The London Fashion Week opens on Thursday with the striking silhouettes by designer Harris Reed, celebrating the gender -giving fashion and starting a tightened schedule with several absent.
The British-American designer and creative director of LGBTQ at Nina Ricci will present designs from his label of the same name, which he calls “romance without binary”, in one of the most electrifying shows of the LFW autumn winter 2025 calendar.
Reeds distinctive, theatrical designs, which often contain wallpaper panels and even vintage pads, will descend on the runway of the Londonian art gallery Tate Britain.
The 28-year-old designer behind the tulle skirt, which was worn by Harry Styles on the groundbreaking Vogue US cover in 2020, has attracted the attention of celebrities from Lil NAS X to Adele and Beyonce.
His fan base continued to grew last year when he defeated actor Lily Collins in a viral black and white catsuit for the popular Netflix show “Emily in Paris”.
From Friday morning, regular guests of the event organized by the British Fashion Council (BFC) will take over the landingways, including Erdem, Simone Rocha, Richard Quinn and Roksanda, before closing the Burberry Show on Monday evening.
The brand with its legendary Tartan print, which goes through a difficult time, is the subject of rumors about the departure of its creative director Daniel Lee, who arrived a little more than two years ago and endeavors to modernize the house.
Lee could be replaced by the English designer Kim Jones, who left Dior Men after several media reports at the end of January.
A confirmed absence of London's landingways will be JW Anderson, the label of the Northern Irish designer Jonathan Anderson, who is also creative director of the Spanish fashion house Loewe.
Timing is probably no coincidence, since the designer was designated as the designer of 2024 at the British Fashion Awards and is said to be ready to take over the reins in Dior.
– 'challenging time' – –
For the first time, young designers, who are part of the BFC's Newgen program, have to describe how their collections correspond to the minimal sustainability standards.
The BFC, which finances this incubator for aspiring talents, follows in the footsteps of the smaller, environmentally conscious Copenhagen fashion week, which has taken over politics since 2023.
This new framework is to be introduced via all LFW brands.
The BFC also announced in November that after its berquin in 2023, it banned the use of wildlife skins such as alligator or snake.
However, the move was largely symbolic because none of those who showed at LFW used exotic skins.
Luxury brands that are still using snake or crocodile skin leather such as Hermes, LVMH and Prada do not show up at LFW, which has seen an exodus of large brands in Paris, Milan and New York in the past decade.
This edition of LFW was shortened by a day compared to the autumn winter collections in 2024, which is characterized by the lack of young designers such as Molly Goddard.
The independent designer Dilara Findikoglu and Conner Ives limited themselves to the program to one show a year, while others such as 16arlington and Tolu Coker chose a dinner party or presentation instead of a more expensive runway.
The BFC director Caroline Rush admitted that it was “a particularly challenging time” for British brands, which after the pandemic several blows such as Brexit and the closure of the global luxury online platform a year with the fashion of Brexit and the closure the global luxury online platform.
“We worked very closely with these companies and many more to bring them through this challenging time,” she told AFP.
– Diversity –
Rush, who organizes her last London Fashion Week, said that London Fashion Week remains “so relevant because … We have so many small independent companies that you need a platform to reach the global audience”.
She is replaced by Laura Weir, creative director of the British department store Selfridges and former journalist at British Vogue.
The British fashion industry employs 800,000 people directly and, according to the Fashion Council, contributes to the economy almost £ 30 billion ($ 38 billion).
And Rush also praised the London Fashion Week “the limits” forever.
“I am sure that the inclusiveness and diversity that we see on the catwalk is here to stay,” she added.
Cla-Alm/AKS-JKB/PDH/SBK