(London) Voluminous buns, cat-eye glasses and floral dresses: a retro spirit blew through London Fashion Week on Friday, with designers Bora Aksu and Paul Costelloe, on the first day of the event scheduled to run until Tuesday in the British capital.
Bora Aksu, a Turkish designer based in London, wanted to make a “nod to the 1960s” and pay homage to his mother, an independent woman who designed her own clothes and loved sunglasses and pearl earrings, he told AFP.
In the heart of a sun-drenched rose garden, her slender silhouettes topped with high buns wear dresses and gloves in delicate lace, in a gradient of pastel colors accompanied by plays of transparency and superpositions.
Other outfits from his spring/summer 2025 collection are entirely in black and white, combining fitted blazers, demure skirts or polka-dot blouses.
Event veteran Paul Costelloe, who attended the first London Fashion Week in 1984, paid homage to the French capital with a collection also inspired by the 1960s.
PHOTO HOLLIE ADAMS, REUTERS
Paul Costelloe showcased floral patterns and pastel colours – sky blue, lemon yellow, mint green – on fitted, flared and puff-sleeved dresses, also accompanied by sunglasses and retro blow-dry.
Princess Diana’s former stylist showcased floral patterns and pastel colours – sky blue, lemon yellow, mint green – on fitted, flared and puff-sleeved dresses, also accompanied by sunglasses and retro blow-dry.
This one also paired striped knee-high socks with stiletto heels, a look that may “recall Emily in Paris “, the designer stressed, referring to the sometimes daring clothing choices of the heroine of the Netflix series.
Greek designer Dimitra Petsa (Di Petsa) presented a collection inspired by mythology and sensual memories of summer.
Her white or pastel dresses in wet-look fabric, seen notably on actress Zendaya, hug the curves of the models with their lascivious gait and breasts barely hidden by sun-shaped jewelry.
Sirens and sea gods seem to emerge from the water, their chests reddened by the sun, wearing mini-skirts, asymmetrical tops or even loincloths, a mixture of immaculate drapes and more vibrant pieces, red or electric blue.
For the finale, the models are attached to each other with a long red thread, an allegory of the ball of yarn given to Theseus by Ariadne so as not to lose his way in Daedalus’ labyrinth.