Susan Fang
London and Shanghai-based Canadian-Chinese designer Susan Fang will unveil a collaboration for the Chinese market with Victoria's Secret during her fall 2024 runway show in London on Monday.
"On Monday I will style some pieces from this collaboration in our show. They match well, especially with the bras, because we have a lot of sheer dresses, and they fit together so beautifully as a whole," Fang teased.
More from WWDFollowing its catwalk debut, the capsule collection will hit stores across China in April, leading up to May 20, a relatively new festive date among China's younger generation when lovers can show their affection for each other as the phrase 520 sounds like "I I love you" in Chinese.
For this love-themed capsule, Fang says she combines her signature use of airy fabric, lace, embroidery, sheer beading and floral patterns reminiscent of butterflies dancing among plants with Victoria's Secret's classic bras and panties.
She also offers pajama sets with broderie anglais borders and openwork shapes in the shapes of hearts, butterflies and clovers, camisoles that can be worn on multiple occasions, in addition to T-shirts with a puffy heart wing logo with the handwritten words "Fly with Love," and outerwear, such as a light summer jacket in rainbow gradients.
"I've always loved Victoria's Secret since I was in high school. My desire to design lingerie and pajamas has grown enormously after the pandemic, as many around me are looking for more decorative pajamas as we spend more time at home. The timing was a perfect fit, as Victoria's Secret began collaborating with designers last year [starting with Rui] with strong support for Chinese designers and creativity," said Fang.
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While developing the capsule, Fang said she took cost into account because she wanted "final products to fit in at the same price point as the main collection."
"Quality was also an important point. It was about finding the most suitable fabrics and the best shape for the female body. We wanted the wearer to experience the joy of intimate wearing on multiple occasions. On a personal level, it was a meaningful project for me because they have so much experience in every category and they were very open to experimenting with new ideas," she added.
On a personal level, the designer believed the Valentine's Day theme "magically suited her" as she just tied the knot with her Dyson engineer husband last weekend.
Fang has been nominated for the 2019 edition of the LVMH Prize and has been on the official London Fashion Week calendar since 2022.
The designer has done several showcases at Shanghai Fashion Week in recent years, which has earned her a slew of accolades such as the inaugural Yu Prize and Lane Crawford's Creative Callout and major collaborations with brands such as Zara, Nike, Ugg, Swarovski and the Chinese smartphone maker Oppo. .
Kazna Asker
Kazna Asker reinterprets the way fashion brands operate, putting community and charity at the forefront of her label. The first designer to present a hijab collection at the Central Saint Martins MA show, this season her collection titled "What are we fighting for?" advocates coming together collectively to resist adversity.
"Sometimes the pressure as an individual becomes too much, so it's about putting the action behind the community," said the designer.
"My fashion world combines my Yemeni heritage with my British upbringing in the north, so my collection continues the love letter to Sheffield and Yemen by merging the two worlds - whether that be through fabrics, silhouettes or colours," explains Asker out.
"I think this time my collection really explores the power of femininity behind the struggle and the power of the women in my life."
Making full use of deadstock materials, technical streetwear is combined with traditionally woven Middle Eastern upholstery fabrics, and silhouettes are inspired by abayas, hijabs and jilbabs, as well as the tracksuits the designer saw growing up in Sheffield, where she also made her developed a passion for community work. , an important aspect of its brand.
"Over the past year I have worked closely with Reach Up Youth in Sheffield and launched a campaign to get teachers of color in Sheffield treated equally, working directly with Sheffield City Council. This campaign inspired the development of my film 'Fight for me, Sheffield', which I presented at LFW in September," said the designer.
Recently, Asker teamed up with Spread Salaam to create upcycled football shirts to raise money for the charity Medical Aid for Palestine (MAP), raising more than £1,500 for the charity in the last month.
Amber W. Smith
Born in rural America and living in London, Amber W. Smith's brand reimagines her upbringing through her personal aesthetic and values.
Smith looked to her father, a bowhunter, for inspiration and found beauty in the bow and arrow.
"It's a beautiful combination of feminine curves and masculine lines, which we translated into the silhouette and pattern cut, eliminating seams to create straight shapes and showcasing the volumes and drapes that emerged when worn," she said .
An ode to archery is also in the details, with twisted, waxed cotton cords reminiscent of bowstrings, archery finger tabs, chest protectors and straps.
"As someone who left America's rural Midwest for a large and expensive city, I was interested in the different class connotations of hunting in the two places and how that is reflected in the garments themselves," the designer added.
Wool suits and wool-cashmere blends pay tribute to the historic hunting clothes of her adopted country, "which are much more aristocratic than my father's hunting clothes," according to the designer.
In a nod to Smith's personal beliefs (she hasn't eaten meat in 17 years), a leather jacket from the collection is made from second-hand leather jackets that have been picked, cleaned and conditioned and then recut, while a wet felted wool Smith developed recalled a rotting deer, though she quickly added, "No deer were harmed in the making of this collection."
Srvc
Founded in 2021, Srvc sees clothing as an extension of the self: a way to hug and hold, to defend and protect.
Looking to the daily morning commute as inspiration, "I wanted to protect the SRVC woman," said creative director Ricky Wesley Harriot, adding, "The city can be incredibly harsh and difficult. I wanted to create a uniform that resonates with our woman and enhances not only her silhouette but also her powerful presence."
Body-hugging fabrics - cable knits, technical stretch fabrics, denim reworked from vintage and second-hand jeans - provide comfort and freedom of movement for the wearer, straddling the line between techwear and tailoring. The palette consists of a spectrum of gray tones and is industrial, inspired by the London where Harriot grew up, filled with tower blocks and concrete.
Following this, the silhouettes have strong shoulders and play with what can and cannot be seen.
"Our garments continue to explore self-style and choice, so often the silhouettes we propose can be reworked and adapted to work even more for the wearer," he said.
The idea of diversity and inclusivity embedded in the garments is one that Harriot says he hopes to continue pursuing in Srvc's future.
Charlie Constantinou
Ask Charlie Constantinou about his brand and his answer is simple: "Adaptability, function and color."
For his Fall 2024 collection, Constantinou teamed up with 66 North in a second collaboration, drawing inspiration from the outerwear brand's home country of Iceland. Showcasing womenswear for the first time, the collection considers: "How we can dress for the extreme weather in our daily lives, balancing and adapting between the outdoors and the city," said the designer.
Zippers, drawstring and even the textile itself have been reworked in the pursuit of streamlining form and function.
"This season we have redeveloped our signature expandable quilt into a much lighter but much warmer version using recycled down and mineral dye. These textiles not only enhance the garment, but also allow the garment to stretch and shrink between sizes," Constantinou said.
Using only deadstock fabrics in white or neutral tones, all garments are then dyed in-house, with the color palette derived from the blinding white and matte blue of Icelandic glaciers and the earthy red of volcanic rock.
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