PHOTOGRAPHY Leah Davies
Fashion East has long held the reputation for launching the careers of some of London’s most notable design talents – S.S. Daley, Grace Wales Bonner, Ashley Williams… the list is impressively lengthy. For SS25, the talent incubator returned with a packed new roster, featuring two returning designers – including fan-favourite Olly Shinder – and three debuting brands.
Below, we head backstage to get up close and personal with the designs from Fashion East’s class of SS25.
OLLY SHINDER
Returning to the Fashion East line-up for the third time, guests were eagerly anticipating Olly Shinder’s SS25 showcase. The London-born designer has gained his reputation from his masterful subversion of traditional uniform and workwear codes, blended with his love for fetishwear. PE kits, Scout and Girl Guide uniforms, wading gear were all on show among the 17-look collection, starting off with collared boilersuits and latticed stiff shirts before transitioning to rubber dungarees paired with extra-long gloves and no shirts.
NUBA
“The geographies of London, Jamaica and Cameroon are adjacent to our identities,” explains newcomer Nuba’s designers, Jebi Labembika and Cameron Williams. The multi-heritage design duo’s identities are firmly woven into their garments. For SS25, the designer continues to explore their story of identity, this time through dissecting the idea of Simulation – specifically within a city setting. Those who have experienced culture elsewhere find the pressure of city life attempts to morph them into a singular culture that isn’t what they’re originally part of.
The resulting collection featured tailored jackets with a refined sporty touch, double layering to look as though jackets are falling from one another, oversized fitted trousers combined with refined geometric cuts, representing the awkwardness often experienced when trying to fit into social groups and occupations to our own.
LOUTRE
For its inaugural runway show, Loutre’s collection captures the fleeting movement of life in a bustling city, the thrill of racing through the streets with messy hair and unfinished makeup, and the outfits that exude confidence in our fast-paced cosmopolitan lifestyles. The result is a blend of architectural silhouettes embodying structure, and soft fluid pieces that enhance movement. Flowy trousers and shorts in silky textures contrast with wool and studded canvas, while a reworked trench coat made from separate coats and an innovative panelled fur coat celebrate the fusion of luxury and the raw realities of metropolitan life.
POSITIVE ENERGY FLOWS AGAIN BY KITTY SHUKMAN
Shoe designer Kitty Shukman showcased her new brand Positive Energy Flows Again in a presentation at the Fashion East showspace. Ahead of the runway, guests entered into Shukman’s angelic dreamscape as models dangled out a lifesize “ancient oak tree” installation, exposing their scarred angel wings in the moonlight.
Inspired by a debilitating depressive time in her mental health, Shukman has launched the footwear brand with a stand-out innovative slider design, featuring an infinity shape that effortlessly encases the foot, symbolising unbreakable positive bonds. The slider is available in 6 shades including soft metallic silver, candy colours of neon pink and blue, and a charcoal grey with a sour lime green gummy outsole.
SOSSKYN
Artist Samara Scott and curator Tayah Leigh Barrs are the creative force behind SOSSKYN. For their latest collaboration, SS25 ‘Be In Touch’, the collection features handmade collaged garments utilising pre-loved cashmere, stockings and mosquito netting with homegrown seaweed rubber, eco resins and satin latex. Meticulously painted in over 20 layers, the unique eco fabrications merge the soft beauty of natural landscapes and the organic, fermented underbelly of raw materials. “We spend a lot of time watching water. We spend a lot of time in water. Two fields, two worlds touching. The unknown touching the known, breathing touching drowning, the sci-fi romance of the sea at dusk and dawn,” they explain.
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