For Fall 2024, London’s Emerging Designers Get Touchy-Feely
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LONDON — London’s emerging designers focused on materials and toyed with textural detailing, volumes and draping to create collections that were a joy to see — and touch.
Talia Byre
Breton, candy, awning, pin — is there anything better than a stripe?
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They are a central motif in Talia Byre’s collections and this season was no exception.
The designer looked to Amedeo Modigliani’s portraits of the writer Beatrice Hastings, his longtime partner. The color story also took cues from Modigliani’s palette of browns and tans, with pops of blue and red interspersed.
Byre said this season was about refining the brand’s identity. In addition to Modigliani she drew on the songs of ’60s girl groups such as The Shangri-Las and The Ronettes.
“This season we wanted to hone the silhouette. We added collars, detailing, zip trims, but stayed true to our quite tight silhouette with flared flamenco hem,” the designer explained.
Shirts, skirts and dresses of the mini- and maxi variety, knitwear and outerwear took shape in striped cotton poplin, uber-soft cashmere and leather.
Lucila Safdie
Delicate lace pressed sweetly against skin; bouncing tiered, frilled short-shorts; a pale pink rose print: Lucila Safdie’s brand is an expression of femininity, empowered by traditional girly elements.
Safdie turned to Sylvia Path’s “The Bell Jar” and the writer’s unabridged journals for this collection that gave ’50s shapes a more contemporary edge and mixed them with “the schoolgirl, coming-of-age aesthetic of my brand,” the designer said.
The collection featured polka dot midi-dresses that Amy Winehouse might have worn as well as cropped polos and jackets. There were also low-waisted trousers in dark denim cotton and quilted gray jerseys that were cuffed at the hems, creating a pajama-y feel. Slouchy shirts and leggings rounded out the collection.
The brand resonates with young women and the designer counts a bevy of “It” girls including model Alex Consani, rapper Sexyy Red, singer Beabadoobee, actress Chloe Cherry, and K-pop girl group NewJeans as customers.
Momonary x 3M
Momonary swerved the typical colors of fall, working with a dreamy wash of soft pastels and adding fragile floral and sparkling crystal appliqués to clothing.
The brand’s creative director Zeng Yue was inspired by cartography, and said in an interview over email that the aim was to layer lightweight material to create a heavily textured look. “Thin, map-printed chiffon layers cascade, revealing the ever-changing terrain. Gold-stitched embroidery flowers act as coordinates, marking our journey,” the designer said.
Created in partnership with 3M and using the organization’s animal-free loose fill insulation, coats came with long, sleek silhouettes. They were quilted and dotted with fluttering silk flowers, and shown alongside wide-leg trousers, bubble skirts and shirts.
Patrick McDowell
Liverpudlian designer Patrick McDowell presented a collection inspired by the orchestra that included voluminous gowns exploding outward at the hip, reminiscent of a violin’s curves. Other clothes featured musical instrument prints, while a sheet music pattern covered a top and a hijab.
Derrick
Techwear met sleek suiting in Luke Derrick’s fall 2024 collection, which reconsidered what British heritage styles look like in modern day London.
Inspired by a cast of nightcrawlers the designer encounters during the 2am walk home from his East London studio, old world meets new: impeccably tailored suiting and outerwear enriched by a blend of textiles from traditional Yorkshire mills with fabrics more commonly seen in streetwear.
“I took things that might have been seen as quite dusty and reconsidered what context they could be put in, and found new ways they could be perceived to be slick,” said the designer.
Equestrian-style stirrup trousers straight from the English countryside came in cream terry cloth and balaclavas tucked into two-piece suits.
Glistening Japanese waterproof nylon taffeta was also used to comment on classism present in British fashion: “It’s quite like when nylon and silk are under light, they become the same thing,” he said.
Temperley
Alice Temperley crushed on the West Country lore for fall 2024 with relaxed tailoring and an array of shades, from luscious greens, Wedgwood blues to Tuscan peach.
She fused sartorial symbols from Italy and Elizabethan Britain that included hammered silks; ornate embellishment; braided leathers with linen; cords and cotton.
“[I was] influenced heavily by Sally Potter’s 1992 adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s ‘Orlando.’ Tilda Swinton in the enigmatic title role and the sumptuous costumes of Sandy Powell, the approach to curation, design pairings and styling has a frenetic and unconventional feel,” said the designer.
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