London Fashion Week: The trends of the Spring/Summer 2022 collections
September usually means only one thing in fashion circles: London Fashion Week. And LFW finally woke up from its Corona half-sleep again last week. Regardless of whether you loved or demonized the digitally innovative, virtual fashion weeks, there was one thing we definitely missed during the online Fashion Week at home: and that was the stylishly quaint dressed fashion people, who turn the streets far away from the London show locations as well into catwalks.
And not only the street style of the city, but also the designs on the catwalk are special this season. For the first time since the start of the pandemic, London Fashion Week has re-hosted its kick-off with actual shows and events. This London Fashion Week celebrates its return with favourite pieces from before the lockdown and arrangements that have been just waiting to finally be shown live again. The result is a smorgasbord of amazing designs from the hottest talent the British Isle has to offer right now.
Below, we've rounded up our favourite looks from the London catwalks for Spring-Summer 2022:
Richard Quinn:
Even though some designers still opted for smaller presentations and sometimes virtual shows as a hybrid model, the London-based designer didn't miss the opportunity to present his latest spring-summer designs in a big show he's been working on for so long in the lockdowns. Loud as the pop of a cannon, he sent his signature bright colors, characteristically puffy floral motifs, dramatic trains, and oversized shoulder pads with XXL bags and frilly hoods down the runway. London Club Kid meets Eliza Doolittle - a big yes from us.
Vivienne Westwood:
The fact that Vivienne Westwood has been rummaging through her archives for the latest collections again and again in recent seasons is no longer a surprise after almost 50 years in the business. Her spring-summer 2022 collection, which was presented in a lookbook, is titled "Save Our Souls" and was inspired by one of her summer collections from 1998. This season, it's again that very Choix de Vivre of the coast that helped her get a strong tailwind back then as well, as one would expect on the English see. Even today, she manages to reinterpret historic designs without making them seem like yesterday's news, and she does it as sustainably as possible.
David Koma:
Star darling David Koma showed a spring-summer collection that takes classic turn-of-the-century swimwear in his very contemporary handwriting. The central hub-and-spoke of this collection is varieté-star, but most importantly, swimmer Annette Kellerman, who really popularized synchronized swimming in her time and was one of the first women to wear a one-piece swimsuit. David Koma's Spring-Summer 2022 collection, which was actually also presented on a runway in a swimming pool, explored an detachment of a synchronized swimmer with the sensibility of a showgirl. Subversions of traditional swimsuits and signature Komaesque partywear found their finale in a fluorescent potpourri of cha-cha and ultra-glitter variations. The looks featured shades of neon yellow, fuchsia, bubblegum pink, and aqua.
Erdem:
Can you believe that Erdem has been on the London Fashion Week program for a decade and a half, now? During this London Fashion Week, Erdem Moralioğlu celebrated a special 15th anniversary in the colonnades of the British Museum. This collection is a love letter to London's idiosyncratic soul, told in a dance between two truly special and timeless women of the 20th century: poet Edith Sitwell and aristocrat Lady Ottoline Morrell. Two women who, according to Erdem, precisely embody this passionate spirit of the city on the periphery between myth and reality, and are distinguished in the collection by a high degree of eccentricity - in flowers, yes (it's Erdem!). Far from wallflowers, Erdem's Spring-Summer 2022 collection is in a museum-worthy potpourri of Edwardian influences, '50s silhouettes, and Gothic details, peculiar, yet still somehow feeling cohesive. Happy birthday, Erdem!
Simone Rocha:
She has always given her collections a medieval feel, which is why Simone Rocha invited her guests to the medieval church of St. Bartholomew the Great in the City of London, yet again this season. And since the Gothic church is mostly black and white, she used bright red, pale lavender, and pastel mint green to add colourful contrasting accents in several yards of lace and tulle in baby doll silhouettes. The birth of Rocha's second daughter was thus part of the inspiration for her latest collection, which revolves around the joys and pains of motherhood. As a fictional nightmare-lullaby, she blows up childlike proportions and exaggerates in the shapes of a bloody young mother. In the process, many of the looks are reminiscent of christening gowns, nightgowns and quilted silk bedding. In other words, this collection is a romantic vision of being a mother of a newborn. Blood-red lacquer and scarlet crystal drops were here perhaps the darker side of a mother-daughter relationship, however beautiful. This is what Simone Rocha is all about and has made her such a leading runway designer in London.
Richard Malone:
Richard Malone's spring-summer 2022 show, presented at London's Victoria and Albert Museum, is a feast for the eyes. Artful draping of flowing fabrics and brightly coloured leather and ruffle trim are the eye-catchers of his Spring-Summer 2022 collection.
Inspired by the nostalgia of his hometown of Wexford, Ireland, he sent his models down the runway in emerald green ruffled dresses for their sweeping landscape and leather coats in cobalt blue for the sea and orange.
Preen By Thornton Bregazzi:
Dark romance and ruffle details became as present as ever in Preen By Thornton Bregazzi's Spring-Summer 2022 collection. As if sprung from the 1980s, the collection is characterized by airy silhouettes and graphic prints in bold colors. Creative duo Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi must have watched a lot of TV during the lockdowns, which is exactly where the inspiration for their latest SS22 collection comes from. While the design couple makes an entire line of down comforters, pillows, and (new this season) face masks, they've never been interested in sweatpants and other forms of loungewear. Their new spring collection was designed with rebirth in mind, but its bright colours are actually derived from the rainbow-striped test screens that appeared when TV stations signed off for the night. A little note to Millennials and Gen-Zs reading this: In the dark ages of the 1980s, television was not a 24/7 service.
Molly Goddard:
Master of the smocking pattern, Molly Goddard - has once again managed to revive her signature baby doll silhouette in her Spring-Summer 2022 collection. The British designer actually took inspiration from her own childhood and enlarged the baby clothes she wore as a child to adult size by simply enlarging her patterns 10 to 20 times. How fitting, as Molly Goddard herself welcomed a baby later this year. During her pregnancy, she imagined what her child would wear and stuck with smocked dresses, track pants, and ballet pumps. Airy tulle was contrasted with heavy knits in a wonderfully versatile colour scheme of muted khaki, white, and brown with bold pops of neon orange and pink. Molly Goddard's Spring-Summer 2022 collection is a motley memoir full of good memories of growing up and looking forward to the exciting times ahead with her son.
Nensi Dojaka:
Just days after winning the prestigious LVMH Prize, Nensi Dojaka, London's hottest women swear designer at the moment, celebrated her first solo show at London Fashion Week. The fashion hearts of the London fashion crowd beat faster as her signature lingerie-inspired dresses walked down the runway. The designs looked familiar and fresh at the same time. In addition to skimpy dresses with sheer bra cups and cross-over straps, the designer also presented elegant high-waisted cigarette pants, suit jackets and tights with thoughtful, flower-shaped cut-outs.
Artfully draped and deconstructed, Nensi Dojaka brings a breath of fresh air to women's fashion by very skilfully celebrating modern femininity in sophisticated styles, playing with the nuances of revealing and concealing. After all, power dressing doesn't always have to be prudish!
Victoria Beckham:
Inspired by husband David Beckham and perhaps her days as Posh Spice, Victoria Beckham showed off a spring-summer 2022 collection with influences from '90s menswear that she usually only steals from her husband's closet. The oversized chambray shirts definitely have a David feel to them. In addition to the perfect button-down shirt, she presented pants, power pencil skirts, single-breasted trench coats, and cut-out '90s slip dresses reminiscent of the Spice Girls.
