Visits: 54
Smaller brands are having their time to shine during digital London Fashion Week, including east London-based menswear designer Ka Wa Key.
He kicked off Saturday’s schedule with a kaleidoscopic video, titled There’s No Place Like Home, which was filmed at home on a green screen, and showed his model wearing colourful knitwear from the spring/summer 21 collection.
ka wa key
Next up was Chinese designer Xander Zhou’s futuristic presentation, AW20 Critical Update/ SS21 Beta Version.
The film included a computerised voice describing the material of the designer’s autumn/winter 20 product, and gave a nod to how digital lookbooks may appear in future.
A catwalk film of the brand’s past collection, originally shown at London Fashion Week Men’s in January, followed.
Menswear designer Bianca Saunders discussed her new ”zine”, We Are One Of The Same, with a live panel discussion with the team that collaborated on the project.
It comprised images captured by photographer Joshua Woods, and words by model and writer Jess Cole, who took part in the discussion.
The concept, shot in New York in April 2019, shows a set of male and female twins wearing an archive of Saunders’ SS19 and AW19 pieces.
Saunders said: “What I really like to show in my clothes … even though it’s menswear, its an open door.”
bianca saunders
Young brand LYPH, spearheaded by creative director Frederick Edmonson, presented its SS21 collection in a short documentary film.
An acronym for ”Live Young Play Hard”, the brand is just three seasons old, and its pieces are made of upcycled fabric that can be unzipped and customised.
In the accompanying film, Edmonson said “the idea was not be selfish in a way, and allow the end consumer to become the designer”.
LYPH SS21
Sustainable designer Christopher Raeburn also took part in a live conversation to launch new 43-piece collection Raefound, made of surplus stock originally destined for the military.
He said: “What can be more radical than making nothing at all? Raefound, these reissued military pieces, it was already out there, but we’re obsessed with manufacturing more and more. The provocation I have for the industry is: lets use and work with what we’ve got.”
Raeburn also called on the industry to start delivering product according to season: “Spring products are delivered in the coldest months, then go on sale before it gets warm and you flip it round, so the same happens on the other side with winter products.
”My perspective is it’s fundamentally flawed, all of a sudden we’ve had this pause to consider what the future can look like.”
The collection is direct to consumer and available on the Christopher Raeburn website.
Designer Christopher Raeburn wearing Raefound, launched during LFW.
Playful brand Charles Jeffrey Loverboy rounded off the evening, launching a pre-SS21 collection that was “designed and executed” during lockdown.
The 20-piece range is unisex and contains “images of self portraiture captured by Charles during a period of self-reflection and isolation.” It includes oversized knits, hoodies, T-shirts and tracksuit trousers.
When it goes on sale in December, 5% of sales will be donated to LGBT+ charity Kaleidoscopic Trust.
The designer also hosted a fundraising evening for UK Black Pride, with live stream musical performances on the London Fashion Week platform.
Charles Jeffrey Loverboy
Drapers’ verdict on day two of LFW June 2020
Raeburn and Charles Jeffrey Loverboy were among the few brands that have managed to launch new collections during London Fashion Week in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Both used the digital platform as an opportunity to increase awareness of their new product , which will boost consumer interest at a time when fashion needs it most.