The Magic and Wonder on Display at LFW AW21

ondon Fashion Week Autumn Winter 2021 was once more a digital affair, as Covid-19 restrictions put a stop to any in-person catwalks shows. However, this did not limit the designer’s creativity, after underwhelming displays last year, this LFW felt like the fashion industry had embraced the virtual platform with an evolved and flourished output. It was a vibrant celebration of fantasy, gender inclusivity and sustainability.

It was a gender-neutral event, as London Fashion Week Men’s, which usually takes places during the first weekend in January, was cancelled due to travel uncertainties surrounding Brexit, scheduling clashes and restrictions bought on by the pandemic.

Caroline Rush, chief executive of the British Fashion Council, stated that “Moving London Fashion Week Men’s into LFW in February will continue to de-gender [the event], allowing designers greater flexibility to consider what collection they show when and minimise travel requirements, taking us one step closer to a more sustainable future.”

The de-gendering of the event and of clothes is something, Studio 104 has found key In our collections. Part of the 104 Collection and many clients is gender fluid giving employees a wider range of garments to choose from.

LFW showed the latest menswear, womenswear and gender-neutral collections in a diverse array of videos and editorial shoots. With zero lounge wear insight, there was a sense of optimism for the future with the prospect of restrictions easing.

Designer Molly Goddard show, the audience took a welcome dive into a world of dream and laughter, with a parade of otherworldly signature mille-feuille tulle dresses, pink herringbone tweed mini skirt suits, tartan kilts and Fair Isle sweaters, and also revived its recently launched menswear. All proudly manufactured in the UK, celebrating British fabrics and mix-and-match thrift store eccentricity. Something we emulate at Studio 104, we value British fabric and manufacturing in our collections.

Vanessa Redgrave & Her Family Star As “Mythological Goddesses” In Roksanda’s AW21 Film. Redgrave softly recite Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73, in her daughter Joely Richardson’s countryside home as her granddaughter Daisy Bevan brings the family’s winter garden back to life via voluminous ruffle and bow-adorned gowns in shades of honeycomb, vermillion, meadow blush, sienna and celadon.

In a short yet wonderfully transportive insight into the lives of three generations of incredible women, Roksanda Ilinčić communicates fashion’s inextricable link to familial bonds in all their fragility, strength and tenderness.

Shot via iPhone during the height of lockdown, the intimate and personal film was the most authentic way Ilinčić felt she could present a collection born during contemplative times. “It was about capturing those everyday moments that are very simple but very often go unnoticed.”

Priya Ahluwalia was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design. There’s a fierce finesse behind her steetwear-inflected garments, which for A/W 2021 were presented in a film by Stephen Isaac-Wilson. The collection featured colourful sportswear with spray painted prints, corduroy suiting and patchwork denim, and incorporated upcycled and eco-aware fabrics including bamboo silk and deadstock shirting.

Ahluwalia was inspired by Home Going, Yaa Gyasi’s 2016 novel about two half-sisters born in the 1700s and separated at birth to dramatic socio-political effect, thinking about the symbology of migration maps, and the nature of aesthetic elements plucked from different places.

Ahluwalia is one of a group of emerging designers with a strong interest in repurposing fabrics. Fellow Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design winner Bethany Williams created a gender neutral capsule collection of coats exclusively for Selfridges, crafted from colourful recycled blankets, sourced around the United Kingdom.

Our team at Studio 104 have been inspired by the bold colours and prints, and the genderfluid collections. As a company that cares about sustainability and working to improve our impact on the planet, we are encouraged by the sustainable collections at seen LFW. This statement from Michael Halpern on his loud glittering collection sums up the event perfectly - “Created in a time of restraint, for a time of unrestraint”

Written by Bethan - Product Development Assistant

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