 40 sculptures by Moore, including Mother and Child: Block Seat (1983–84), Draped Reclining Mother and Baby (1983).

For Moore, imagining the body was about more than addressing the human form – it also absorbed the British landscape. Moore’s sculptures share a serendipitous connection with Burberry: Yorkshire. It’s often pointed out that the artist’s curvaceous, undulating lines relate to the hills in the county. This is also the manufacturing home of Burberry’s iconic trench coat, and the birthplace of chief creative and chief executive officer Christopher Bailey, who has long been fascinated by Moore’s creations.

‘We are delighted to be returning to Makers House this month,’ Bailey explains. ‘This time, we are incredibly privileged to be working alongside the Henry Moore Foundation to bring our collection and exhibition of Moore’s work to life.’ The results of Burberry’s extensive collaboration with the foundation – which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year – are reflected in the silhouettes and fabrications of its February 2017 collection, and emphasised in Burberry’s new campaign, shot in the gardens of Moore’s former home and studio in Perry Green, Hertfordshire.

Bailey’s translation of Moore’s asymmetric forms, for example, his Torso with Point (1967), is seen in the hemlines of dresses and sweaters, while his series of intricately formed made-to-order capes in monochromatic white tones, reflect the sculptor’s studies of soft, sweeping shoulder lines. A chunky, cable-knit jumper with a funnel-neck, recalls Moore’s Seated Woman: Thin Neck (1961), while a nude dress with cut-outs at the waist and shoulder echoes the artist’s presentation of hollowed out silhouettes.

Just as Moore experimented with oversized forms in clay, wood, bronze and plaster on different scales, texture and materials remain consistently important to Bailey’s vision for Burberry. The see-now-buy-now collection features undulating ruffles, billowing silks and crisp cottons, and a new tropical gabardine, a lighter version of the brand’s signature fabrication.

The juxtaposition of Burberry’s designs with Moore, of course, is intended to place the brand in a lineage of British culture, and this is a place that it deserves. Outfitting explorers and the military with its revolutionary protective styles, the brand has shaped the British body since the mid-19th century.

‘I feel sure that Henry Moore would have been fascinated to see his work inspiring such outstanding designs,’ says Henry Moore Foundation director Godfrey Worsdale. ‘We hope this collection will encourage new audiences to discover and appreciate his remarkable work and the studios he created them in.’

INFORMATION

‘Henry Moore: Inspiration & Process’ is on view until 27 February. For more information, visit the Burberry website and the Henry Moore Foundation website

ADDRESS

Makers House
1 Manette St
London W1D 4AT

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Mood board: Christopher Bailey looked to Orlando, Virginia Woolf’s daring novel that hints at her romantic relationship with Vita Sackville-West. As this was Bailey’s first time presenting men’s and women’s on the same catwalk, the conceptual reference was germane to the practical concept: Orlando, is a ‘biography’ that relates the life of a poet who oscillates from male to female over the course of several centuries. Models embodied that spirit while wearing richly decorated brocade jackets and tapestry jumpers with wide slouchy trousers in velvet or in silk pyjama patterns, dainty ruff collars and romantic silk robes.

Scene setting: Held in Burberry’s Makers House – an outdoor haven for artists and artisans to create, scattered with classical sculpture among twinkling lights and greenery – this A/W 2016 collection was the brand’s first see-now, buy-now retail effort. An ambitious venue for an equally ambitious venture.

Finishing touches: Based on the form of a saddle, Burberry’s new bag, The Bridle, an accessory that is meant for both genders, is an elaboration of this collection’s blending of the masculine and the feminine. The signature Burberry check pattern lends the bag a soft structure underneath the supple equestrian leather.

INFORMATION
Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans

Mood board: There were LOTS of changes at Burberry this season. Firstly, the collection shown on the runway will no longer be referred to as Prorsum – the brand is instead uniting all of its labels (Brit and London included) under the one Burberry banner. And secondly, this A/W 2016 collection is now available to preorder online or preview in store in London for the next week, before it up sticks for the brand’s Paris Faubourg Saint-Honoré flagship.

Scene setting: Following on from Christopher Bailey’s January menswear show, Burberry’s Kensington Gore tent also underwent an interior refresh, with its folding camping stools replaced by fumed oak benches, topped with a plush teal suede (produced by Sean Sutcliffe and Terence Conran's Benchmark), and set out in a more intimate configuration.

Best in show: Jake Bugg took to the catwalk with new single On My One as Bailey’s high-shine magpie presentation was set to shimmer with heavily sequined or metallic jacquard box pleated dresses, topped with a spectrum of military coats, piped in yellow or red, and finished with gleaming gold buttons. Titled ‘A Patchwork’, there was an anarchic charge to the collection that was all glam rock minis or super flares silhouette speaking, with overall highlights including Bailey’s blanket plaid wool topcoat and an oversized navy pea coat that’s destined to see plenty of action a shore.

INFORMATION 

Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans

Mood board: Christopher Bailey led Burberry's A/W charge with a military mantra that jumped between high collared, gold buttoned top coats finished with regal red piping and the everyman's somewhat more grungy rib-knit bombers.

Best in show: For those in the market for a classic duffle look no further than Burberry's plaid lined army issue coat, complete with oversized toggles in hues of red, navy and khaki. The house has been busy tracking down and buying up vintage Burberry pieces from around the world (even dating back to the Thirties), which have clearly left their mark on the season.

Finishing touches: A Nineties athleticism was imbued throughout the collection from Bailey's quilted puffer jackets to his zip-up track tops, teamed back with sneakers and a posh spin on speed striped track pants.

INFORMATION

Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans