Introducing The Living Room...and our highlights from London Fashion Week
Today we are launching The Living Room - a virtual space where we share what we are reading, listening to, watching, brands we are loving, and sustainability and world news we are following.
Image: Inside Weather
This week the spotlight is on London Fashion Week.
With traditional shows out the window, this season's LFW was a diverse mix of video and covid-compliant presentations, charity collaborations, muses and models from the pandemic front line, conversations about sustainability and even clothes swaps instead of new collections. It feels like 2020's restrictions have actually set a lot of designers free to break from the norm and reimagine the future of the industry.
Our LFW highlights and articles not to miss are linked below.
Image: Bethany Williams
Get to Know Bethany Williams, Fashion’s Sustainability Savior
“At London Fashion Week this weekend, Williams continues her collaboration with the Newham-based Magpie Project. Working with children and mothers who are homeless or at risk of homelessness (80% of whom have no recourse to public funds), Williams' SS21 collection, aptly titled 'All Our Children', draws inspiration from the stories of people she's met and worked with at Magpie as well as "the importance of family spirit in a child's life.”
Georgia Murray | Refinery29 | Saturday, 19th September 2020
Article: https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/bethany-williams
Image: Michael Halpern
A Tribute To The Frontline Worker Heroes Of 2020, Michael Halpern Discusses His SS21 Collection
“At London Fashion Week, the New York-born designer showcases a film starring essential workers in his latest collection of unabashedly glamorous designs as they reveal what pandemic life has looked like for them.”
Liam Freeman | British Vogue | Friday, 18th September 2020
Article: https://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/article/michael-halpern-ss21-interview
Image: David M Benett
London fashion week: Covid forces conversations about industry's future
“What does London fashion week look like in the new normal? Picture Davos, but with different shoes.There were barely any catwalk shows. Instead, there were discussions about sustainability, inclusivity and the meaning of citizenship post-pandemic. Live events were ultra-exclusive: wary of the reputational damage to an already poleaxed industry if fashion events were seen to be flouting social distancing at an infection tipping point, brands limited audiences to tiny groups.”
Jess Cartner-Morley | The Guardian | Monday, 21st September
Article: https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2020/sep/21/covid-has-changed-london-fashion-week
Image: Matteo Mobilio
Waste Not: How Designers Are Making Their Spring 2021 Collections With Leftover Fabric, Old Patterns, and Renewed Clarity
“For those who wanted to show something new, the only option was to get resourceful: They used leftover materials from seasons past, revived old patterns, and relied on working with their hands, sewing, draping, embellishing, and dyeing garments at home…That’s one silver lining of such restraints and limitations: They simultaneously narrow your focus and unlock ideas you may not have had in the #BeforeTimes, when any fabric or silhouette or trim was at your disposal.”
Emily Farra | British Vogue | Friday, 4th September
Image: Lone Design Club
Lone Design Club teams up with SwapChain.
“Lone Design Club is teaming up with SwapChain to celebrate Swap September at its London Fashion Week pop-up in Covent Garden.
It’s easy for customers to participate, all they need to do is activate their SwapChain account and bring their items they wish to swap to the pop-up store.”
Danielle Wightman-Stone | Fashion United | Tuesday, 22nd September 2020
Article: https://fashionunited.uk/news/retail/lone-design-club-teams-up-with-swapchain/2020092250986
Image: Fabric of Reality
Digital Transformation, 5G and XR Will Drive Next-Gen Fashion Show
“As digital fashion weeks struggle to reach audiences, will 5G-powered XR experiences win people back?
The fashion industry is shifting towards significant digital transformation. From 3D design to the digital showcasing of fashion collections, the digitalisation of physical garments demonstrates key areas of rapid expansion, as well as offering hope and opportunity to an industry in flux.”
Brooke Roberts-Islam | Huffington Post | Tuesday, 22nd September 2020
Article: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/digtial-future-of-fashion
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