Dive into Fashion East SS22: A polished treasure trove of future-shaping talent
The talent agency made a big ol’ splash with five collections – traversing spiked swimwear and slick heritage celebrations.
DESIGNER: FASHION EAST (CHET LO, MAXIMILLIAN, JAWARA ALLEYNE, GOOM HEO, HRH)
SEASON: Spring/Summer 2022
EVENT: London Fashion Week
LOCATION: Institute of Contemporary Arts, London – and on the URL!
As British behemoths like VICTORIA BECKHAM and BURBERRY refrained from their thrones this season, Fashion East stepped in as a key incubator of the future’s fashion royalty. Following alumna NENSI DOJAKA’s feat winning the LVMH prize this month, the pressure cooker was firmly switched ON for the next cohort. Through a multi-heritage lens, we saw pirate patchwork, tendrilous swimwear and a sea urchin showstopper thrown into the melting pot of sizzling next-gen fashion.
Armed with a foam dinghy-dress and beach tote large enough to store an ego, recent CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS graduate CHET LO took a satisfying dive into his first catwalk show on the roster. The fashion equivalent of a Piña Colada – it was the visual vacation we all deserved, far flung from our pyjama-bottomed realities. Tropical hues washed over his range that saw cerulean swimwear bonnets and sheer, asymmetric tops envisioning sunset on a deserted island. Cuts were skin-tight, detached sleeves coiled onto arms with all the curiosity of an octopus tentacle, skirts had split hems that hinted at marine tail-fins and squishy pool noodles acted the ultimate accessory. Where his past work transported us to the alien cosmos (hello DOJA CAT) this season had its heels firmly rooted in the sand, setting foundations of a unique brand identity. Studying BA Knitwear allowed Lo to hone his diaphanous wizardry; dimpled bodysuits and barbed heels woven from a signature technique – literal fishing wire spikes that gave us sea-cucumber-in-a-coral-reef exuberance. Devoted to “unabashed sexuality” the aquatic collection created a splash of lust, a drip of futurism, and felt as invigorating as a cool sea breeze in a heatwave.
Next to materialise IRL was MAXIMILLIAN, for the first time on a runway after two digital showings. It was familiarity and heritage at the collection’s heart, named after a Trinidadian bird: Scarlet Ibis. Fittingly, what the designer presented was paradise: rouge halter drapes flowing from the neck, dresses like a satin lava stream – red hot and dangerously enticing. Closing the stellar show was a rubbery backpiece in collaboration with designer NAZIR MAZHAR, that took the outline of a black urchin or the wavering fronds of a palm tree shadow. Each collection sees Maximillian turn a different stone in tradition, but this one stayed close to home. Citing the sunny memories of his childhood, from carnivals to family holidays, he refers to this season’s aesthetic as “pose-wear” – swimwear that you can flaunt around the poolside, wanting to believe you’re the next TYRA BANKS. Cropped two-pieces were ready to catch the evening rays. His tailoring, sculpted like wetsuits but sewn from crepe, evoked the smart decorum of naval uniform, sultry front-slit shirts and loose trousers were seductively timeless. Faint harlequin patterns in devoré gave an essence of uncomplicated glamour. The latter, a tribute to Maximillain’s late grandmother whose couches were upholstered in the same velveteen fabric; keeping a close proximity to home is why the designer feels authentic seasons over.
Elsewhere at JAWARA ALLEYNE, the Caribbean also held prominence. Though it was identity, not scenery, that drove the collection. The designer wants to remould masculine perceptions, dissecting their history and tailoring a future through rogue pirate-esque patchwork; we’re talking tattered jerseys and worn ruby waistcoats that sit atop swashbuckler belts. For the presentation, models contorted into precarious stances – simultaneously pushing the boundaries of the physical body and of gender. “Draping gives a beauty to menswear that you don’t normally see, because for some reason draping is usually seen as for women – it’s not often found in menswear,” said Alleyne in the press release. His attempts to soften gender’s brutish edge began in Central Saint Martins where he would tip the sliding scale of manliness using approaches reserved for womenswear; form-fitting or the use of silk – seen this season in roomy pantaloon trousers, billowing as though two sails on a ship. As such, Alleyne’s take on fashion is interchangeable, without one definition. Yet there remained a sense of punk rebellion, undeniable angst in the safety pin seams and torn denims; a shredded-and-sewn charm that presents masculinity as a jigsaw, a cultural bricolage, pieced together by Alleyne’s upbringing and progessive psyche.
Inner thoughts, too, loomed over GOOM HEO'S SS22 collection like an ominous cloud. The designer had returned to her Seoul hometown after graduating from Central Saint Martins, thus taking on another digital lookbook. Seen yet not felt, her designs this season were tainted by trepidation. Past collections shared a similar voyeuristic feeling, peering at the pandemic’s global impact from afar, as uncovered in our AW21 INTERVIEW. For SS22, fine bodychains and leg-snaking jumpsuits alluded to entrapment. In the way that anxiety clings to your throat, a pleated ruff collar enclosed the neck of a model, hoods consumed heads, tendrils poured from jeans and live snakes perched upon shoulders. In the designer's own words: “chaotic, but in a zone of comfort.” It was somehow concealed but uncovered all at once: hips peeked through side-holes, hands hid in gloves. The designs frolicked in uncertainty, a sure rumination of the times we find ourselves in.
Cohesion and unity, then, are the antithesis of pandemic life. They’re also two states integral to sport – the hallmark of HRH’S latest collection, shown online. Looking beyond the Olympics, designer Hannah (who goes only by her first name) conjured a coterie of swim-spired apparel that looked straight off the diving board. Here, tactility was the overall touchpoint: stretchy, scant nylons were transformed into bralettes and top-half leotards that tied across the torso with stringy fastenings. Blurred gradient colours of powder blue and grape purple sat below the rhinestone studs that contoured bodice sides, inching down onto bikini bottoms. The sparkles reflected both the pageantry of sport and spoke to y2k glam – Juicy Couture anyone? – with feminine ferocity. Hannah was initially an accessory designer, and once a gymnast, so the XXL-oversized scrunchies and medallion-shade bags in bronzes and golds made perfect sense. With that, the SS22 Fashion East season closed its shiny doors – and needless to say, all of its designers were champions.
Images courtesy of Fashion East.
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