Bianca Saunders

All Sunday mornings at LFWM should start with a dancehall party courtesy of Bianca Saunders. The emerging designer’s models dutty whined for two hours wearing garments that were made to move. “This is a collection about my heritage, about being Black Caribbean,” Saunders explained. “I used distortion, things that curved, and always a play with gender, and how we see masculine clothes.”

The dancehall inspiration was no surprise to Nataal. In an interview for issue two last year, Saunders spoke to us about her interest in how the genre’s aesthetics brim with pageantry: “The contrast between Jamaica’s hyper-masculine stereotypes and how those men are actually presenting; the coloured hair, cornrows in a ponytail, the super groomed eyebrows and how they wear really tight tops is fascinating to me.”

Finally seeing the results in full flow for AW20 was pure joy. Her clever fabric manipulation not only included her signature ruching on jogging pants and shorts but also featured wires running through long jackets and shirts to create kinetic shapes. Curved hems and cinched waists on jeans and slacks and strongly emphasised shoulders on suits and sweats added to the sense of fluidity. Pops of electric blue and burnt red stood out from an otherwise calm colour palette and each look was finished off with moulded loafers that were built to bogle.

Ahluwalia

Priya Ahluwalia looked to the year 1965 for this season’s deliciously nostalgic offering. Roving across the cultural landscape of the lands that have shaped her identity – the UK, India, Nigeria and the Caribbean – the collection channeled a revolutionary air while touching on everything from psychedelia and ska to the wavy textile prints of Barbara Brown.

The conscious designer used dead stock textiles, leftover fabrics from previous collections and recycled jersey, as well as patchwork knits and laser patterned denim, to create her richly hued and beautifully tailored pieces. Perky twinsets, paneled puffa jackets, straight jeans and checked suits all came together to create a killer wardrobe for the super fly guy. Meanwhile collaborations with Adidas and Clarks resulted in some artfully painted Superstar trainers, wallabies and desert boots. Black PVC berets and gloves, that were niftily tucked into belt braces, completed what the designer called her “lucid, playful fantasy world”.

Tokyo James

This was possibly Tokyo James’s strongest collection to date. Entitled The Last Winter, his models came out covered in snow and wearing ski-inspired outerwear that was the designer’s comment on the fashion industry’s contribution to global warming. From now on, James will only do limited edition capsule collections in order to reduce waste.

AW20 included some of his instantly recognisable trademarks: the generous use of faux leather (this time in everything from trousers to biker jackets and coats with buckles), the immaculate tailoring on suits and the technicolor dream-coat stripes. But there was also a zing of freshness this season that made it feel like James had let his more outré side shine. The leather, for instance, came in pastel colours that helped soften its usual sternness: bright pinks, bubblegum blues and ocean greens.

And then there were prints, lots of them, including one inspired by a motif the designer found at a derelict mud-house in Kano, Northern Nigeria. This was the print on the closing look: a heavy coat with slits on the sides and back, with black leather embellishments. Speaking of slits, there was more than a smattering of clasps and cut-outs which helped break the uniformity of the silhouette. Persistent evolution is one of the most important ways to thrive in fashion, and with his AW20 collection, James showed, once again, that he has the goods to do just that.

Nicholas Daley

There were plenty of good vibrations at Nicholas Daley as the designer delivered yet another masterclass in patriotism done right with his collection, The Abstract Truth. A champion for British manufacturing, the mills spinning his psychedelic textiles this season were Sudbury’s Vanners, who created the tactile jacquard, and Scottish weavers Loch Carron, taxed with crafting his rich mohair tartans. He also worked with milliners Christy’s on an oversized Baker boy fashioned from sumptuous silks and handsome wools, and continued his collaboration with Fred Perry, adding a sporty vibe to key pieces.

Inspiration was drawn from the 1970s Black Abstraction art movement, especially the prolific and much celebrated pouring paintings of Guyanese artist Frank Bowling, which found form in marbled Japanese textiles. And sticking with this iconic decade, there was more than a hint of Jimi Hendrix to be found in the styling. Models – friends from Daley’s creative circle – were weighed down with jewellery and looked concert-ready wearing his beautifully crafted classics. “Experimentation and craftsmanship have been two key elements I’ve focused on for this season’s collection,” the designer said. “Everything continues my own creative journey connecting fashion, music and culture.”

As ever with Daley, live music reigned during the show – this time a jazz set courtesy of Rago Foot, Kwake Bass and Wu-Lu - and continued with an after show party that reverberated into the night thanks to a carnival-worthy sound system.

Martine Rose

Martine Rose has been spending a considerable amount of time flicking through old photo albums and lookbooks while reflecting on the end of one decade and the beginning of a new one. The results came together under the charming roof of a North London primary school in a collection that was retro yet new, recalling some of the best bits of the established designer’s previous work while still being resolutely forward facing.

Considerably increasing her womenswear offering this season, Rose went for slick vinyls and glitter lurex alongside piled fleece and a clever denim which saw models’ faces woven into the textile. Silhouettes were exaggerated - case in point, the Farah trousers that were reimagined in ballooning proportions, and the boxy prom-ready suits complete with ruffled shirts. Rose’s tongue remained firmly in her cheek with scarves made to look like jumpers and bomber jackets nonchalantly tied around the neck while knitwear and tees implored the audience to ‘expect perfection’ – on which point, she certainly didn’t disappoint.

paria /FARZANEH

Finding strength and defiance in celebration and ceremony, Paria Farzaneh continued to be inspired by her dual British Iranian heritage this season. Opening the show with a traditional Iranian wedding ceremony, the groom got up from his tented seat and walked around the plethora of sweets and candles to become the first model to walk, leaving his coy bride centre stage.

What followed was a collection rich in the warm palette and Persian prints that are becoming this young talent’s hallmarks. Sharper silhouettes, a continued nod to workwear and collaborations with Gore Tex and Thermore, meant that this was a collection that would be as at home on her native Yorkshire Moors as the Zagros Mountains.

See our street style story from LFWM AW20 here

Words Lithemba Velleman, Miriam Bouteba, Helen Jennings
Photography Bisi Emeruwa

Published on 11/01/2020