After another rather bland and boring New York Fashion Week the baton has been handed to London and we’ve come to learn that over the past few years now, London is where Fashion Month really hits its stride. What with it’s awesome street style, emerging talent, and well rooted, established designers, London Fashion Week has something that every fashion lover can appreciate and aspire to.
My start to London Fashion Week is always the same: severe train delays resulting in over half a day lost and the FW18 show season was no different. After an epic delay in excess of two hours, I finally arrived in the capital and met up with some familiar faces. After checking in, I hotfooted it to my first show of the season, Fortie Label to find that I had one of the best seats in the house…
If you’re thinking you’ve heard that name somewhere before, that’s because Rihanna commissioned this urban-luxe brand to produce part of her Anti world tour wardrobe; and if you haven’t heard of it yet, you’ve most definitely seen some of their designs on the likes of Jorja Smith, Kelela or Chaelin CL. For their FW18 collection, Fashion Scout Merit Award winners Fortie Label drew inspiration from Forty Thieves, an all female London crime syndicate who were famously known for their antics through the 19th and 20th centuries.
The collection is an ode to female sexuality and empowerment and with its fierce girl gang aesthetic, it’s not hard to see why they were selected for the much coveted Merit Award. Oversized boiler-suit silhouettes fashioned from stiffened voiles are paired with elements of the sports luxe trend, urban glamour and hints of resort wear. Cropped hoodies, sheer tracksuits and high PVC shorts cement Fortie Label firmly on the radar of every hip, youthful female artist out there in 2018 and it won’t be long before you’re spotting pieces on MTV. FW18 saw the return of the brand’s signature triple hoodie alongside a revamped corset fashioned from denim. A collaboration with swimwear designer Louisa Ballou resulted in a base layer of overlay bikinis with bamboo detailing.
The colour palette for the entire collection was a warm mix of caramel tones with accents of tangerine, indigo and blue with textures ranging from denim, to tulle and faux fur. Fortie Label founder and designer Essie Buckman demonstrates her meticulous eye for detail with this collection which was produced through traditional textile development and construction techniques rather than resorting to cheaper, mass production.
As far as Fashion Week openers go, Fortie Label put in a strong show, with a hip hop dance finale and Fortie Dollars flipped all over the runway from the opening act, this is a show that was never going to be boring. One thing’s for sure, New York Fashion Week may have only been a few days ago, but it’s long since forgotten as London picks up the slack.
Pixie xo
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