Greetings from the tundras of New York City, where 18 inches of snow blanket the sidewalk. As you read this, I should’ve been arriving in Milan for another round of European fashion shows. Nature had different plans. On Sunday, before much snow had touched the ground, my flight to Milan was canceled.
All is fine, I should now arrive in Milan a day late and will jump into the shows with Jil Sander and Fendi on Wednesday. But the circuit is well underway, with London fashion taking place over the longish weekend.
At this point, it feels like bullying to discuss the diminished state of London Fashion Week. One could drive a lorry through gaps in the schedule, and in spite of its own battered financials, Burberry remains the biggest draw.
I did not go to London in person this year, instead viewing the collections online. (Our photographer Simbarashe Che was there. See some of his excellent photos below.) Yet I often prefer looking at shows in isolation, just my laptop and I. It mutes the opinions of my peers and places focus on the clothes. Not an earache of a soundtrack nor the celebs being paid to smize from the front row.
So on Monday I watched the livestream of Burberry’s latest runway show. This collection of bags and tough-guy overcoats might help the brand’s sales, but the designer Daniel Lee’s vision of “cool” felt too obvious and left me cold. A parka with a London map print was as artful as dorm room décor.
There was more pleasure to be found in smaller labels like Derrick, where Luke Derrick is one of the few designers modernizing the suit in a way that actually betters the form. His limber sport coats with rounded lapels turned up against an imagined breeze were part “Gattaca” and part bike messenger on his way to get married (techy, tailored and a bit mucked up). I’m a big fan.
I also clicked over to Conner Ives (of “Protect the Dolls” fame), where his display of crested rugby shirts, tapestry Prince Albert slippers and scarf dresses with old-money motifs had me wondering if we’re underselling the influence of Ralph Lauren’s bygone Rugby label.
I spent quite a bit of time examining Simone Rocha’s translucent pink dresses with ribbons lacing along the front — like ballet slippers blown up into ball gowns. Her cupboard-size shearlings also left an impression, though that’s probably because I saw her show as snow piled up outside my window.
Other things worth knowing about:
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A brother’s arrest was no match for a monarch’s duties. On Thursday, hours after the former Prince Andrew was arrested amid Epstein revelations, his brother King Charles arrived at the British-Nigerian designer Tolu Coker’s fashion show. The king waved but didn’t appear to take questions.
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Emily Dawn Long tends to cast herself as an outsider. But you wouldn’t know that from looking at the designer’s latest collection, as I did at her Lower East Side studio last week. Sweaters are Dawn Long’s best-selling category for a reason. A quarter-zip with variegated textures along the body screamed “Buy me for the guy who should grow beyond J. Crew.”
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You know who should have done the costumes for “Wuthering Heights”? Chopova Lowena. Just look at its latest collection, where the duo offer both a prim pannier skirt and an angsty little gothic capelet.
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The Quad God did not win individual gold at the Olympics, but he did skate in $1,290 Balmain jeans.
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I saw Charli XCX’s meta-mockumentary “The Moment” this weekend. It was fine if not biting enough. But I did enjoy Interview Magazine editor Mel Ottenberg as Charli’s suffering stylist (a real stretch for a guy who used to dress Rihanna) and Alexander Skarsgard embodying the ur-music industry sleaze, down to his scoop-neck tees and harem pants.
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I loved this article by Rachel Sherman on Wo Hop’s Lunar New Year T-shirts and the obsessives who stockpile them.
The Indelible Fit of the Day
Paddington at the BAFTAs. The forebear of uniform dressing. Duffle coat, model’s own.
Style Outside
Jacob Gallagher is a Times reporter covering fashion and style.
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