(London) After New York, the fashion world met in London on Friday for five days of fashion shows, with many young designers on the program who could make the fashion of tomorrow and who are already dressing the celebrities of the moment.
“We are going to have five exciting days, full of creativity,” enthuses Caroline Rush, director of the British Fashion Council (BFC), the organizer of this event. By Tuesday, more than 80 designers will present their spring/summer 2024 collections.
Among them, around twenty young creators benefit from the BFC’s “NewGen” program, which supports young talents. The Greek Di Petsa, who presented her collection on Friday afternoon, is one of them. Her ultra-sexy looks have already seduced actress Zendaya and model Bella Hadid. His new creations should also be all the rage.
Di Petsa wanted to pay homage to Venus, the Roman goddess of love, beauty and seduction. Difficult to look more naked while being dressed. The first models, with very long wavy hair, opened the show with a sensual dance, in long white dresses, open on all sides, with their breasts and buttocks barely hidden thanks to the draping.
The looks are white, black, gold, light beige, transparent. Some dresses are only held on with a few laces, which seem easy to untie.
The designer chose very thin models, and also round women, with very light skin for some, black for others, but all sure of their power of seduction. As they parade, they observe themselves in a mirror.
PHOTO HENRY NICHOLLS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
To greet his audience, Dimitri Petsa also appeared in one of these white dresses, as if to say that they were made for all women, not just for models.
Sweetness of life
Designer Bora Aksu delved into his Turkish origins, into “nostalgic memories of his family and his hometown”, to find his inspiration. His models wear stylized tarbouches on their heads.
He plays with unexpected fabric overlays, combining tulle and crochet. He mixes colors in a daring way, like with a purple crochet dress paired with a lime green petticoat. Bora Aksu likes ruffles on dresses and fringes. But her suits, jacket and short skirt, are easier to wear, as are her close-fitting black dresses with a white lace collar.
PHOTO HENRY NICHOLLS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Models wearing Bora Aksu’s creations
London fashion week veteran Paul Costelloe, who was Princess Diana’s favorite designer for a long time, also presented his collection on Friday. The models paraded, wooden tennis rackets in hand, for this collection called “Il giardino” (the garden).
It’s an ode to the sweetness of life, “a quiet afternoon” in Ferrara, in the north of Italy, explains the designer. We imagine the aristocracy on vacation in this collection marked by a certain nostalgia.
The models wear large headbands in their hair, broad-shouldered jackets over simple bikini tops, all in pastel tones. It’s chic, but casual. If they put on a knitted sweater, it’s to leave one shoulder bare. The boldest wear bow-shaped headbands at the top.
The shows continue on Saturday with, among others, JW Anderson, David Koma and other “NewGen” designers like Feben and Labrum.
The government announced a £2 million (3.35 million) fund on Wednesday to support young creators. The “NewGen” program was created 30 years ago. Several big names in fashion have benefited, including Alexander McQueen, who died in 2010.
But in recent years, the British capital has been struggling in the fashion world. The pandemic, inflation which remains the highest in the G7 countries (6.8% in July) and also Brexit are not helping. She lacks big names. As a symbol of this loss of influence: the very British Victoria Beckham has been presenting her collection in Paris since last year.