Some people in the fashion industry think that London Fashion Week has become less exciting than its counterparts. But you have to wonder if those people pay attention to the streets.
During the shows in London, maybe more than in any other fashion week city, the streets are a sort of laboratory for experiments in getting dressed. The style can be so ahead of the curve that trends happening elsewhere are already considered over. Outside one show, for instance, I complimented a woman on her Maison Margiela tabis — a type of cloven-footed shoes that recently caused a stir on TikTok. Her response? “Tabis are kind of basic now.”
If split-toe footwear was tired, what wasn’t? Judging by the crowds, fuzzy sweaters that were tied around the body or worn in other unusual ways. There were also lots of neckties, often worn traditionally and by women.
And I noticed many people in Simone Rocha and Molly Goddard, two British labels whose feminine clothes are at once nostalgic, modern, casual and elegant. Fortunately, nobody I saw had dressed them down with Adidas Sambas.