Presentations are the preserve of the young: the label without the whopping great budget, the designer whose work is really more of a concept, the brand that’s testing the waters for their place within the industry, each has more to gain from a two-hour event as opposed to a ten-minute walkthrough.
While traditionally come fashion week time labels are consumed with the parade of a catwalk show, it’s these smaller – if sometimes noisier – events at which attendees can actually get close to the clothes and say hello to the designer, a no-go for 98% of show goers.
Coupled with the increased Instagram opportunity and extended creativity allowed of the designer, a presentation makes for a party.
Here are the ones we simply can’t wait to see over the next five days.
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Faustine Steinmetz: “Getting to show on schedule has been our aim since we began,” Faustine told Clash earlier this month (here). Tomorrow the dream becomes a reality, as the Parisian takes her label to the ICA, opening the floodgates of London Fashion Week.
Set up less than two years ago, Faustine Steinmetz is a label bound by interpretation, most commonly the re-working of denim goods. In February they were picked as a One to Watch by the NEWGEN panel, while this season the Topshop backed platform provided full support.
Shrimps: Another designer making her debut proper at London Fashion Week tomorrow (last season she held showroom appointments), Hannah Weiland’s label has seen its audience grow and grow since Clash spoke to her at said showroom (here), thanks in no small part to Natalie Massenet.
A colour enthusiast – and Grayson Perry’s number one fan – Weiland’s fantastic fake furs have been doused in navy for a Net a Porter special and photographed on the back of every name whose back means something (think Susie Lau and the like).
Lulu & Co: 14 years of Fashion East, nine years of MAN, an MBE from the Queen, and Lulu Kennedy finally gets her own presentation for Spring Summer 15.
Presenting her Lulu & Co line – established as a one-off in 2010 to celebrate a decade of Fashion East, producing fun, wearable collections ever since – this is the first time the label has shown at London Fashion Week, and past endeavors suggest great things.
Danielle Romeril: Another member of the NEWGEN gang – her second season in the club, “The club that has produced so many monstrous talents” (see here) – Irish designer Danielle will be presenting something green this season, if her Insta updates are anything to go by.
The small matter of a paper invite in a sardine tin (in a shiny blue jiffy bag) has also boosted in-office excitement levels, because who doesn’t enjoy a sardine tin sans fish?
Ryan Lo: At Lo’s first standalone presentation there were toy guns, cacti and a bangin’ soundtrack. Much like those Nasir Mazhar presented for several seasons, it had spirit in spades, prompting an atmosphere that meant people not only observed the clothes but enjoyed them too.
Born in Hong Kong and dealing mostly in a girlish aesthetic, the tagline on the studio’s Facebook page reads “A hyper-romantic clothing line in a super-real world by the dreamy designer”.
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