Nensi Dojaka SS22 was a love-laced, romantic soliloquy on the female body
In her much-anticipated solo show debut, Nensi Dojaka tells an anatomical love story of fragility, softness and freedom.
DESIGNER: NENSI DOJAKA
SEASON: Spring/Summer 2022
EVENT: London Fashion Week
LOCATION: Old Selfridge Hotel, London
Nensi Dojaka may be a minimalist in her vision, but her industry fanfare is at a brimming maximum. For the Albania-born designer, who won the prestigious LVMH prize this month, her latest show – the first solo of her career, post-FASHION EAST – proved her brand as an entity of sartorial excellence as well as asserted its next direction in cobweb-like clothing. Dojaka’s creations are a romantic tale in anatomy; caressing the collarbones, intimately framing the breasts in barely-there tulle patchwork. Effortless and airy, the silhouettes are adored by superstardom, spotted off-duty on BELLA HADID, DUA LIPA and RIHANNA for their amorous appeal.
With the fashion crowd collectively holding its breath for Dojaka’s latest instalment, the visionary did not disappoint – in an industrial showspace under glaring white spotlights came her most articulate collection to date. For Spring/Summer 2022, petal-thin panels and love-heart trims decorating the décolletage were a dainty ode to the feminine, a sweet sequel to her much-loved LBD’s; georgette dresses suspended from rouleau straps no thicker than shoelaces. They demonstrate the skills of Dojaka’s time in lingerie construction class at LONDON COLLEGE OF FASHION; black organza skirts that dust the upper thigh as though an erotic evolution of the nightgown, layered fabrics playing a game of reveal-conceal, directing the eye to chest-spanning strings. Her mastery of fine fittings is evident from the inverted flora motifs found on midriffs, melded into sheer stockings, and seen, too, with the butterfly outline of a baby pink bodice. Tracing cottagecore in the very slightest gesture.
Dojaka continues to blossom on common ground, growing her singular threadlike aesthetic while branching into new realms. Soft tailoring this season introduced a masculine subtly, amplified by the earth-toned palette of Francis Bacon – whose artworks explore nuances in gender binary, and greatly influenced the collection. Full-length trousers and blazers were loosely cut so that they waltzed with the air in motion. The designer equates this breezy, fragile act to our present mentality: feeling (finally!) free from months of constraint. In another sense, the abbreviated garments – many short-cut and punctuated by triangular slits – are made for freedom-dressing, to wear at dinner dates and out for drinks with a self-assured hair flick.
Deconstruction held the collection together. One dress was formed from nine materials and thirteen segments, bringing to mind the Greats – Margiela, Demeulemeester and Helmut Lang. Except, Dojaka took design cues from an entire decade this season, citing the ‘60s as centrepoint for her subverted cuts, think reworked underskirts and slips. At a time when sustainability has ignited an up-cycling revival, the designer’s patchy craftwork is evermore apropos. Sophisticated, sellable and bringing sexy back, at its finale, show guests broke into raptures – their claps signifying the start of both a promising fashion week and career ahead for Dojaka.
Images courtesy of Getty.
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