PHOTOGRAPHY James Cochrane courtesy of Raven PR
As is usually the case, Fashion East seems to have their hands on the most forward-looking labels. Credited with propelling the career of some of London’s most outstanding designers – including Jonathan Anderson, and Grace Wales Bonner, and Martine Rose – the non-profit brought Louther (formerly known as Loutre), Nuba, and Olly Shinder to its highly anticipated Truman Brewery show this season.
LOUTHER
Brainchild of German designer Olympia Schiele, Louther opened the showcase with a collection in collaboration with Polish visual artist Helena Minginowicz, who used airbrushing techniques to create dreamlike visual illusions on masks as part of the collection. Featuring ashen colourways, layered tailoring, and synched waistlines, the show achieved a more adult feel compared to Schiele’s previous offering, while not forgetting a touch of provocativeness and her street and skatewear roots with faux furs and animal prints, baggy trousers and oversized silhouettes.
NUBA
Influenced by their South-London upbringing and their Afro-Caribbean and West African roots, designers Cameron Williams and Jebi Labembika stood out last season for their remarkable tribute to London’s immigrant subcultures through clever drapings. This time around, the duo leaned more towards soft, layered knitwear and tonal greys and browns representing a dark cityscape, alongside armour-like hoods and scarves.
Nonetheless, the avant-garde draping still appeared throughout the collection, most notably on electric cyan blue fabrics, symbolically threading the show together, recalling the natural world and the dream state and opposing the more muted pieces with a more industrial feel. Reflecting on the meaning of functionality and practicality, Nuba offered an array of innovatively reinterpreted cross-seasonal classics.
OLLY SHINDER
Known for his groundbreaking blend of corporate attire and fetish club wear, cult favourite Olly Shinder returned to the catwalk for his fourth and final collection at the Fashion East residency. Offering an exhibit of skillfully reimagined utilitarian garments and military fabrics, the Central Saint Martins graduate referenced Tim Burton’s Batman, the Brazilian city of São Paulo, and the restraints of late 90’s European menswear.
A more wearable and practical evolution from his previous collections, the showcase featured exciting new textures and prints, incorporating techwear and leather into angular shaped tailoring. Perforated leather dresses and sheer skirts brought us back to the designer’s signature raunchy origins, while smock and pinafore dresses inspired by 1950s nurses uniforms marked the designer’s wider expansion into womenswear.
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