London Fashion Week’s most unusual outfits so far
Molly Goddard put the 'fun' in fashion with partywear paired with cigarettes and champagne. Photo: Getty
London, one of the couture capitals of the world, has served up plenty of wonderful, exclusive and extravagant outfits in the first four days of the twice-yearly Fashion Week.
Over six days, between September 14 and 19, catwalks across the capital are showcasing the latest spring/summer collections of top-end designers, including luxury heritage brand Burberry, rising star Simone Rocha and debutante Nicopanda.
Supermodels Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour were among the big names sighted at the event, which never fails to attract A-list celebrities.
As always, it was the bizarre looks that turned heads – sheer plastic raincoats, retooled military uniforms that looked like they belonged in the American Revolutionary War, pink faux fur coats, and some carnival-inspired pirates.
But some guests found their usual red carpet welcome replaced by heckling protesters.
Several dozen animal rights activists made a loud racket on Saturday outside the luxury brand’s show venue in London’s Clerkenwell area, crowding around the entrance and shouting “Shame on London Fashion Week!”
Police and security guards ended up forming two human chains to allow guests, including Vogue‘s Wintour, to enter and exit the show.
But the show went on. London Fashion Week, held since 1983, is considered one of the ‘Big Four’ fashion weeks, along with New York, Milan and Paris.
Take a look at our picks of the whackiest outfits to grace London’s catwalks so far.
Burberry celebrates ‘glorious eccentricity’
Burberry’s vintage brown check was everywhere in its new season runway from designer Christopher Bailey, along with tartan skirts with sheer backs, reimagined military coats and riding shirts, plastic outerwear (with nothing underneath), sheer embroidered dresses, pink faux fur coats and slouchy scarves.
Bailey told the press he wanted to celebrate the “sheer glorious eccentricity of the British way of dressing”, with the aim of not being “too done or too sophisticated”.
House of Holland goes pirate chic
Models were forced to ‘walk the plank’ in a pirate-themed display full of wavy stripes and eccentric layering from London label House of Holland, headed by 34-year-old designer Henry Holland.
Holland told the Manchester Evening News that he went into fashion with “no intention of creating anything that would change my career path”.
“I just started making t-shirts for my friends and I to wear as a personal project.”
Nicopanda
Debuting for the first time at London Fashion Week, the brand started by Nicola Formitchetti, Lady Gaga’s former stylist, was determined to make a splash with its unisex streetwear collection – complete with smudged lipstick and fidget spinners.
Molly Goddard
Fun was clearly the order of the day for this designer, whose collection was heavy on partywear.
One of the models danced down the runway clutching a glass of champagne and an e-cigarette. Another stomped around in biker boots (which could’ve easily been mistaken for a pair of gumboots).
All photos courtesy of Getty