London Fashion Week’s DiscoveryLab showcased the collections of 15 emerging designers. Social criticism played an important role in the creative processes behind the designs.
The fashion designers who take part in the DiscoveryLab are selected by the British Fashion Council. They do not yet meet the requirements to be included in the main London Fashion Week programme, but are subject to specific criteria set up specifically for the Discovery Lab. The applicants have all been active in ready-to-wear fashion for less than three years and come from various creative fields.
The selected designers presented their collections digitally via the London Fashion Week online platform. They present videos that explain the concepts behind their collections in more detail.
This year, four themes stood out in particular – from social movements to the development of virtual identities.
Cultural heritage and societal concerns
Collections that draw heavily on a cultural heritage have been one of the key themes at DiscoveryLab this season. Young designers brought elements from their personal experience and origin into the creation process of the collections. London-based Thai designer Strong Theveethivarak drew inspiration from his home country’s heritage for his label’s Strongthe collection. He combined Thai ghost stories with personal experiences tied to his name – resulting in what the designer himself described as a “disability-inspired design sensibility”.
Designer Saskia similarly explored her “trans-national” identity. Her collection reflects a cross-cultural lifestyle and offers a deep insight into the political implications of it. Through repurposed military knitwear and upcycling techniques, Saskia expressed the story of positive outcomes arising from the negative effects of ancestral dislocation. A similar anecdote was picked up in the collection of the Indian label Margn. Founded in 2020, the brand focused on the journey of immigrants – aiming to initiate a conversation about borders and divisions. The message was conveyed through textured knitwear, unconventional silhouettes and upcycled water pipes meant to represent society’s “connectedness”.
Abigail Ajobi and Anciela, on the other hand, focused more on the beauty of cultural heritage and the stories of migrants in their collections. They were inspired by the Colombian flower festival and the history of the “silletero”, the flower bearers. The focus of the collection was the joy of being a migrant, which was expressed in a digital film with performances by Latin-British dancers. In particular Ajobi’s collection celebrated cultural identity through a film that told the love story of the designer’s parents in Nigeria.Ajobi featured two prints in her collection that symbolized the story: a love letter written by her father and banknotes, representing wealth Both prints are sold as NFTs.
perception and experimentation
Je Cai and Sól Hansdóttir’s FW22 collections showcased an experimental take on fashion. Through systematic compilations and a mixture of conformity and individuality, Je Cai presented a collection intended to promote exchange between designer and wearer. The interchangeable parts of the looks are intended to allow for their own form of expression and represent a sustainable approach to fashion that is independent of the season.
Sól Hansdóttir, who recently graduated from Central Saint Martins, also relied on experimentation and sustainable collection development in her designs, which was reflected in the choice of local production facilities and the deconstruction of used clothes. Above all, Hansdóttir wanted to test the understanding of reality with the designs. To do this, she modified garments in a way that made them appear as something entirely new.
femininity and gender norms
The theme of femininity was also emphasized by some collections. In particular, Dreaming Eli by Elisa showed a clear reference to the theme. Now in its second season at DiscoveryLab, the brand was guided by clichés that typically confine women’s minds and bodies to certain stereotypes. The label twisted perceptions of those clichés, borrowing elements from Edgar Degas’s paintings of ballerinas and Victorian corsetry – but going against the usual norm, expressing the woman’s point of view. In a description of the presentation, the designer said, “This collection is my experience of what it means to be female.”
The designer Esther Kubisz also questioned gender conformity with her collection. For this, Kubisz reinterpreted her characteristic suit designs and created a basis for discussion about masochism, relationships and general opposites. While the Austrian designer Florentina Leitner focuses on sustainability, the theme of femininity was also evident in her collection. Leitner, who previously worked for Dries Van Noten, presented looks created in part from recycled rubbish bags and bottle caps. In combination with eye-catching embellishments, the collection should show that improved production is also possible without sacrificing characteristic design.
Futurism and individual identities
Of course, the digital world also played a key role in the collections of the selected designers. The topic came to the fore in particular during the presentation by Christoph Ritter Studio. The Austrian-born designer dealt with topics such as futurism and virtual self-idealization – and designed a collection for environmentally conscious, party-loving youth. Garments made from recycled plastic, such as shapewear and catsuits, encouraged the element of self-expression. Key pieces from the collection are sold as NFTs and as virtual garments via the Rally digital platform.
The jewelery brand Ex-A Studio opted for 3D visualization and presented the house’s first line of accessories in an impressive digital presentation. The gender-neutral collection was created using unique rendering techniques to express the importance of technology to the design process.
