5 Trend spotted at London Fashion Week

From 14 to 19 September, London became the fashion capital and showed what we will be wearing in the SS24 season. The UK capital's most coveted and coolest venues were packed with fashion insiders and onlookers, all waiting to attend the fashion shows, presentations and events. A packed programme that didn't bring together big names but more or less established talents who brought their new collections to the catwalk from Burberry to Erdem, from Simone Rocha to David Koma. Eudon Choi opened the presentation programme on Saturday with a catwalk show in the garden of St Paul's Church in Covent Garden with a tribute to the painter Berthe Morisot. On Saturday morning, celebrities and industry insiders flocked to the Roundhouse in Camden to see the SS24 fashion show by JW Anderson, whose hoodies and shorts looked as if they had been sculpted by hand from clay. Roksanda opted for the brutalist architecture of the Barbican Centre, reflecting the concept of her collection, while Chopova Lowena virtually transported her audience to the British south coast, specifically Flora Day in Helston, Cornwall, with her mix of grunge and Britishness. However, all these seemingly different worlds and styles have something in common.

Here are 5 trends we spotted at London Fashion Week.

Kiss from a rose

David Koma

David Koma

David Koma

Simone Rocha

Simone Rocha

Simone Rocha

Erdem

Richard Quinn

Richard Quinn

Richard Quinn

"Rose is a rose is a rose," wrote Gertrude Stein in the poem Sacred Emily, and if this verse were part of a pop song, it would be the soundtrack to some of the LFW shows. In fact, there are many designers who have made this flower the trademark of their collections. During NYFW, Palomo Spain had featured the flower in its "Cruising in the Rose Garden" collection, where it starred in the garments and a range of accessories designed in collaboration with Bimba y Lola, but in London the trend went further and became more romantic. For the Spring/Summer 2024 collection, Simone Rocha used roses not just for decoration, but inserted delicate pink rose stems between swathes of fabric hidden under organza veils and sheer tulle dresses, and made three-dimensional rosettes of fabric that were applied to tops, trench coats and skirts. David Koma, on the other hand, brought the seductive side of the rose to the catwalk by printing it on tops and dresses, but also using it as an accessory and as a template for the shape of skirts. A garden full of blooming roses is also the pattern Erdem chose for his gossamer dresses and Richard Quinn. The designer was inspired by a photograph of the young Elizabeth II on a motorbike during her military service in the 1940s and turned this image into a series of dresses and minidresses that, among other biker inspirations, also feature references to the English rose, the emblematic flower of the United Kingdom.

Drapes

JW Anderson

Roksanda

Feben

Tove

Di Petsa

Eudon choi

We'd already included them in our list of autumn 2023 trends you should know about, but drapes are also confirmed for the warm seasons ahead. Why do designers love them so much? Perhaps because it makes them feel even more like artists, like sculptors who can accentuate every curve of our silhouette by shaping a piece of fabric ad hoc. The Di Petsa brand, for example, has become famous for its dresses that look like a Venus or a mermaid emerging from the water, the fabric clinging seductively to the body. Roksanda, Tove and Eudon Choi rely on draping to give slip dresses a vintage twist and more movement, while JW Anderson and Feben combine this technique with the colour sky blue for an interesting combination for our summer looks.

Frou Frou skirts

Molly Goddard

Chopowa Lowena

Richard Quinn

Yuhan Wang

David Koma

susan Fang

You can't help but love the style of cutecore, balletcore and coquette. Not even for SS24. The designers keep bringing outfits to the runway specifically designed for "dollettes" girls, full of shapes, colours and hyper-feminine details. So in the coming months, a skirt, long or mini, cannot be missing from our wardrobes. Whether in tulle, lace, cotton or silk, this model full of flounces and ruffles is part of the collections of most brands that participated in LFW. A few examples? Molly Goddard, Chopova Lowena, Susan Fang and Yuhan Wang. There are two ways to wear the Frou-Frou skirt: either accentuate it with lace and bows, or take it back with minimalist or grunge elements like a wool maxi jumper or a football team t-shirt.

Bride to be

Richard Quinn

Bora Aksu

David Koma

Tove

Susan Fang

Simone Rocha

Mithridiate

When you leaf through the pictures of this LFW, does it seem to you as if you're hearing the notes of the wedding march? No, you're not going crazy, it's (as always) all the fault of the designers who, even if they don't declare it as such, have brought different versions of wedding dresses to the catwalk: with lace, silk, fluffy, mermaid, minimalist, exaggerated, romantic, sensual, long, short, ... All white and often with a veil or tiara on the head to complete the look of the bride-to-be. There's something for every taste and personality, from Simone Rocha's cakey look to Richard Quinn's vintage look to David Koma's mini model worn with a veil. Which is your favourite?

Hyper-feminine shoes

Erdem

Erdem

Erdem

Simone Rocha

Simone Rocha

Simone Rocha

Hyper-feminine, prissy and over-decorated. And often sexy too. When it comes to shoes at this year's LFW, more is more. In the search for the perfect statement shoe to draw attention and elevate any outfit, designers casually switch from Texan boots to David Koma's high-heeled models with floral prints and fuchsia roses. And how about Simone Rocha's collaboration with Crocs. The talented Irishwoman adorns fashion's favourite ugly sandals with a cascade of pearls. At Erdem, on the other hand, the shoes are pointed and golden with maxi bows, at Roksanda the high-heeled sandals are all covered in feathers and at 16Arlington the pumps are adorned with huge sequins just like the dresses. Another trendy footwear for spring/summer 2024? Over-the-knee boots, like the hyper-sexy boots at David Koma, Mark Fast and KNWLS.