September’s fashion festivities, which took place all around London in a vast variety of locations ranging from the usual home of London catwalk, 180 The Strand, to Tate Modern and even BAYSIXTY6, a Notting Hill skatepark, in which the designer duo Chopova Lowena held their show this year. This bold approach in choosing unusual locations was a prominent feature in many other designers’ shows this year, which created an ironically fashionable and apocalyptic mood for the shows.

With the “mood-board” for the new fashion season officially set out to Londoners by the old and the new designer names, it is finally the time to do some homework and revise all the new trendy introductions from the past week in order to prepare for the Spring/Summer 2024 season.

Medieval Punk Maiden Meets Apocalypse

Chopova Lowena’s chaotic attires have become obligatory to have in the wardrobe lately. The bold beauty looks that the sensational designer duo delivered in their second ever catwalk show served as the defining feature of the London Fashion Week, directing the beauty gurus even further into blending styles and trends between the distant past and the faraway future. The show didn’t fail to bring this look back again, with models rocking outfits of such divinely feminine form yet so futuristically colourful, it has been described as “the medieval fuckboy fayre”.

The collection compiled of a mix of monochromatic gothic outfits with gigantic lacy sleeves and even bigger collars and metallic hair accessories, reminiscent of kawaii Japanese keychains and The Three Musketeers queens pendants at the same time. A lot of attention was given to the colour white, which is seemingly coming back in celebration of the pure and feminine image that fashion has been taking up lately.

Japanese Erotica

The 2020 Central Saint Martins graduate Chet Lo is one of the most recognisable names in the fashion industry of today. The Asian-American designer has quickly risen to prominence because of his unusual approach to use fashion as means to explore the various complicated subjects of his background and image of fashion in the modern day. While

his last collection featured models walking the runway with tongues dyed vivid shades of red, green and blue — an ode to the title of that collection “Bioluminescence”, — the most recent show focused on a topic far more controversial.

The models walked the runway with their hair made into tight, spiky and sculptural coiffures, through which the designer raised the theme of sexual suppression in Asian cultures. The feminine, yet spiky silhouettes of the modern attires that the models rocked during the show, were decorated with thin, coloured laces tied around the models’ hands, necks and waists — Chet Lo’s fresh and rather innocent take on Shibari, the Japanese erotic rope play. With the statement, laced tops appearing quite often in fashion for the past year, Chet Lo’s collection became a culminating moment in stapling this trend for the foreseeable future.

Sexiness and Simplicity

Tove is a British brand that made its debut earlier this year during London Fashion Week in February, which has since gained a reputation of one the best new representatives of quiet luxury. This Fashion Week, though the brand’s looks differing from its previous appearance on the catwalk, the brand offered the look of sexiness and simplicity for the upcoming Spring/Summer season. Models moved freely in their light and comfortable pieces, standing out among others with a rather unusual idea for the recent fashion shows’ trend to avoid dramatics — demonstrating that fashion on the runway can also be wearable. With the use of materials like silk and satin and favourable attention on the waist, Tove’s dresses were an example of the brand’s longevity and timeless approach to clothing. Besides, the simple yet sexy looks are very in tact with the recent return of ultra-femininity.

[Insert Name of the Substance] Chic!

Heroin chic was left in the 90s, ketamine chic was left in 2022, so what is the new narcoticsinduced, young people-oriented chic? Masha Popova leaves the answer to this question to your personal interests and imagination, while offering a new approach to high-end fashion glamour. For this Fashion Week she wanted a “worn-in, faded glamour that was slightly grungy” look, which was delivered to the public in the form of distressed jeans, washed-out denim, toxic colour palette and maxi-skirts. The Ukrainian designer’s collection was a loud and hot take on the ever changing 20s fashion and offered a piece for anyone from anywhere.

Another prominent feature of this show was the makeup worn by Masha Popova’s models. Girls were almost barefaced, occasionally featuring poisonous eyeshadow of green, grey and blue. The most spectacular look though, was the choice of lipstick. Most of the model’s lips were covered with metallic eyeshadow that created a vibrant look resonating with the biggest lipsticks trends of the 90s.