Nars’ Radiant Longwear Foundation, Radiant Creamy Concealer and Radiant Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser are the make-up equivalent of the holy trinity when it comes to creating skin that – if you’ll pardon the beauty cliché – still ‘looks like skin’.

Of course, the raison d’être of the brand, founded by virtuoso François Nars in 1994 with black rubberised packaging designed by Fabien Baron, is to traverse the line between ‘no make-up make-up’ and outré glamour. Though arguably Nars, who remains the creative director for his namesake product line 30 years on, considers these two aesthetics as one and the same.

Nars radiant foundation and concealer are cult classics

Born and raised in the South of France, Nars grew up during the 1960s and 1970s, watching the matriarchs of his family titivating and preening themselves in the signature manner of French women.

Later, he would paint the faces of his mother and grandmothers to practice his make-up skills, before leaving home for Paris to hone his craft at the prestigious Carita Institute. ‘What I learnt from my mother is that character and personality are the most important beauty traits in a person. She was never into heavy make-up, but she always looked amazing, which taught me that less is more,’ Nars once said. In 2021, he even produced a range of products called The Claudette Collection, in tribute to her.

But it was the legendary fashion editor Polly Mellen who gave François Nars his ‘big break’ during the 1980s. Mellen, who passed away in December 2024 at the age of 100, was drawn to his work precisely because it had a ‘lighter’ touch than the make-up by some of his contemporaries. ‘She loved the transparency of the make-up, compared to what was being done at that time,’ Nars told WWD in 2011. ‘I sought out girls with freckles, raw beauty. It was a new concept. I wanted to show that they were human,’ he explained.

A seminal moment in Nars’ career was keying the make-up for Marc Jacobs’ S/S 1993 show for Perry Ellis, which tore up the rulebook of American style in tribute to the grunge movement. (The collection led to Jacobs’ immediate dismissal from the brand and simultaneously catapulted the fashion designer to stardom).

Grunge was defined by a lived-in nonchalance, epitomised in the styles of Kate Moss and Kristen McMenamy, who closed the Perry Ellis show hand-in-hand. Here, the make-up – semi-mattified skin with a flush of colour on the cheeks, a touch of mascara and eyeliner and balmy lips in the same shade as the model’s skin tones – aided in capturing this mood. ‘Make-up is very important for a show. It’s really an accessory on the runway. You have to be sure that it fits the clothes,’ Nars, who collaborates with Jacobs to this day, once said.

Coinciding with London Fashion Week A/W 2025 (20 – 24 February 2025), and speaking to the brand’s longstanding relationship with the city’s runway shows, Nars has popped up in Covent Garden with an installation called The Players Lounge, celebrating its hero make-up base products. This includes the Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation – a budge-proof, featherlight formula providing medium to full coverage – and the hydrating, long-wearing and multifunctional Radiant Creamy Concealer.

Ten years ago, at Christopher Kane A/W 2015, key make-up artist Lucia Pieroni used Nars on the models, including the sheer yet buildable Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser producing looks that featured ‘nude skin with a strong handsome eyebrow.’

More recently, for Erdem’s A/W 2023 show, Nars’ global artistry director Jane Richardson led the backstage beauty team, with its Radiant Creamy Concealer subtly evening out complexions, only in the areas requiring it. Slept-in, black eyeliner, creased with a slick of gloss, and The Multiple highlighter stick, daubed onto cheekbones and cupids bows, gave faces an almost perspiratory sheen.

In a shoot for the Wallpaper* March 2025 issue, shot by Grace Difford and styled by our creative and fashion director Jason Hughes, make-up artist Claire Urquhart used Nars to transform model Maaike Klaasen into six visual interpretations of intoxicating perfumes, including seamless finishes to her skin.

Nars is known for its collaborative product collections, teaming up with the likes of Kane and Erdem – the latter brand showing its A/W 2025 collection tomorrow (23 February 2025) – on two limited-edition product edits released in 2015 and 2018 respectively.

For now, we will wait patiently in the hope that a project with a third London designer could soon be in the works.

The Nars Players Lounge is open from 22 – 23 February 2025 between 11am and 6pm at The Stables Unit X, 40 Earlham Street, WC2H 9LH.

nars.co.uk

Deck the halls with our array of Christmas baubles and decorations for fashion lovers, made to add a sartorial flourish to your tree as the festive season gathers steam. From Celine’s ‘Triomphe’ baubles – recalling the shape of the Parisian house’s famed monogram – to sleek monochrome glass spheres from Prada, an array of designer adornments to gift or treasure yourself. 

The best Christmas baubles for fashion lovers

Celine

Celine’s double-C ‘Triomphe’ monogram – originally inspired by the lines of Paris’ Arc de Triomphe – has become one of the defining symbols of Hedi Slimane’s tenure at the house. Invest in this trio of golden hand-painted baubles for a truly luxurious adornment to your Christmas tree. Another set includes a miniature perfume bottle and a black Celine handbag (top).

celine.com

Prada

Fans of the Milanese house will delight in this pair of monochrome glass baubles, decorated with bold geometric prints which feel synonymous with the house. Each one is finished with the Prada logo, and can also be purchased solo.

prada.com

Dior 

A magical trio of baubles from Dior, which draw inspiration from Maria Grazia Chiuri’s Cruise 2023 show, held in Seville earlier this year. Hand-blown from French crystal and etched with delicate motifs, these transparent spheres are encased in a richly illustrated box. 

dior.com

Selfridges

One for the retail addicts. Selfridges have released an array of Christmas ornaments evocative of their symbolic products, including this miniature version of the British department store’s instantly recognisable yellow shopping bag – complete with piles of sparkling gifts inside.

selfridges.com

More Joy by Christopher Kane

Christopher Kane’s playful More Joy collection now spans an array of items – from clothing to key rings to mugs, to recent collaborations with Le Specs and musician Elton John. Ready for Christmas is a trio of red, black and white baubles emblazoned with the offshoot’s various slogans: ‘More Joy’, ‘Sex’ and ‘Special’. 

christopherkane.com

Paul Smith

This Paul Smith bauble – in the designer’s recognisable house stripes – adds an unconventional twist of colour to your Christmas tree (a welcome alternative to the usual festive palette of green, red and cold). Each bauble is hand-painted and comes presented in a Paul Smith padded gift box. 

paulsmith.com

Fendi

This year marked 25 years of the Fendi Baguette handbag – perhaps the noughties it bag. Accessorise your Christmas tree with this clear glass bauble from the Roman house, filled with a shimmering miniature version of the bag. 

fendi.com

It’s been eighteen months since the London fashion crowd stomped the streets in idiosyncratic, head-turning looks, flitting between shows in cultural landmarks across the city, and celebrating the British capital’s spirit of creativity and community. A lot has changed since then. Brands have shuttered, boutiques have closed and our means of communication have shifted. The London Fashion Week schedule has become gender free.

But a warm optimism and anticipation filled the seats at S/S 2022’s shows and presentations, as viewers celebrated the joy of seeing a new clothing collection in real life: the vibrancy of a colour, the texture of a fabric, the drape of a silhouette, by burgeoning brands and behemoths, from 2021 LVMH Prize Winner Nensi Dojaka to Erdem, SS Daley to Roksanda. Here’s eight things to know about the British capital’s return to fashion form and London Fashion Week S/S 2022.

London Fashion Week S/S 2022: all you need to knowLFW : ‘F’ is for friendship

A sense of community is integral to London's fashion scene, a unity brought into focus by talent incubator Fashion East, which celebrated its 20th anniversary at London’s The Standard Hotel. For S/S 2022 Goomheo, Maximilian, HRH, Jawara Alleyne and Chet Lo made up the burgeoning talent roster, Asian-American designer Lo making his debut with a series of futuristic 3D-knit designs, inspired by the vibrance of holiday. Elsewhere, Simone Rocha celebrated her brand's tenth birthday with a party with long-time collaborator Dover Street Market. A stained glass church installation housed a special celebratory collection, featuring archive pieces, and upcycled tableclothes crafted in collaboration with Luncheon magazine.

Matchesfashion celebrated its Innovators initative, a conversational project that sees its latest roster of emerging talent, including Harris Reed, Chopova Lowena and Grace Wales Bonner speak to their creative heroes. At a party at the retailer's majestic Carlos Place townhouse, guests snacked on cute mini pizzas housed in boxes printed with its signature marbled motif. 

Richard Malone – fresh from a turn as gallery curator – marked his collaboration with Mulberry with a show at the Victoria & Albert Musuem. Models strode against a backdrop of breathtaking Renaissance artworks sporting sculptural spliced designs, from cut-out ruched dresses to patchwork leather coats, made using upcycled Mulberry fabrics. They also carried the designer’s accessory interpretations for Mulberry Editions – bold, graphic takes on the brand's ‘Bayswater’ and ‘Darley’ bags. 

Another way to absord the community-focused energy at London Fashion Week? The whoops and cheers from the audience as Nensi Dojaka took a bow on the runway at her S/S 2022 finale, or the hug Maximilian Davis’ mother gave him post-show, in view of the smiling guests.

The city still lives in splendour

After long months of lockdown and social and physical restriction, the British capital is slowly but surely getting its buzz back. Nothing exemplified this more than the diverse locations in which London's brands chose to stage their shows. In celebration of his eponymous label's 15-year anniversary, Erdem hosted an intimate runway show outdoors amongst the classical colonnades of the British Museum, framed by a rainbow that appeared at the show's finale.

Rejina Pyo hot-footed across east London, staging her show at the Zaha Hadid-designed London Aquatics Centre in Stratford, which hosted events during the 2012 Olympics. Simone Rocha showcased her collection at the medieval church St Bartholomew the Great. Roksanda returned to her regular Serpentine Galleries location. And Kiko Kostadinov looked to the rooftop of the Selgas Cano-designed workspace Second Home.

More gritty, Knwls took guests to a dimly lit underground car park behind Oxford Street, while Edward Crutchley shone colourful lasers and smoke across the unfinished concrete interior of Collins’ Music Hall. Saul Nash brought memories of going to school in Hackney to his idiosyncratically performance-focused runway show, with male models sporting hybrid tracksuits and Nikes and getting changed in front of the audience at bus stops.

Skimpy is chic

Let's hear it for flaunting the female form. Following on from the glamour and body-sporting chic at New York Fashion Week S/S 2022, a host of brands embraced unabashed body-con silhouettes. Supriya Lele brought a confident, grown-up mood to her colourful, 1990s-centric shapes, with cut-out halterneck dresses in soft leather, daring bodysuits paired with wrap skirts and cropped bomber jackets. Inspired by archetypal silhouettes, she reinterpreted a man's oversized vest as a sheer sequined net dress, and reimagined a pair of capri pants in sheer mesh that tied at the navel. ‘The collection is about evolution and pushing the brand forward,’ Lele told Wallpaper*. ‘It's about reaffirming what we are good at.’

Nensi Dojaka, who scooped this year’s LVMH Prize, evolved her signature lingerie-centric LBDs, updating her transparent strappy pieces with pinks and browns and adding knitwear elements and tailoring, such as tuxedo trousers and oversized blazers. Elsewhere, Knwls brought heavy-metal biker-girl glam to its sexy skin-tight silhouettes, with bleached denim, cracked leather, sand-splashed hues and cowboy hats.

Menswear is in the mix

S/S 2022 saw the men's and women's catwalk schedule physically merge. Cue Saul Nash's school-inspired sportswear take, complete with Nikes, Kickers and tracksuits printed with the Hackey-born designer’s TFL travel pass; plus Molly Goddard's menswear evolution, which saw silhouettes inspired by children's clothes, and models sporting heart-motif intarsia knits, thigh-revealing shorts and ballet pumps. Upcycling wunderkind SS Daley's debut catwalk show featured whimsical, upcycled silhouettes, from paisley suits to rugby shirts, voluminous trousers to dressing gowns, while Stefan Cooke looked to classic wardrobe pieces, like tracksuit bottoms, polo shirts, vests and bomber jackets, reintrepreting them with trompe l’oeil effects, light-hearted dancing-women motifs, cable-knit appliqué and chainmail.

Set your sights on far horizons

Unsurprisingly, a host of designers set their sights on escapist scenes. At Fashion East, Maximilian looked with a nostalgic nod to the sun-soaked colours and vibrancy of life on the islands of the Caribbean Sea, inspired by memories of family visits to Trinidad, presenting ocean tones, reds inspired by the island’s scarlet ibis bird, and outfits riffing on carnival attendees.

Chet Lo's innovative knitwear also looked to sun-drenched sojourns, the tones of tropical cocktails and the outlines of pool inflatables.

Laura and Deanna Fanning looked to the streets around north London that they walked during lockdown for Kiko Kostadinov's A/W 2021 collection; but for S/S 2022 they looked to the sunny shores of their native Australia, where they have not returned since the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Looking to beach literature by Kathy Lett and Tim Winton, the brand's collection referenced surf, salt-baked tones from sand to oceanic blues, the undulating shapes of waves, and the relaxed ease of beach living. Wrap skirts were embellished with shells, blouses had flowing handkerchief shapes, and ribbed knits were imagined as upside down cardigans. ‘For many Australians, the coast is such an ordinary aspect of growing up that can be a fetishised and commercialised norm. In saying that, there are so many beautiful parts of the coast that really give you a sense of perspective, relief and a moment to reflect in its calmness and sparsity. Not being able to return home, we really felt a sense of longing for the calmness and balance that coastal trips and moments provide for us,’ the sisters told Wallpaper*.

The show must (not) go on

Not all brands were back on the official schedule, with notable exceptions from September's London Fashion Week being Burberry, Christopher Kane and Chalayan. Margaret Howell skipped a physical show in favour of a film and a small collection of accompanying appointments – the perfect way for the brand to allow editors to touch the tactile, time-honed fabrications and attention to cut and comfort that the label spends hours deliberating over. Chalky, paint-like textures were central to the men's and women's collection, which featured pastel-hued simple striped dresses, Mackintosh-designed boxy cagoules, casual unlined tailoring and schoolish-inspired styling. ‘Each season, there's a lot of tweaks that go on,' Howell told Wallpaper* of silhouettes that nodded to heritage styles in the brand's extensive archive.

Prince of partywear Halpern also eschewed a physical show, in favour of a digital film created in collaboration with The Royal Ballet. At the Royal Opera House, dancers twirled in fluid silk gowns and dresses drenched in colourful fringing. JW Anderson also skipped an IRL show, debuting instead a collection film and in-store activations at the brand’s 6a-designed Soho boutique. 

Christopher Kane and Burberry chose to hold their runway shows through livestream in October, parallel to Paris Fashion Week. The former, presented an offering that meditated between minimalism and more tongue in cheek silhouettes, featuring dresses in fluid metallic pleats or with architectural volumes, satin coats with 3D folds, chainmail tops and jumpers and shirts embellished with the figurative characters that Kane dreamt up during lockdown.

The world is a stage (and a swimming pool)

Theatricality was high on the agenda for a host of immersive, performance-focused shows. At London Aquatics Centre in Stratford, Rejina Pyo showed a colourful print-splashed collection, featuring Canadian tuxedos, puritan-collar dresses, ruched skirts and oversized tailoring. At the show’s finale, models ascended the space's diving boards and were joined by members of the GB diving team, who wore bold swimming costumes and performed breathtaking dives into the swimming pool below.

Roksanda returned to her favourite Serpentine Pavilion venue – designed for 2021 by South African architecture practice Counterspace, using Portuguese cork and bricks made of construction waste – with a show-cum-performance, created in collaboration with choreographer Holly Blakey. Dancers ascended seating, crawled across the floor and clambered onto each others shoulders in a performance inspired by layered human emotion and tension, wearing the designer's colourful, motion-fuelled pieces, like bell sleeve gowns, fringed dresses and slouchy suiting.

Menswear designer Steven Stokey-Daley – whose star began to ascend after his whimsical, upcycled designs were sported by Harry Styles – enlisted members of the National Youth Theatre for his brand SS Daley’s debut catwalk show, with a performance that riffed on notions of masculinity, stereotypes of public and private school, power structure and class. The designer developed these fascinations when studying at the University of Westminster, which has a campus overlooking Harrow School's rubgy fields. Meanwhile, Charles Jeffrey returned to dramatic form, staging ‘Portal' at the gritty Metalworks in Islington, with models striding amongst laser beams and sporting century-spanning garments, headpieces ablaze with burning candles.

Mum’s the word

Simone Rocha recently gave birth to her second daughter, and for S/S 2022 she had motherhood on her mind. The designer referenced  ‘Sleep walking, mothering',  ‘Communion dress’, ‘Baby teeth & lack of sleep' in her collection notes, which featured voluminous cotton nightgowns edged with brocade and broderie anglaise, girlish ballet shoes, ethereal layered petticoats, ribbon detail cardigans and beaded crowns. Spring spoke of vulnerability and strength.

Elsewhere, Molly Goddard – who is on maternity leave after giving birth to her first son – subtly alluded to her new role as a mother, looking at the baby and kids’ clothes she has collected over time, and blowing up silhouettes such as smock dresses to grown-up proportions.

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. 

Over the last month, we’ve transitioned to viewing the world from a smaller viewfinder. As the perspective of our new parameters has shifted, so we’ve found uplift in everyday domestic details or striking beauty in the natural world, now seen largely through our windows. As fashion designers have acclimatised to this new, four wall-defined way of life, from Beijing to Berlin, London to Longiano, we’ve invited those within our creative community to document by hand what they can see from their work desk or window. Here we present our rooms with a view.

Manolo Blahnik, Bath

‘The sky was blue almost Mediterranean,’ says the footwear behemoth of the lush garden view from his bedroom window.

Maria Grazia Chiuri, womenswear artistic director Dior, Rome

A unifying Italian flag hangs from the window of Chiuri's home in Italy's capital.

Michael Halpern, London

Jars of citrus fruits and bowls of fiery chillis sit on the colour-inclined womenswear designer's work desk.

Margaret Howell, Suffolk

‘One drawing is my sheep’s trough with planted tall, reed grass. The other is my hazelnut tree, which planted itself by seed many years ago. I drew this just as it’s new leaves are coming out. At least nature is carrying on as normal' – MH.

Bryan Conway, design director Tiger of Sweden, Stockholm

Titled ‘Spring in Sweden,' Conway's sketch offers a tree-lined street scene in the country's capital.

Marco de Vincenzo, Rome

From his window, the womenswear designer can see the splendid baroque architecture of Rome.

Massimo Giorgetti, founder MSGM, Milan

Plant-festooned balconies greet Giorgetti as he looks across Milan from his apartment.

Eudon Choi, London

From the view of his kitchen table, the womenswear designer sees a selection of sculptures and stacks of his husband's copies of Wallpaper*.

Karl Templer, artistic director Ports 1961, London

A green garden view greets the artistic director from his work desk in London.

Pierre Hardy, Paris

The window view through the accessories and jewellery aficionados wood panelled apartment reveals the splendour of the River Seine.

Thom Browne, New York

The designer presents an abstract view from his Central Park West location.

Petar Petrov, Vienna

Mannequins and a cutting table make up the designer's view across his mid-century apartment and live-in studio.

Isabel Marant, Paris

Natural beauty greets the progenitor of Parisian chic from her window.

Samuel Ross, founder A-Cold-Wall*, London

The boundary-pushing menswear designer shares a domestic scene from the London-based home he shares with his family.

Maria Skappel-Holzweiler, head of design Holzweiler, Oslo

For the head of design of the family run, Norwegian brand, respite comes in watching her children painting Easter eggs, outside in a pergola.

Sean Suen, Beijing

The menswear designer, who has been on lockdown since late January, shares a domestic scene in pencil and coloured wax crayon.

Lorraine Acornley, creative director Begg & Co, Hertfordshire

Quick daily observational sketches of a plant pot on Acornley's desk, ‘explore line and materials'.

Giuseppe Zanotti, Longiano

The Italian footwear behemoth is currently residing in his home in Longiano, Emilia-Romagna, a short distance from the brand's factory.

Daniel Rosenberry, artistic director Schiaparelli, New York 

‘My window, my desk, my things and me' – DR.

Tammy Kane, co-founder and creative director Christopher Kane, London

A view of nature across a conservatory has been imagined using oil on canvas and oil crayon.

Albert Kriemler, creative director Akris, St Gallen

Lines from First Suprematist Standing Poem (1965), by writer, visual artist and gardener Ian Hamilton Finlay, greet Kriemler.

Giuseppe Marretta, menswear design director, Pringle of Scotland, London

Exhibition posters and verdant plant life offer visual distraction for the menswear designer.

MM6 design collective, MM6, Paris

The eclectic collective serve up a symbolic sketch inspired by the inversion of social structures. ‘Even so, we are still singing,' they add.

Cecilie Bahnsen, Copenhagen

A huge Scots pine tree stands outside Bahnsen's window in the Danish capital.

Erdem Moralıoğlu, London

A sketch of rooftops from Moralıoğlu's window sits amongst ready-to-wear illustrations and swatches of fabric.

Alessandro Sartori, artistic director Ermenegildo Zegna, Milan

An abstract artwork, cosy chair and Cire Trudon candles all make up Sartori's domestic set up.

Roksanda Ilinčić, London

Linck Ceramics vases – from a curated Matchesfashion collection with Wallpaper's Picky Nicky – stand next to a window plastered with a community-focused NHS poster. 

Molly Molloy, co-founder Colville, Milan

‘I look out on to a courtyard of bright yellow apartments and have a balcony full of tropical plants. When the sun is out I have the windows open, you can hear the clattering of plates at lunch time and the smell of amazing Italian dishes cooking.' – MM

Ramesh Nair, artistic director Moynat, Paris

Stacks of artist monographs and a feline friend sit on Nair's busy work desk.

Feng Chen Wang, Shanghai

Shanghai's built up skyline forms the backdrop to the menswear designer's studio space.

Gherardo Felloni, creative director Roger Vivier, Isola del Giglio 

A burnt sun setting over the ocean greets the footwear designer from his island home.

Alexandre Mattiussi, founder AMI, Paris

A window view completely free of buildings offers the natural gift of a clear blue sky.

Mood board: Christopher Kane’s ‘More Joy’ merch collection, featuring pants, socks and eye masks emblazoned with the words ‘Sex’ and ‘Special’ has been a huge hit. It’s a capsule line that emerged from the brand’s A/W 2018 collection, which referenced the 1972 book The Joy of Sex. Kane loves flirting with the naughty and the concept of desire, so it was a natural fit that for A/W 2020 he looked to the biggest temptation of all: the Biblical Fall of Adam and Eve. The shape of a triangle – a symbol for the eye of god – was a focal point, with the show opening with a series of silk triangular cut-out dresses and coats in oddly paired brown and red tones. The trianglular motif recurred throughout the show in the form of seductive splices across shirting, graphic lace dresses, chainmail mini dresses with huge triangular bows, vinyl paneled knitwear and A-line suiting.

Finishing touches: Kane is a master of temptation himself, making things that err on bad taste like neon lace, lashings of rhinestones and gaudy prints utterly desirable. Case in point, the squidgy dye filled plastic embellishments that have become a signature of the brand. For A/W 2020 this meant wet look boots, sandals, dresses and sweeping coats implanted with squidgy globules and clear clutches bulging with glitter filled liquid.

Team work: Apart from the triangle, there were other references to The Fall, from the bold apple red tones of asymmetric knitwear and column dresses to the earthy browns that peppered the collection. Kane also used Adam and Eve, a 1582 painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder as a print in the collection, which was emblazoned across t-shirts and sweaters. We want to take a bite of it all. 

Mood board: In recent season’s Kane’s been revelling in the eroticism of sex, and its accompanying oddities and fetishes. Cue S/S 2018’s sexy yet saccharine rubber glove clad-housewives, inspired by Eighties South London brothel owner Cynthia Payne, or A/W 2019’s offering, nodding to balloon or rubber fetishists. Fashion’s relationship with the environment is spring’s most pressing topic (peaceful Extinction Rebellion protestors are a common show venue backdrop), and fittingly for S/S 2020 Kane took cues from people obsessed with the natural world. Photographic wildflower and cloud prints emblazoned tailored coats, t-shirt dresses and leg of mutton sleeve jackets, and in the designer’s typically subversive and futuristic style, natural prints were juxtaposed against neon lace and chainmail, petal shapes were formed slivers of gel and sweaters were printed with otherworldly Martian forms.

Scene setting: Inside a vast underground industrial space in Camden, walls projected photographic prints of meadows and clouds. A computerised female voice reiterated the ‘Eco Sexual’ nature of his collection, repeating the words ‘The stones, the flowers, the soil’, all sexual fodder for nature’s erotic obsessives.

Best in show: Kane fans look out for the self referential notes in his collections, like the photographic floral prints here which looked back to the ethereal applique florals in his S/S 2012 collection. Last season, Kane alluded to the gel-filled plastics he used in his A/W 2011 collection and for spring again, accessories and jewellery were made from glittering gel-filled plastics. The natural and the man made – two forces both fashion and the wider world is confronting today.  

Mood board: The fetishisation of clothing is prescient at fashion week. Just look to the industry’s seasonal obsession with a purse, a pocket, with what’s new. For A/W 2019 Kane had been thinking about human being’s obsessions with objects. The ‘rubberists’ – latex obsessives. The ‘looners’ – balloon addicts. The people with culturally unacceptable compulsions. Kane’s clothing explores the boundaries of taste. Sexuality and secrecy explored using leather, lace and ladylike embellishment. Metallics, fuchsia, forest green and scarlet were showcased for A/W 2019, within a range of naughty/naive, sensual/saccharine silhouettes. This meant flouncy cupcake hemline skirts, rubber lapel overcoats, colourful balloon print dresses and shirts draped with crystals. Which piece will be your obsession?

Finishing touches: Kane’s clothing has a greatest hits element. His fans note nods to previous collections: a buckle, a shred of neon lace, a botanical pattern. His A/W 2011 collection featured plastic inserts filled with colourful liquids, and this detail was seen for A/W 2019 in squidgy fluid-filled collars and pocket flaps. There was something medicinal about the accompanying clutches, which resembled IV bags, or long earrings, hanging like test tubes filled with a sticky substance. ‘Fluidity,’ Kane said of their meaning. ‘It’s alright to be as fluid as you want.’

Best in show: The ‘More Joy’ T-shirts which accompanied Kane’s A/W 2018 collection have been a hit, and no doubt his balloon emblazoned ‘Looner’ T-shirt will attract fans. Those gooey accessories will also be on the wish list of Kane customers old and new. Elsewhere, rubber detail tuxedo jackets bought eroticism to eveningwear, while a series of loose dresses draped with gems had a Delphic glamour. §

Mood board: In the #MeToo era, there’s a new caution in provocative dressing. But eroticism is something that Christopher Kane is embracing. Last season, the designer presented a collection inspired by illustrations from Chris Foss and Charles Raymond The Joy of Sex and More Joy of Sex. For S/S 2019, Kane was more wrapped up in the natural world. His collection, presented in the round at Tate Modern, was showcased against an eerie robotic soundtrack playing clips from nature programmes, and when played out inside the stark concrete backdrop of the showspace, it was bolstered with a hard, cyborg-like energy.

Best in show: The extensive collection incorporated a host of Kane’s signatures: lace detail dresses but with cut-outs that resembled armour or eerie exoskeletons, crystal embellished coats and oversized gem embellishments, bordering on bad taste. A series of logo t-shirts alluded to sex in the natural world, like a print of two praying mantis’ with the slogan ‘Sexual Cannibalism’, or two leopards fighting with the phrase ‘Fore Play’. Elsewhere, square shouldered blazers had a Claude Montana severity, and shiny silk dresses draped seductively across the body.

Finishing touches: The buckle-detail trainer that Kane introduced in 2016 has been a hit for the brand. For S/S 2019, alongside lace-detail and gemstone embellished boots, the designer debuted a colourful lace-up trainer. These were paired with acid wash denim mini dresses and tiny lace skirts, and bought modernity to those super sexy, shorter silhouettes. 

Sound bite: ‘It all started with illustrations from The Joy of Sex and More Joy of Sex, by Chris Foss and Charles Raymond. It’s both a text book study and a sensuous display of line drawing, almost in coffee table book form that’s both weird and really everyday. All of which always intrigues me.’ – Christopher Kane.

Mood board: Kane hammered home his intentions right from the outset this season. Before models even took to the runway at Tate Britain, a stark electro soundtrack repeated phrases (or perhaps commands) such as ‘more sex’ and ‘even more pleasure’. While the prodigal designer has never shied away from sensuality and subversion, his designs have never been as overtly erotic as they were for A/W 2018. Black crepe dresses bared jewel-encrusted cage constructions, while sheer rubber gowns entrapped with fine lace left little – or nothing – to the imagination. Cashmere jumpers were slashed horizontally and tailored leather jackets, skirts and boots were pierced with heavy crystals that jingled when moved.

Best in show: For all the kink, there was a sophistication in the rigorous detail and sharp silhouettes within the collection. Kane’s woman gained a new-found confidence and control with her armour-like jackets, crushed velvet tuxedo coat sand metallic brocade power suiting. You can bank on the marabou-trimmed camisole dresses, which bared illustrative prints from the two books, becoming collector’s items.

Left, Lemaire

A jolt of colour contributed to Christophe Lemaire and Sarah-Linh Tran’s ode to German aesthetics of the 1970s and 1980s.

Shirt, £270; trousers, £395; shoes, £340, all by Lemaire


Right, Christopher Kane

The designer’s saccharine yet sensual domestic goddess favoured frothy ruffled details and scarlet shades.

Coat, £3,995, by Christopher Kane. Earrings, £225, by Fay Andrada

As originally featured in the February 2018 issue of Wallpaper* (W*227)

Far left, Céline

Powerful proportions informed Phoebe Philo’s collection, like this draped dress with an accentuating leather waistline.

Dress, €4,500, by Céline. Earrings, €635, by Proenza Schouler. Tights, £35, by Wolford


Left, Lanvin

In a collection inspired by our fragmented digital age, different looks were spliced together, such as this utility-focused boiler suit and jacket.

Coat, £2,250; jumpsuit, £2,650; collar, £280, all by Lanvin


Right, Jil Sander

As part of their debut for the German house, Luke and Lucie Meier offset monastic shapes against skin-baring chequered fabrics.

Dress, £2,220; culottes, £560, both by Jil Sander. Earrings, £240, by Ambush. ‘Stromboli’ table, €5,800, by India Mahdavi

Left, Dior Homme

Sharp tailoring was offset by a soft nostalgia, evoked by ribbon scarves bearing the Rue de Marignan address of the Dior men’s studio in Paris.

Jacket, £1,600; trousers, £590; scarf, £230, all by Dior Homme. Shoes, £387, by Pierre Hardy


Right, Dior

Maria Grazia Chiuri paid homage to Niki de Saint Phalle, this trench coat nodding to the French-American sculptor’s bold use of colour.

Coat, £4,700; boots, £1,150, both by Dior

Left, Raf Simons

There were Japanese elements to the Belgian designer’s offering, which featured oversized blazers buttoned across the chest in homage to the cut of a kimono.

Blazer, €1,239, by Raf Simons


Right, Hermès

Workwear stitching and movement-friendly shapes did the heavy lifting in Véronique Nichanian’s relaxed offering.

Shirt, £590; trousers, £540, both by Hermès. Scarf, vintage, from Kiliwatch Paris. ‘CH23’ dining chair, £569, by Hans J Wegner, for Carl Hansen & Søn

Left, Saint Laurent

Anthony Vaccarello continued his love affair with the 1980s with voluminous puffball silhouettes inspired by vintage haute couture.

Dress, £12,855, by Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello. Earrings, €635, by Proenza Schouler


Right, Louis Vuitton

For his Hawaii-inspired collection, menswear director Kim Jones juxtaposed monogrammed surfer tops with oversized Wall Street suiting.

Jacket, £1,950; shirt, £600; top, £440; trousers, £650, all by Louis Vuitton. ‘D.156.3’ armchair, €4,524, by Gio Ponti, for Molteni & C


Far right, Louis Vuitton

Meanwhile, head of womenswear Nicolas Ghesquière used leather to add a modern edge to the high necks and wide collars of regimental frock coats.

Coat, £7,500, by Louis Vuitton. Earrings, £225, by Fay Andrada

Left, Gucci

Part of a catwalk collection that blended gender, genre and decade, Alessandro Michele’s gently flaring suit has real retro flair.

Jacket, £1,310; shirt, £355; trousers, £435; shoes, £2,070, all by Gucci


Right, Loewe

The Madrid-based house celebrates contemporary craft in this reinterpretation of the trench coat, shredded into curling streams of fabric.

Coat, £4,890; boots, £725, both by Loewe. Earrings, €635, by Proenza Schouler. ‘Henri’ bench, €4,860, by India Mahdavi

Far left, Prada

The women’s collection sported polka dots, plastics and fake folds, emphasising Miuccia Prada’s fascination with punk, 1950s fashion and trompe-l’oeil. 

Coat, £1,810, by Prada. Earrings, €635, by Proenza Schouler


Left, Prada

For menswear, her triple-layered silhouettes looked to comic strips, retro spacesuits and colour-blocked bowling shirts.

Coat, £3,005; shirt (tan), £435; boiler suit (red), £1,030, all by Prada


Right, Ermenegildo Zegna

Alessandro Sartori matched sports-luxe silhouettes with organic shades, as seen in this combo of caramel overcoat and trousers with jogging bottom detail.

Coat, £2,860; trousers, £800, both by Ermenegildo Zegna Couture. Shoes, £340, by Lemaire. Scarf, vintage, from Kiliwatch Paris. ‘Henri’ table, €11,880, by India Mahdavi

Left, Proenza Schouler

With this corset-detail overcoat, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez gave outerwear silhouettes an eveningwear vibe.

Coat, €3,170, by Proenza Schouler. ‘D.156.3’ armchair, as before


Right, Chanel

Karl Lagerfeld took on the elements with plastic fantastic double-breasted coats, rain hats and gloves.

Coat, £11,740, by Chanel. Earrings, €635, by Proenza Schouler. Tights, £35, by Wolford. ‘Henri’ bench, as before

Mood board: For his spring/summer 2018 show, held in the round against a concrete backdrop at the Tate Modern, Christopher Kane was inspired by the clothing choices of domestic queens. That is, squeaky-clean women whose homes sparkle and shine, their cupboards lined with rubber Marigold gloves and pastel scrubbing brushes. Kane was captivated not only by their wardrobes – think floral print transparent housecoats, flouncy ruffled dresses and doily-like broderie anglaise collars – but what lies beneath their immaculate Stepford veneers. Forming a counterpoint to those pristine pieces were more sexual and subversive silhouettes, such as red negligees, and cut out lace dresses embellished with Swarovski crystals. That broderie anglaise collar, when paired with a shiny black trench coat, became an outfit of a naughty French maid, and made reference to the infamous sex parties of Cynthia Payne, a party hostess who ran a brothel in a suburban area of Streatham during the 1970s and 80s.

Best in show: A series of looks riffed on cleaning utensils and domestic supplies, like a black shirt dress made from a plastic bin liner-like fabric with a bright yellow pussy bow; pastel sweaters and cardigans made from scratchy scourer-like fabric; and crimson coats and slitted silk dresses embellished with clothes pegs. Handbags were covered with cleanliness-first crystal hair nets and pointed sandals were smothered with fringing made from mop-heads, while gleaming Marigold-esque gloves were unnervingly white, as if hinting at something more sinister afoot.

Finishing touches: Kane teamed up with regular collaborator Atelier Swarovski, who he worked with to design 2007’s ‘Bolster’ necklace, an encrusted rope-like choker. For S/S 2018, the designer revisited this signature design with colourful twinkling chokers and bracelets. Were they symbols of domestic disturbia?

Mood board: Christopher Kane paid tribute to the working woman this season, delivering punchy, industrial looks that displayed a tough femininity. ‘She’s the kind of girl who likes sharp lines and the ease of Velcro,’ explained the Scottish designer after the show. ‘I had this idea of a female factory worker in my mind,’ he added. In typical fashion, Kane filtered this narrative through a stream of influences – from the otherworldly art of the late Ionel Talpazan to the subversion of technology. ‘There are many lotions and potions in this mix,’ he said of the line, which showcased oil-slick effect knits, holographic corsages, mink-lined Crocs and abstract dresses that sprouted tulle in an awkward but elegant manner.

Sound bite: ‘There are always variations to our work every season,’ mused Kane. ‘It’s never one thing because I get really bored. I mean, I’ve always been a fan of outsiders, and that’s why the street artist Ionel Talpazan felt so right at this moment. But I suppose that luxury doesn’t have to be about a beautiful gown or dress, for me – it’s something different, it’s not normal.’

Finishing touch: A pair of pointed strappy sandals contained padded foam panels, as though they’d been freshly plucked from their shoebox. ‘It’s something you’ve seen so many times before, but has never actually been a functional thing – until now,’ concluded Kane.

Mood board: Faux fur and floral cut-outs opened Christopher Kane's 10 year anniversary show at London's Tate Britain, which was sprinkled with hits from the past decade. Embracing the British ‘Make Do and Mend’ mentality, Kane’s original lace tube dresses were back in business, along with their gilt metal loops. So too was a metallic series of Lurex knits and slightly disco knife pleated skirts, while the designer's early mood boards were snapped and repurposed as photo prints. However, in spite of the nods to Kane’s back catalogue, everything on the runway felt new and now.

Best in show: Kane's black hardware hinged dresses that had an Eighties edge to them, followed by a particularly precious jewelled chain mail skirt that was studded with recently unearthed rocks. Here’s hoping that mix-matched crystals are picking up where the recent trend for wood and ceramic buttons left off – who couldn’t do with some healing to go.

Finishing touches: The designer went heavy on the jewellery for spring, with his models, bags and even shoes dripping with shiny trinkets; cue rock crystal drop earrings that also adorned the show's plastic Crocs. Take note: Kane is about to do for Crocs what Vetements recently did for Champion.

INFORMATION
Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans

Roberto Vedovotto likes to think of Kering Eyewear as a startup, a lean, mean entrepreneurial upstart bringing innovation and disruption to a business dominated by a few too-powerful players. But if this is a startup, it’s an unusually smart one. No Ikea trestle-tables and sticker-plastered laptops here, none of the scruffy urgency of Silicon Valley or Shoreditch.

Vedovotto’s startup is backed – to what percentage has not been disclosed – by luxury goods giant Kering Group (formerly known as Gucci Group) with a 20-strong brand stable that includes Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney. And its new inside-but-outside eyewear division has suitably glamorous quarters in Villa Zaguri, a smartly restored Renaissance pile just outside Padua.

Less than half an hour’s drive west of Venice, this is the heartland of Italy’s high-end, high-skill manufacturing base. And the local skill set includes eyewear. Safilo, the world’s second largest eyewear company after Luxottica – and the company that, until recently, made eyewear under licence for a number of Kering brands – is based here.

Vedovotto, a former Safilo CEO, formed Kering Eyewear in September 2014 with the clear intention of challenging the established order and pushing a new business model for the industry. A report by Exane BNP Paribas called the launch an ‘eyewear revolution’.

The luxury goods industry has long licensed out its fragrance, eyewear and beauty businesses, even though these are the real money-spinners. They are also ‘entry products’, the point where younger customers especially get their first ‘experience’ of a brand and hopefully develop a taste for more.

This arrangement can seem counter-intuitive, particularly when it comes to eyewear. The premium fashion segment of the eyewear market could now be worth as much as $12.5bn. It is also an area with massive growth potential. Licensing arrangements then mean not only a loss of creative control, but also a loss of pure profit. The brands pull in huge royalty payments, but they are only a percentage of the possible returns. At the time of the launch of Kering Eyewear, Vedovotto said the Kering Group’s eyewear business was worth €350m, generating royalties of €50m.

However, while the luxury goods giants have been buying back licences in other categories, most have considered producing and distributing eyewear too far out of their comfort zone. ‘Eyewear is a very technical product,’ says Vedovotto. ‘It also has a completely distinct distribution model.’ Supplying thousands of independent opticians around the world is definitely not part of the luxury goods group's skill set. Still, with a number of Kering licences coming up for renewal, Vedovotto and Kering Group CEO François-Henri Pinault thought it was time to take a risk. The rewards were simply too great to ignore.

Kering Eyewear is based around what Vedovotto calls a mixed-model. Essentially, it has taken back control of design and product development, working with the creative teams of each brand, marketing and brand management, logistics and distribution. The only link of the ‘value chain’ that it hasn’t ‘internalised’ is manufacturing. But instead of being locked into deals with the licensed manufacturers, it is now free to deal with a whole range of specialist makers. This new model means that Kering Eyewear can ‘create products that are fully aligned with the brands’ DNA’, as Vedovotto puts it. It will also look at upping quality without ramping up prices and undermining the ranges’ entry product promise.

The man charged with making all this happen is Kering Eyewear’s creative director Massimo Zuccarelli, also formerly of Safilo. He heads up a 25-strong team in Padua, which managed to put out nine eyewear collections less than a year after Kering Eyewear was launched (and while their renaissance villa was still being decorated and without Wi-Fi. ‘It was kind of a nightmare, but the energy was incredible,’ says Zuccarelli).

These launch ranges included a debut eyewear collection for the Milan-based jewellery brand Pomellato. Since then, collections by Tomas Maier and Christopher Kane have also been added. The creative relationship with the brands varies, says Zuccarelli: ‘Some teams come up with a very full briefing with shapes, designs, technical drawings and materials. Others present more of a vision. We don’t have a rule. We have the right support for anyone.’ Kane seems to support that. ‘I showed them my crappy sketches and they made them a reality,’ he says, only half-joking.

What seems to most excite Zuccarelli, though, is the range of manufacturers – and thus finishes, materials and effects – he can now show the brands. He seems particularly excited about the Japanese makers that Kering is now working with, even if costs mean he has to use them sparingly. ‘There are a lot of niche eyewear brands in Japan and we are the first people to use those makers for other brands. The finishing of the Japanese makers is different because they are so obsessed with vintage; the galvanic treatment, the polishing, the raw materials they use, the acetates, it really recalls vintage eyewear.’

The group now works with over 30 different suppliers. But, as Vedovotto says, this is not just fancy and indulgence on their part. This wealth of materials and finishes means they can produce ranges with distinct looks and identities. With 11 brands already up and running, Gucci on the way and long term plans to launch more, cannibalisation of sales is an obvious risk. ‘I don’t want to do the same thing as everyone else,’ says Kane. ‘They are constantly bringing these new techniques and technologies to the table so everyone has options and can do something different.’

Inevitably, perhaps, it is with the debut eyewear ranges that Zuccarelli has had the most freedom and pure fun. For Tomas Maier, he has developed a small range of contemporary aviators with flat lenses and other reworkings of American classics.

With Pomellato, the job was to create a range that somehow built on the brand identity without doing the obvious. ‘We wanted to do something different from just putting jewels or stones on the glasses,’ says Zuccarelli. ‘The idea was to replicate the feeling and the craftsmanship. And it wasn’t easy. We worked on the acetates to replicate the colour of the stones and the polishing and the finishing to replicate the feeling of the stones. The result is incredible.’ Sometimes these vivid acetates in different colours are melded in one frame, to startling effect. As Pomellato creative director Vincenzo Castaldo says, the Kering Eyewear team has also managed to do something smart and playful with a key part of the Pomellato design language. ‘Traditionally, a griffe was just a functional element to keep a stone in place,’ says Castaldo. ‘But in the early 1990s, Pomellato transformed it into something decorative in its own right, part of the overall aesthetics.’ The griffe reappears on the eyewear collection, transformed into a hinge.

With other brands there were different challenges. For Stella McCartney, the team worked with acetate specialists Mazzuchelli to develop a sustainable bio-acetate. And Zuccarelli is determined to use sustainable materials across all ranges within a few years. Material development is key, he says, and he is keen on using new and unique materials, when economies of scale allow. Zuccarelli is more than conscious that the venture will fail if he can’t bring all this novelty and innovation in under a certain price, or produce ranges with a ‘price architecture' that fits the brand and the market.

‘The prototypes we show the brands are exactly as they will be in the final production,’ he says. ‘Every problem, every detail has been worked out. We understand how it can be industrialised and how much it will cost. And for every prototype, there are alternatives, fully costed in the same way. It is very difficult because there is this balance between creativity and industrial design. And we are in the middle. We want to create proper collections based on market needs.’

There are still those, though, who think that however in tune they are with market needs, Kering Eyewear will struggle, at least at first. Startup costs have been significant. A renaissance villa full of the right kind of talent doesn’t come cheap. And when Kering Eyewear was launched, its prize licence, Gucci, still had four years to run. It had to pay Safilo €90m to terminate the licence two years early (Safilo will continue to produce the collection, at least for the next four years). Gucci will become Kering Eyewear property at the end of 2016, and the success of the first Gucci collection is essential.

What Luxottica and Safilo offered, apart from manufacturing know-how, is a huge distribution network and sales force. An Exane BNP Paribas’ report on the launch of Kering Eyewear identified getting to grips with distribution as probably its biggest challenge. And two years on, Luca Solca, head of luxury goods at Exane BNP Paribas, remains unconvinced that the new operation will deliver better returns than the previous licensing deals. ‘Kering Eyewear is an interesting experiment, but it looks like an over-ambitious business proposition to me.’

Vedovotto thinks he can prove them wrong. Distribution will be handled by a dedicated sales team, rather than agents on commission, which is how the licence holders handle it. And though the opticians, department stores and airport outlets won’t be neglected, there will be more accent on Kering’s directly-operated boutiques.

The Kering model is not something Safilo and Luxottica will want to see prosper, especially Safilo, which is far more reliant on its licence deals, but Vedovotto insists that the market is big enough to allow for happy commercial co-habitation. Nor does he see other groups and brands rushing to follow the Kering Eyewear example. ‘The business model we have decided to go for is not for everyone. There are only a few groups that can potentially afford an initiative like this.’

Kering Eyewear is not the only revolutionary in the market though. Warby Parker, for example, has developed from a cult online brand to a serious player that’s now opening its own stores. Vedovotto feels he shares a kinship with Warby Parker in terms of a startup’s flexibility and derring-do. And, ultimately, he believes this is what will get them through. ‘All the people here have the entrepreneurial spirit that is key to this initiative,’ he says. ‘This is the most difficult thing that any of us has done in our lives. But that’s the interesting part. It’s a challenge and a huge opportunity.’

As originally featured in the September 2016 issue of Wallpaper* (W*210)

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Kering Eyewear website

Photography: Albrecht Fuchs

Alexander McQueen: This season’s wanderlust message was born on Savile Row in London’s swinging 1960s before taking flight to the exotic, Indian orient. Sharp, sober suiting was adorned with ornate tapestries and elaborate embroideries, while the season’s lavish jewellery looked to have been borrowed from a Maharaja’s purse. 

Thom Sweeney: London always delivers on luxury tailoring. And for S/S 2017, designers have been looking to a slightly more roughish muse. Thom Whiddett and Luke Sweeney’s collection of sharp shoulders, supple linens and soft colours name checked Patricia Highsmith’s Fifties psychological thriller The Talented Mr. Ripley as a key influence

Christopher Kane: With its off-white curves, Kane’s John Pawson-designed flagship store provided an arrestingly austere backdrop to the designer’s S/S 2017 menswear showcase. ‘Taking the everyday and looking at it in a new way,’ was how he described the collection of sportswear inspired pieces. Peppered with graphics taken from cop show Law & Order and police identification techniques, Kane’s handwriting was there in the gingham and traditional checks, which were for this season, woven with reflective thread

John Smedley: Knitwear maestro John Smedley looked to British Brutalist architecture for inspiration this season. Multiple techniques were employed to give jumpers a 3D quality, while sharp, graphic patterns alluded to building construction. To coincide with the collection’s launch a new flagship store has also opened on London’s Jermyn Street

Pieter: Sebastiaan Pieter’s signature style is one of modernity, manliness and making out. The artist Felix González-Torres’ Untitled (Go-go Dancing Platform) from 1991, provided the central reference for S/S 2017. The collection was of playful, perverse proportions – clothes revealed a slit of skin at the hip or a completely bare back. Silver lamé speedos peaked out from the top of ultra-low-rise wool trousers; the models paced the room, pressing up against a set of white, billowing drapes to the sultry din of Lana Del Rey as if ready to perform their own sordid, sartorial soliloquy

Christopher Raeburn: The designer continued his seasonal fashion travels for S/S 2017, this time going boldly where no man has gone before: outer space. This exploration took in an array of outerwear options. Standouts included a parka and bomber jacket with detachable modular compartments. Raeburn’s sustainable ethos continued with a series of classic and highly functional pieces all made from recycled parachutes. A playful element came in the form of a rocket motif that raced across sweaters and t-shirts.

Turnbull and Asser: And so to 1970s Monte Carlo at Turnbull and Asser – the collection of smart suiting and playful prints was an ode to the roguish side of the heroes of the Grand Prix. The statement horizontal stripe blazers in ultra-light wool maintain the pep and polish for which the brand is known. Completing the look wwre 1970s-inspired custom crash helmets with unique decorative bubble visors made exclusively in collaboration with Davida. Better safe than sorry

Wales Bonner: The brand’s debut solo show drew on her South East London and Jamaican heritage. Formal tailoring and the kind of occasion clothing reserved for Sunday best was the focus. Narrow jackets that buttoned high were teamed with lean cropped trousers. Elsewhere, frock coats and caplets offered an element of grandeur. As always the devil was in the detail with handcrafted elements such as crystal and shell embellishments, embroideries and crochet adorning collars and cuffs

Joseph: This season Joseph chose to showcase their S/S 2017 collection through a film directed by Vincent Lacrocq and Kristell Chenut. The film follows a single character over a period of 48 hours living between London and Paris – a reflection of Joseph’s Anglo-Franco heritage. Clothing wise designer Mark Thomas looked to workwear and military dress for inspiration. A long, straight cut white canvas jacket with black contrast topstitching summed up the collection’s direction perfectly

Belstaff: The title to Belstaff’s S/S 2017 collection is taken directly from the film On Any Sunday, a documentary about motorcycle racing made in 1971 starring Steve McQueen. It featured a role call of racers from the late 1960s and early 1970s, all of whom talked candidly about life on the tracks. The clothes were inspired by the brand’s own archives from the period too; the diamond application on leather jackets reflecting the craze for customisation that helped the pioneering track riders of the Seventies make their name. A racing undershirt in hand-waxed leather took its name from flat-track supremo Don Castro

Matthew Miller: A halcyon rebellion always bubbles under the surface of designer Matthew Miller’s work. His most recent, and most poetic collection to date, entitled Tempest, began with a seemingly romantic reference – a cloud study by the British painter John Constable. In fact, a reproduction of the work was hung upon the wood-chipped walls of the council house Miller grew up in circa the early eighties. Those clouds were translated into bleached denim – the uniform of early skinhead culture. Clouds were woven and printed into fabrics tailored into Miller’s modern, militant shapes. More sophisticated skinhead than Shakespearean flight of fancy

Thomas Pink: ‘Business casual’ took on a whole new meaning at Thomas Pink’s S/S 2017 presentation at The ICA. Nonchalantly sitting on chairs suspended across a wall were 15 impeccably half-dressed men in a range of shirts, crisp boxer shorts, long, fine-gauge socks and leather lace-up shoes. Frederik Willems, the brand’s head of design explained: ‘Business shirting is our heartland and we felt it time to celebrate that at LCM. With simple plains in white, blue and pink set alongside a sprinkling of traditional Jermyn Street designs – it’s time to get back to business’

Casely Hayford: The latest collection from fashion’s much-loved father and son duo was a riot of print and punk. The swing of the clothes was pure street souk with influence taken from the parochial dress codes that grew from two British anti-establishment movements in music. The label’s signature swank jammed with textiles straight out of 1970s rock, before ethnographic dress styles from Morocco and Palestine segued into the minimalism of noughties grime. 

E Tautz: Political posturing of the sartorial kind is having a resurgence. Hoards of attendees to the London menswear shows wore a range of t-shirts urging people to register to vote to remain in the EU, designed and produced by the artist Wolfgang Tillmans. Designer Patrick Grant came out for his bow at the end of his S/S 2017 presentation wearing an oversized white t-shirt emblazoned with the word IN. The show notes made reference to his models hailing from at least right different European countries, while the skilled men and women who made the clothes (fine pinstripe cotton and mohair mix jackets, wide pleated shorts) are from at least nine. E Tautz is in, in more ways than one.

Lou Dalton: This season Lou Dalton took a hike in Britain’s picturesque natural landscape for inspiration. Lightweight parkas and zip-front Harringtons came in rainproof, high-shine nylon ready to take on the elements, camouflage-like jacquards resembling bracken covered kagools and knee-length shorts. Dalton also teamed up with knitwear specialists John Smedley on a jumper style for immediate sale

Tiger of Sweden: Sweden’s royal seat of Kunglinga Slottet palace was the starting point for Niklas Johansson’s modern ode to the Baroque, which was tempered with a good dose of Scandinavian restraint. Wild tapestry floral prints created by artist Jakob Krajcik blossomed everywhere. Other exuberant flourishes included jacquard tunics and regency-style mourning suits paired back with techno field jackets, while bright, wallpaper striped jogging suits punctuated the show’s more minimal casual wear. A stand out piece was a leather biker hand painted by Krajcik.

MCM: In celebration of MCM’s 40th anniversary the German brand collaborated with Christopher Raeburn on a sustainably-minded unisex r-t-w and accessory collection, presented in the round with the help of design studio Universal Everything who masterminded the show’s digital journey through a range of weather systems. Based around the notion of movement and the hands-free needs of today’s global nomad, Raeburn reworked classic menswear archetypes like the trench, bomber and anorak which he covered with graphic prints including a ’splinter cameo’ and ’sonic wave’ – the latter an interpretation of sound waves using the house’s logo. Military-inspired accessories came completely modular with an emphasis on 3-in-1 bags, which were asking to be customised by the brand’s legions of Gen-Y fans

Mackintosh: The British heritage brand focused in on new performance fabrics for S/S 2017 working with a lightweight waterproof striped nylon that fashioned three-quarter length coats, which had a casual pyjama feel. Having launched a Japanese denim line last season, new styles in the workwear material included the house’s classic Mac (also cut in a diagonal stripe rubberised cotton) and a more casual hooded anorak. Print was also in the mix for summer, having worked with Liberty on an exclusive archive paisley, while a new camo graphic covered the house’s accessory collaboration with Japanese bag brand Porter

Private White VC: This is a label that wants to ease some of the stuffiness out of British clothing. For S/S 2017, creative director Nick Ashley looked at the clothes we wear to jet away. Presented in a fictitious departure lounge that was built in the basement of the label’s Mayfair store, the resulting collection explored smart menswear classics in modern, crisp fabrics. The ultimate travel companion? A three-button, relaxed-fit suit in waterproof performance cotton, naturally

Dunhill: The British tailoring brand used the LCM spotlight to launch its elegant new eyewear collection in association with De Rigo Vision. And with a nod to Alfred Dunhill’s motoring origins, they also threw some of England’s finest classic cars into the mix; including a Black Jaguar XK120 and Aston Martin D85 along with the founder’s very own 1913 ‘Tweenie’ car for the swanky event

If there was ever a high note for live musical fashion performances, the S/S 2016’s womenswear season was it.

The power of a concert, fused with a fashion show, saw Courtney Love take on ‘the machine’ at Philipp Plein’s robotic Milan presentation, while Givenchy’s outdoor New York spectacular was accompanied by a moving line-up of artists paired with instrumentalists from a variety of ethnicities.

Burberry Prorsum’s London show (pictured) featured British singer Alison Moyet and a 32-piece orchestra conducted by Joe Duddell. Then over in Paris, Rick Owens' ‘Cyclops’ presentation featured a live performance by Unkle and Eska Mtungwazi with an arrangement of Jimmy’s Scott’s ‘This Land Is Mine’.

Not that the mix tape has had its day. Quite the contrary, it was especially well represented at Hunter Original where we were transported to Glastonbury via the brand's London Fashion Week show tent. ‘There was definitely a sense of nostalgia to the playlist at our show,’ explained creative director Alasdhair Willis of his festival-ready staging, ‘but it was moulded with current headliner tracks, which I hope took the audience back to a euphoric festival experience of their own.’ His playlist represented the familiar genres of festival music from techno and house, right through to indie guitar: ‘To reflect the many differing festival personalities and celebrating the best of Brit pop and rock from the last 20,’ he added.

Even more personal was Rag & Bone’s original track, 'Villain', composed by friend of the brand, Thom York. The track itself was performed with the accompaniment of twelve members of the Brooklyn Youth Chorus; a collective of talented young singers representing 200 schools citywide. ‘As a New York brand, we were delighted to have members of the Brooklyn Youth Chorus collaborate on the track and it was fitting that it was performed at St. Ann’s Warehouse, an institution which has hosted some historic live performances,’ explained designer Marcus Wainwright.

So without further delay here are our S/S 2016 sound show highlights….

Givenchy
'Calling the Lama From Afar' by singer Lama Gyurme and Jean Philippe Rykiel on piano; 'Where have you been my kid?' by Svetlana Spajic; 'Asmar ellon (The One with the Olive Skin]' by Gaida and Zafer; 'Shalom Aleichem' by singer Rinat Shaham and violinist Jacob Malkin; 'Adharan' by Falguni Shah and harmonium player Gaurav; 'Ave Maria' by singer Faustine de Mones and pianist Jin Jung

Gareth Pugh
'Gimme Shelter (Merry Clayton Vocal)' by The Rolling Stones; 'Silver Screen (Thin White Duke Mix)' by Felix Da Housecat; 'Missy Queen's Gonna die' by Toktok Vs. Soffy O; 'Situation (12" Mix)' by Yazoo; 'Time to Burn' by Storm; 'Bad Girls' by Donna Summer; 'Emerge (The Hacker Remix)' by Fischerspooner; 'Meet Her at the Love Parade' by Da Hool; 'Smalltown Boy (12" Version)' by Bronski Beat; 'No More Tears (Enough is Enough)(extended version)' by Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer

Antonio Marras
'Camomille (duduk)' by Arto Tunçboyacıyan; 'Henry Torgue & Serge Houppin' by Les Racines du Reve; 'Kassidat El Hakka' by Sexwitch; 'Helelyos' by Sexwitch; 'Ha Howa Ha Howa' by Sexwitch; 'Dawn of the Iconoclast' by Dead Can Dance; 'Carnival of Light' by Dead Can Dance

Christopher Kane
'Kin To Coal?' by Vessel; 'Peaches?' by Blawan; 'Strange Dreams' by Untold; 'Sicko' by Rex The Dog; 'My Bro' by Tonetta; 'You Put A Smell On Me' by Matthew Dear; 'Cherchez Pas' by Madleen Kane

Hunter Original
'Electronic Battle Weapon 11' by The Chemical Brothers; 'The Hunter' by Slaves; 'Daydreamer' by Menswear; 'Impossible (Special Request Remix)' by Lion Babe; 'In Bloom' by Hooverphonic; 'Bang That' by Disclosure; '24 Hour Party People' by Happy Mondays

Lacoste
'No Type (Canblaster & Siroj Orchestral Refix)' by Rae Sremmurd; 'Moments In Love (Kid Antoine Remix) 'Art Of Noise; 'Black Rainbow' by Koreless; 'Crisis (Live Dub)' by Jam City; 'No Type (Canblaster & Siroj Orchestral Refix)' by Rae Sremmurd; 'Your Silent Face (New Order Instrumental Cover)' by User X

Louis Vuitton
'Minecraft (Video Game) Teaser'; 'Atari Corporate Tag' by Suzanne Ciani; 'A New Error' by Moderat; 'Flynn Lives (Tron Legacy Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)' by Daft Punk; 'The Grid (Tron Legacy Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)' by Daft Punk; 'Crescendo (Final) (Notre Jour Viendra Original Soundtrack)' by Sebastian

MSGM
'Deceptacon' by Le Tigre; 'Phanta' by Le Tigre; 'Hot Topic' by Le Tigre

Philipp Plein
'Trans Europe Express (Remastered)' by Kraftwerk; 'The Robots (Remastered)' by Kraftwerk; 'The Swell' by Sølyst; 'Sex' by Fukkk Offf; 'The Model (Remastered)' by Kraftwerk; 'Model' by Balanescu Quartet; 'Ingenium' by Baal; 'Krack' by SBCR & Owl Vision

Rag & Bone
Original track 'Villain' by Thom York

Rick Owens
'This Land' by Unkle, performed by Mtungwazi Eska with Connie Bidouzo and Audrey Gbaguidi

Vanessa Seward
Music by Bertrand Burgalat with Christophe Chassol who harmonised Seward's voice alongside German group Donna Regina

Burberry Prorsum
Live performance by British artist Alison Moyet singing ‘All Cried Out’; ‘When I Was Your Girl’; ‘Whispering Your Name’; ‘Only You’ accompanied by a 32-piece orchestra conducted by Joe Duddell

Saint Laurent
Original track 'The Mirror' by Damaged Bug, which was written and recorded in Los Angeles by John Dwyer for Saint Laurent

Public School
Custom soundtrack by Twin Shadow

INFORMATION

Photography: Courtesy of Burberry Prorsum

Rick Owens: Everyone at fashion week has seen a fringe or two in their time, whether it's sported by a catwalk model, famous face or even a handbag. But an invitation? That's novel, even to us. Rick Owens is to thank for this one, sending a suede-covered, embossed board coated in deep tan and mouse grey suede, fringed by - you guessed it - a trim of luscious locks. Bonkers and brilliant in equal measure

Anya Hindmarch: The doyenne of tongue-in-cheek, Hindmarch sent a miniature textured leather road sign attached to a spot-varnished card, warning us of the dressed-up diversions that lay ahead. It seems she may have tempted fate; the show indeed held London's fashion crowd up, though the eventual M25-inspired runway-meets-motorway (and Little Chef breakfast) more than made up for it

Mood board: It was a love-in at Christopher Kane from start to finish (and most especially after the tragic sudden passing of Kane and his sister Tammy’s mother, Christine, just days before the show) as many of the season’s key profile illustrations were inspired by a series of life drawing classes that took place at the designer’s studio and formed A/W’s ‘lover’s lace’.

Best in show: Kane dubbed his liberal sprinkling of glitter on nudes sketched as lace, gleaming lamé knitwear, pixelated chainmail and sparkling thunderbolt motifs as an ‘eclectic organism’, but we saw them as a rather welcome disco encore that got the heart racing.

Finishing touches: The house’s signature safety buckle fastenings leapt up onto dresses in 2D, as well as shoes in 3D form, while Kane’s boxy croc bags with mirrored, metallic ball feet were the reflection of perfection and will take pride of place in his new London flagship store.

Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans

Fashion week, nowadays, is about much more than just the collections. Showmanship is the name of the game, and in the meticulously executed sartorial extravaganzas, the sound space is an element that no producer or designer can afford to overlook. Music royalty - past, present and future - is enlisted to ensure a full assault on the senses. Here, we bring you London Fashion Week's catwalk mega-mix from the S/S 2015 womenswear collections.

FRIDAY 12/09

Eudon Choi
'Cosmogony' by Bjork; 'Workinonit' by J Dilla; 'Still Water' by Four Tops; 'Sir Greendown' by Janelle Monae; 'Stay Tuned' by Robert Wyatt; 'The Roadette Song' by Kilburn & The High Roads; 'Numbers' by FKA Twigs; 'Rocket Number 9' by Sun Ra; 'Valentine' by Tricky; 'Aht Uh Mi Hed' by Shuggie Otis; 'Holiday' by Micachu and The Shapes; 'Caravan' by Blur; 'Air Makes My Day' by Elmore Judd; 'Little By Little' by Radiohead
Music production: Peter Duffy

SATURDAY 13/09

Hunter Original
'Witness The Fitness' by Roots Manuva; 'Bear Hug' by 2 Bears; 'Underwater Love' by Smoke City; 'Reservoir' by Metronomy; 'Sea Of Love' by Marty Wilde; 'Only Happy When It Rains' by Garbage
Music production: John Gosling

JW Anderson
'Unfurla' by Clark; 'Get Me What You Want' by Bok Bok & Tom Trago
Music production: Michel Gaubert

SUNDAY 14/09

Margaret Howell
'Feeling Good (Nicholas Jaar remix)' by Nina Simone; 'Here Comes The Sun (Francois K mix)' by Nina Simone; 'Ain't Got No…I've Got Life' by Nina Simone
Music production: Paul Thomas

Richard Nicoll
'Aurora (Instrumental)' by Bjork; 'I Close The Door Upon Myself' by Susumu Yakota; 'Born, Never Asked' by Laurie Anderson; 'Sieben Stucke fur 2 Xylophon' by Carl Orff; 'Anjos' by Julianna Barwick; 'Little April Shower' from Bambi 2

Paul Smith
'Coplita (Instrumental)' by Chancha Via Circuito; 'Everything Belongs To The Sun' by Psapp; 'Alright To Me' by Eckoclick; 'Bad Luck' by Eckoclick; 'Everything Belongs To The Sun' by Psapp
Music production: Andrew Hale & Peter Smith

Mary Katrantzou
'Amarant 8' by Scanner; 'Trippin' With The Birds' by Stereolab & Nurse With Wound; 'Another Wave From You' by M83
Music production: Frédéric Sanchez

Jonathan Saunders
From the soundtrack of film 'Under The Skin'

MONDAY 15/09

Burberry Prorsum
Live performance by James Bay playing 'Clocks Go Forward', 'When We Were On Fire' and 'Scars'

Christopher Kane
'The Shining' by Wendy Carlos; 'In The Upper Room: Dance II' by Philip Glass; 'Can't Be Beat' by Quiet Village Project; 'Rendez Vous at 2099' by Marco Passarani; 'At The Dark End Of The Street' by Diamanda Galas; 'Can't Be Beat' by Quiet Village Project
Music production: Simon Halsberghe

Peter Pilotto
Untitled composition by Michiel Helbig

Tom Ford
'Addicted to Love (acapella)' by Florence And The Machine; 'Addicted to Love' by Theresa Miele; 'Turn Your Light On Me' by Lucy Schwartz; 'Hey Pretty' by Poe; 'Two Men In Love' by The Irrepressibles

TUESDAY 16/09

Simone Rocha
'Polonaise' arranged and played live by Cloud Castle Lake
Music production: Max Rocha

Dedicating his latest collection to his friend and mentor Louise Wilson OBE, Christopher Kane set out by explaining in his show notes how he - shortly after her untimely death - had found a box of photos of his sister Tammy wearing cast-aside prototypes featuring 'coils, chords and ropes' from his MA degree days. This was where Kane decided to pick up from for spring, building his nascent student samples into perhaps his most elegant offering yet. The Scottish designer's collections are always a deeply personal affair, through which he often re-lives his youth, and to wit this season's dominant Bordeaux hue came courtesy of his high school uniform. This maroon was successfully paired with cream, navy, dove grey and sky blue to form a rich summer palette. Kane's chord connection, on the other hand - initially composing rather polite twin-sets - was tied to the more adult concept of rope bondage, for which the designer cited his recent work with Japanese art photographer Nobuyoshi Araki. This manifested as intertwined cable embroideries and later crisscrossed satin cocktail sheaths. Also key to the collection were a series of what Kane dubbed 'explosions', where pleated silk tulle sporadically jutted out of the hem of a satin mini skirt or sprayed from a jacket neckline Queen Elizabeth I-style. These were eruptions of Kane's creativity that bubbled from below the collection's smooth satin surface. But little did they know that these rivers of pleated tulle would soon be completely contained by something as simple as a strategically placed silver metal bar. You'd like to think that his tutor would have approved of the synergy.

Dedicating his latest collection to his friend and mentor Louise Wilson OBE, Christopher Kane set out by explaining in his show notes how he - shortly after her untimely death - had found a box of photos of his sister Tammy wearing cast-aside prototypes featuring 'coils, chords and ropes' from his MA degree days. This was where Kane decided to pick up from for spring, building his nascent student samples into perhaps his most elegant offering yet. The Scottish designer's collections are always a deeply personal affair, through which he often re-lives his youth, and to wit this season's dominant Bordeaux hue came courtesy of his high school uniform. This maroon was successfully paired with cream, navy, dove grey and sky blue to form a rich summer palette. Kane's chord connection, on the other hand - initially composing rather polite twin-sets - was tied to the more adult concept of rope bondage, for which the designer cited his recent work with Japanese art photographer Nobuyoshi Araki. This manifested as intertwined cable embroideries and later crisscrossed satin cocktail sheaths. Also key to the collection were a series of what Kane dubbed 'explosions', where pleated silk tulle sporadically jutted out of the hem of a satin mini skirt or sprayed from a jacket neckline Queen Elizabeth I-style. These were eruptions of Kane's creativity that bubbled from below the collection's smooth satin surface. But little did they know that these rivers of pleated tulle would soon be completely contained by something as simple as a strategically placed silver metal bar. You'd like to think that his tutor would have approved of the synergy.

Dedicating his latest collection to his friend and mentor Louise Wilson OBE, Christopher Kane set out by explaining in his show notes how he - shortly after her untimely death - had found a box of photos of his sister Tammy wearing cast-aside prototypes featuring 'coils, chords and ropes' from his MA degree days. This was where Kane decided to pick up from for spring, building his nascent student samples into perhaps his most elegant offering yet. The Scottish designer's collections are always a deeply personal affair, through which he often re-lives his youth, and to wit this season's dominant Bordeaux hue came courtesy of his high school uniform. This maroon was successfully paired with cream, navy, dove grey and sky blue to form a rich summer palette. Kane's chord connection, on the other hand - initially composing rather polite twin-sets - was tied to the more adult concept of rope bondage, for which the designer cited his recent work with Japanese art photographer Nobuyoshi Araki. This manifested as intertwined cable embroideries and later crisscrossed satin cocktail sheaths. Also key to the collection were a series of what Kane dubbed 'explosions', where pleated silk tulle sporadically jutted out of the hem of a satin mini skirt or sprayed from a jacket neckline Queen Elizabeth I-style. These were eruptions of Kane's creativity that bubbled from below the collection's smooth satin surface. But little did they know that these rivers of pleated tulle would soon be completely contained by something as simple as a strategically placed silver metal bar. You'd like to think that his tutor would have approved of the synergy.

Dedicating his latest collection to his friend and mentor Louise Wilson OBE, Christopher Kane set out by explaining in his show notes how he - shortly after her untimely death - had found a box of photos of his sister Tammy wearing cast-aside prototypes featuring 'coils, chords and ropes' from his MA degree days. This was where Kane decided to pick up from for spring, building his nascent student samples into perhaps his most elegant offering yet. The Scottish designer's collections are always a deeply personal affair, through which he often re-lives his youth, and to wit this season's dominant Bordeaux hue came courtesy of his high school uniform. This maroon was successfully paired with cream, navy, dove grey and sky blue to form a rich summer palette. Kane's chord connection, on the other hand - initially composing rather polite twin-sets - was tied to the more adult concept of rope bondage, for which the designer cited his recent work with Japanese art photographer Nobuyoshi Araki. This manifested as intertwined cable embroideries and later crisscrossed satin cocktail sheaths. Also key to the collection were a series of what Kane dubbed 'explosions', where pleated silk tulle sporadically jutted out of the hem of a satin mini skirt or sprayed from a jacket neckline Queen Elizabeth I-style. These were eruptions of Kane's creativity that bubbled from below the collection's smooth satin surface. But little did they know that these rivers of pleated tulle would soon be completely contained by something as simple as a strategically placed silver metal bar. You'd like to think that his tutor would have approved of the synergy.

Dedicating his latest collection to his friend and mentor Louise Wilson OBE, Christopher Kane set out by explaining in his show notes how he - shortly after her untimely death - had found a box of photos of his sister Tammy wearing cast-aside prototypes featuring 'coils, chords and ropes' from his MA degree days. This was where Kane decided to pick up from for spring, building his nascent student samples into perhaps his most elegant offering yet. The Scottish designer's collections are always a deeply personal affair, through which he often re-lives his youth, and to wit this season's dominant Bordeaux hue came courtesy of his high school uniform. This maroon was successfully paired with cream, navy, dove grey and sky blue to form a rich summer palette. Kane's chord connection, on the other hand - initially composing rather polite twin-sets - was tied to the more adult concept of rope bondage, for which the designer cited his recent work with Japanese art photographer Nobuyoshi Araki. This manifested as intertwined cable embroideries and later crisscrossed satin cocktail sheaths. Also key to the collection were a series of what Kane dubbed 'explosions', where pleated silk tulle sporadically jutted out of the hem of a satin mini skirt or sprayed from a jacket neckline Queen Elizabeth I-style. These were eruptions of Kane's creativity that bubbled from below the collection's smooth satin surface. But little did they know that these rivers of pleated tulle would soon be completely contained by something as simple as a strategically placed silver metal bar. You'd like to think that his tutor would have approved of the synergy.

Weird science. That's what Christopher Kane's visual soup for A/W 2014 has boiled down to, with seething python skins and molecules under the microscope. The designer married his expanded men's collection with his women's pre-fall range that he presented just days before, calling out the Adam & Eve symbiosis between the two and, in order to conquer his own fear of snakes, printed their skins across denim or raised them as 3D textured polo necks. Though grounded in a smart base of black and navy (the outerwear options were slick, many and varied), it was the foamy, ¾ length tees and hoodies spotted with overlapping atoms that packed the biggest punch, in networks of vermillion, emerald and safety blue.