Grunge cowgirls and frothy frocks take centre stage at London Fashion Week

Typically, the weekend days of London Fashion Week are the busiest. In previous years, headliners have included AlexaChung, Molly Goddard, Victoria Beckham, Topshop Unique and House of Holland, all of which would have had a front row lined with celebrities.

Not this season.

In fact, out of the aforementioned brands, all but Goddard have maintained their weekend slot, though the collection is being debuted on film as opposed to on a runway. As for the rest, well: AlexaChung hasn’t shown at LFW since 2019, Beckham is hosting a few one-on-one appointments on Monday, House of Holland fell into administration last year and we all know what happened to Topshop.

The fashion industry was already changing rapidly, with new brands sweeping established ones off their stage, but all this has been expedited by the pandemic. This season, just a handful of heritage British labels are staging catwalk shows, including Erdem and Roksanda. The rest – Burberry, Christopher Kane, JW Anderson – have abstained completely, making way for newcomers such as Harris Reed, KNWLS and Nensi Dojaka to lead seasonal highlights.

The result, though, is that London Fashion Week has been a far more subdued affair than usual. That said, this was not remotely reflected in the collections we did see. Take Molly Goddard, whose spring/summer 2022 collection was just as jubilant as ever. British model Edie Campbell opened the show – which was filmed in a simple white room – wearing a candyfloss-coloured tulle top with puffed sleeves and jeans.

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The looks that followed consisted of variations on the typical Goddard tropes: frothy frocks with voluminous skirts and sleeves, mesh bodices adorned with ruffles and A-line smocks in the designer’s favoured palette of fuchsia, lemon and tangerine. There were some new additions though, like the ditsy, floral tea dresses and khaki overcoats. Styled with thigh-high striped socks, there was something enduringly childlike and playful that characterised the entire collection.

This makes sense when you consider the fact that Goddard was partially inspired by baby dresses she wore as an infant, which she replicated for her collection in the form of a series of white-collared smocks that were paired with ballet pumps. “It is nostalgic and visceral,” the acclaimed designer said of her collection, which she started concocting when she was eight months pregnant. “It’s a collection that already feels familiar to me – full of good memories of growing up and the anticipation of the exciting time ahead I have with my son,” she added.

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The mood was a little darker over at KNWLS – and not just because the show took place underground in an Oxford Street car park. Charlotte Knowles, the south London designer behind the brand (which she heads up with her partner Alexandre Arsenault), has spent the past year dressing Gen-Z icons such as Hailey Beiber and Kylie Jenner. Her sensual, form-fitting designs are famed for their striking silhouettes and 1990s influences.

This season, though, the mood was one of dystopia – with earthy shades of chocolate brown, swamp greens and deep maroons finding their way on to everything from mesh trousers and checked two-pieces to cross-neck bodysuits and boned leather corset dresses.

There were cowboy hats and bandanas, too, resulting in a Western aesthetic that was fully realised by way of belted low-rise flares and laced-up bodices. There were tassels, sometimes on giant dreamcatchers worn as earrings or on bracelets that swept the runway. Occasionally, they were hanging off of webbed trousers.

The collection marks the first under the brand’s new abbreviated name – it was previously known under Knowles’s full name. “We felt it was the right moment to take Charlotte Knowles and shorten it to reflect the brand as more than just a singular effort but a larger studio practice,” the couple said. “This brand identity update marks a new chapter for us and reflects our vision of growing the label into a luxury house in the coming years.”

Finally, Rejina Pyo, the esteemed South Korean designer – whose clothes famed for subversive femininity and vivid shades have been worn by everyone from Katy Perry to the Duchess of Sussex. This season, Pyo transported the fashion set to the London Aquatics Centre in Stratford. Yes, it was a pool, which, as it transpired, was an apt setting for a holiday-themed collection comprising neon co-ordinates, netted skirts and kitten-heeled flip-flops. Swimwear and crop tops were worn underneath oversized collared shirts, unbuttoned, of course, offering a relaxed poolside aesthetic.

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Dresses came in various forms, from striped smocks with Peter Pan collars to asymmetric fluorescent dresses with decolletage cutouts. There were Pyo’s signature, slinky ruched styles with a key look in the form of a tight-fitting fuchsia dress with spaghetti straps. The grand finale, though, was none other than a naked dress. The trend has been gathering pace this week thanks to the Met Gala, where Zoe Kravitz and Irina Shayk were among those sporting the infamous see-through gowns. Pyo’s offering was a black, netted knee-length dress covered in crystals, worn with nothing but a pair of knickers.

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The real highlight, though, was the three young divers who took to their boards before the models emerged, slowly increasing the height – and pizazz – of their dives each time and even doing gymnastics beforehand. As the models walked out in single file for the finale, the divers returned, each of them climbing the steps behind the boards until they stood in their orange and pink swimsuits next to the models before, you guessed it, diving back into the water in spectacular fashion. The models, thankfully, did not follow suit. Let’s hope their clothes stayed dry.