London Fashion Week A/W 2023 is set to showcase emerging talent and established names. One of the season's most anticipated shows is the debut of Daniel Lee, ex-Bottega Veneta's creative director, at Burberry. Lee aims to present a new vision for the brand while staying true to Burberry's heritage.

Other designers showcasing their collections include JW Anderson, Conner Ives, Christopher Kane, Simone Rocha, Nensi Dojaka, Molly Goddard, Roksanda, and Julien Macdonald. Moncler's Art of Genius, which features collaborations with Alicia Keys, Pharrell Williams, Mercedes-Benz, Adidas Originals, Roc Nation by Jay-Z, and more, will also have a live show at London's Olympia on Monday.

Overall, London Fashion Week A/W 2023 promises to be a busy event with a mix of emerging and established talent and collaborations between high-profile brands and artists.

London Fashion Week A/W 2023 Highlights

SS Daley

Steven-Stokey Daley's presentation at the London Fashion Week A/W 2023 was characterized by a theatrical flair, with a cameo appearance by British actor Ian McKellan who read an extract from Alfred Tennyson's The Coming of Arthur. Daley, who recently won the 2022 LVMH Prize, drew inspiration for his latest collection from Kate Bush's concept EP The Ninth Wave, about a character stranded in the water and at the mercy of their imagination.

The collection featured nautical references, including oversized navy pea coats and shirts, berets, fisherman-inspired knits, and a focus on tailoring with a "neat sailor's collar." According to Daley, the reference to water signalled a new chapter for his brand, focusing on the "confidence of being who I want to be." Overall, the collection seems well received, with Daley continuing to establish himself as a rising star in the fashion world.

Nensi Dojaka

Nensi Dojaka's appearance at the 2021 LVMH Prize during the London Fashion Week A/W 2023 was highly anticipated. Her casting alone included supermodels Caroline Trentini, Mariacarla Boscono, and Imaan Hammam, who signalled the event as one of the city's hottest tickets. Her sensual, lingerie-inspired designs have a level of accomplishment and craft that sets her apart from her peers. Despite a proliferation of similar styles appearing on both the runway and high street, her signature LBDs with intricate strap fastenings and pleated tulle detailing continues to stand out.

In keeping with her eternal inspiration, a single flower was left on each attendee's chair, and delicate red tulle flowers decorated the chest of a bra top. In contrast, fronds of tulle at the ankle of trousers unfurled like petals. A white 'snowdrop' dress with Swarovski crystals proposed a new silhouette for evening wear with a fitted skirt in fine jersey and further tulle godets. Her designs have a severity of cut that avoids the saccharine. At the same time, new collection elements like denim jeans, oversized blazers, and an expansive black overcoat exuded the sensuality and confidence that are now synonymous with the brand. The collection was highly praised, and Dojaka continues solidifying her place as a rising star in the fashion world.

Christopher Kane

Christopher Kane's A/W 2023 collection was inspired by the designer's memories of his mother, aunt, and neighbours from the 1980s, notably "housewives, cleaners, barmaids." The collection was presented in an office close to Angel tube station and featured a mix of sensuality and subversion.

For instance, a red PVC skirt had vast ruffles emerging from its waist, and structured panels rose from the back of dresses and around models' necks, inspired by chopping boards - kitschy prints of chicks, rats, and pigs generated by AI-adorned body-conscious gowns with thigh-high slits.

The collection also featured delicate flower motifs inspired by vintage home furnishings that appeared throughout and "softened hard-line silhouettes." The collection aimed to capture the complexities of growing up in a working-class environment, referencing Kane's upbringing.

Erdem

Erdem Moralioğlu's A/W 2023 collection was inspired by the history of his Bloomsbury townhouse and its former residents, including a Victorian-era Home of Hope for the Restoration of Fallen Women.

The collection was staged in a black-curtained studio space at Sadler's Wells theatre and featured historical silhouettes reinterpreted with a contemporary eye. The clothing was made from various jacquards and prints and was richly embellished with embroidery.

The collection had a ghostly, faded glamour feel, with forms appearing from the darkness and roving spotlights tracking the looks. The designer added notes of subversion with unravelling hems, shades of bright yellow and citrine, and vast taffeta gloves that resembled bell sleeves.

JW Anderson

The JW Anderson A/W 2023 collection is described as a move towards clarity and reduction, building on the designer's previous menswear collection.

The show space at Camden's Roundhouse featured billboards with old advertisements for performances by Scottish dancer and choreographer Michael Clark, who was a driving force for the collection.

The collection features references to Clark, including the same phallus that appeared in an old advertisement and his name on tank tops and handbags. Anderson looked towards Clark's wider body of work, which drew him to look back at his archive, condensing 15 years of JW Anderson into this collection.

Previous collections were distilled with clarity, making for an elegant, elevated collection with visual bluntness. Anderson concluded that the collection is a constant exchange of then and now, reducing, compressing, condensing, and starting again.

Simone Rocha

Simone Rocha is a fashion designer known for drawing inspiration from the traditional festivals and folklore of Ireland, and this season was no different.

Her collection was inspired by the Gaelic holiday Lughnasadh, which celebrates the beginning of harvest, and her show notes included poetic references to the holiday's rituals and beliefs. Rocha's designs blended sweetness and subversion, with delicate red ribbons and raffia used to evoke the festival's links to blood and ceremonial weaving.

The collection also featured Rocha's signature embroidery, ultra-feminine silhouettes, and menswear, which debuted in her last collection. Overall, the collection showcased Rocha's ability to bring a contemporary edge to traditional themes and motifs.

Roksanda

The Roksanda Ilinčić's A/W 2023 collection celebrated art, design, and community, drawing inspiration from the midcentury Gutai movement and Japanese visual artist Atsuko Tanaka. T

His collection featured expansive jewel-toned gowns with sculptural forms inspired by Tanaka's "Electric Dress", which comprised hanging cylindrical lightbulbs in bold colours in a wearable structure.

Ilinčić highlighted the unexpected forms and notions of the collection, which she said invite a deeper connection between the creation of the body, craft, beauty, and technology. The presentation took place in the French drawing room of Claridge's Hotel, and attendees were greeted with a single rose tied with a Roksanda-branded ribbon.

Molly Goddard

Molly Goddard returned to the basics and simplicity of when she first started her brand for her A/W 2023 collection.

The collection was very personal for her, as she looked too old for magazines, and her memories of growing up in London inspired her designs. Notably, she streamlined her signature expansive silhouette, which has been a hallmark of her work in the past.

The cerise-pink dress with knife-sharp slits and sheer panels of red tulle sounds like a particularly striking piece from the collection.

Conner Ives

Conner Ives drew inspiration from the 1999 movie Magnolia and aimed to make people fall in love with fashion again through his A/W 2023 collection, which was presented at the Old Selfridges Hotel in London.

The collection featured an array of archetypal figures in Ives' playful style, with nods to sustainability, as around 70% of the collection was made from repurposed second-hand vintage. Ives aimed to recapture his passion for fashion as a teenager and wanted to bring a certain "gravitas" to the collection.

The notes included an "ode to Kate Moss' mud-stained 2000s looks at the festival," "The Shiny Set: Nan Kempner" referencing Nicholas Coleridge's book The Fashion Conspiracy, and "The Showgirl, Nomi Malone" with the message "it's not Versace, it's Conner Ives!"

Fashion East

Michael Stewart’s Standing Ground provided the opening act of this season’s Fashion East with an impeccably crafted collection that evolved his signature sculptural eveningwear, which debuted last season at the talent incubator. A focus on silhouette and form remained at the heart of the offering – ‘histories of figuration, whether ancient or ancestral, are abstracted and animated in work that fortifies presence’, read the collection notes – whereby vivid tones of velvet and satin were crafted into elongated gowns, often with twisting padded detailing around the waist. The introduction of a series of Donegal wool overcoats, wide at the hips, showed Stewart is adding new depth to his offering, while tops, skirts and jumpsuits were also introduced this season. The way that the Irish designer weaves his expansive view of history – inspiration, he said, might come from Paleolithic figurines or silhouettes from the 1500s or 1950s – into these distinctly contemporary pieces, shows maturity and purpose. He’s one to watch.

Elsewhere, this season marked the debut of Estonia-born designer Johanna Parv, who was nominated for the 2023 LVMH Prize last week. A focus on sportswear provided the impetus for the collection, which combined moments of utility – drawstrings, stirrup leggings, cycle-wear second-skin tops – with crisp, defined silhouettes and moments of femininity (the designer says her approach is a riposte to traditional sportswear design which was largely evolved on men’s bodies). Karoline Vitto, meanwhile, continued her own sensual exploration of the female form with garments that hung seductively on the body, often with sculptural metal fastenings evocative of contemporary jewellery. This season, the introduction of tailoring – albeit in the designer’s distinct asymmetric style – added new depth to her oeuvre.

Harris Reed

Harris Reed's A/W 2023 collection, titled "All the World's a Stage," is

centred around the transformative power of dressing. The collection features dramatic silhouettes, including large orb-shaped hats, pannier-style waist swaths, and an "upside-down" fishtail skirt designed to create a theatrical effect.

The use of shimmering gold sequins and metallic lamé in this season's collection creates a sense of luxury and opulence, while rich black velvet provides a sleek contrast. The collection's overall aesthetic is drama and spectacle, reflecting the idea that clothing can allow us to express who we indeed are.

Actress Florence Pugh opened the show with a monologue that underscored the importance of clothing in transforming and expressing oneself. She notes that dress can change actors and everyday people, allowing them to express their true selves on the stage of life.

Harris Reed's collection is a bold and striking example of how clothing can be used to create an artistic and expressive statement. It demonstrates the power of fashion to inspire and transform and highlights the importance of self-expression and individuality in the world of style.

AV Vattev

The A/W 2023 collection by Av Vattev, founded by Bulgaria-born designer Antonio Vattev, is titled 'The Privilege of Observation'.

The collection draws inspiration from Vattev's admiration of artists Georgia O'Keeffe and Christo, reflecting his vision and lifestyle. The clothing is a visual tribute to the artists, with graphic silhouettes and colourful, undulating motifs inspired by O'Keeffe's work and pleated nylon raincoats referencing Christo's dramatic wrapped forms.

Vattev's Bulgarian roots are also referenced in the collection, with traditional embroidery from the country appearing throughout. Cut-outs, which have become a Vattev signature, also feature prominently in the collection. The campaign for the collection features several high-profile fans of Vattev's work, including British artist duo Corbin Shaw and Flora Miles and Grammy Award-winning musician Scribz Riley.

Overall, the collection is a testament to Vattev's keen eye for observation and ability to translate visual inspiration into wearable art pieces. Combining his Bulgarian heritage with the influences of O'Keeffe and Christo creates a unique and visually striking aesthetic that will turn heads on the runway and beyond.