The Real Catwalk is in The Streets at London Fashion Week
When you think of London, what comes to your mind first? Red buses? Oxford Street? Hyde Park? Or a metropolis, which for decades, has harboured one of the most diverse and culturally rich fashion arenas in the world? Objectively, the latter is one of London’s best and most prominent features.
The notion of ‘Fashion Week’ has exploded in recent decades, with every city in every country across the globe adopting the event and making it their own. Principally, world-over it serves the same purpose, to showcase the best that the location has to offer when it comes to fashion. But London is all about showcasing the new and looking into the future.
Five days, over 50 main stage catwalk shows, 250 designers, 100 hours of show time and the best emerging designers you’ll find anywhere. Looking at the schedule for this year, the main stages are hosting their selection of British born brands that we have seen mature with age and are now perceived as the astute elders of the establishment. Seeing the likes of Vivienne Westwood’s Red Label, Burberry Prorsum and Mulberry, versus the newness of Christopher Kane, Fyodor Golan and Mary Katrantzou (to name but a few), makes for a sundry timetable that only London could pull together.
Whether we attend the shows, stream them live from our laptops or catch up with the reviews via blogs or magazines, this season we should all be looking to those emerging designers who truly make London Fashion Week what it stands for today: a clear vision of the future of fashion.
All eyes are on the runways to see what we’ll be wearing next year, but it’s the fashionistas sashaying around Somerset House who can influence us as much as the designers. Street style shots are a great way to find inspiration for your own wardrobe. From neo-grunge to smartly suit, London is very much a city of contrasts when it comes to style on the street. Interesting accessories create hits of individuality and take the looks from the mundane and ordinary. New York may steal the grooming crown but it’s the London street style stars that push the boundaries. And don’t they do it well?
