London Fashion Week: fashion for fashion’s sake at Harris Reed and seeing beauty in imperfections at Preen

London Fashion Week kicked off on Friday, see all the best moments on and off the catwalk

London Fashion Week has kicked off with a schedule full of British brands and exciting newcomers.
Burberry will present their third collection under creative director Daniel Lee on Monday, rising brand 16Arlington’s show is predicted to be a highlight and well-established British favourites Erdem, Emilia Wickstead and Richard Quinn will no doubt bring elegance to the catwalk. 
Scroll through the gallery to see all the moments from the London shows…

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Harris Reed

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JASON LLOYD EVANS
Joanna Lumley performed Fatima Farheen Mirza’s “Confessions of Lilith” at jewellery brand Completedworks’ presentation. Strands of pearls forming bows and tear shaped crystals earrings glinted in the lights as Lumley mused on that grey, hazy space between memory andforgetting.

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Completedworks
In the beautiful setting of Banqueting House, Huishan Zhang showcased elegance and sensuality in the form of sheer overlays, patchworked lace and enormous jewel earrings.

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GETTY

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GETTY
Actor Zawe Ashton sat front row at Huishan Zhang in a pleated polka dot dress with a cape.

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Sinead O’Dwyer designs for all bodies. Her show explored stretch and moulded pieces to the each model’s form, adding elegant column skirts and ruffles to multi-strap garments.

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Bora Aksu’s signature frothy pastels paid homage this season to the incredible life and sublime artistry of Eva Hesse.

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Actor Lucy Boynton sat front row at Bora Aksu with photographer Elena Rendina.

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Lady Amelia Windsor gave a twirl at the Bora Aksu show.

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Amidst all the wearable, commercial looks we see on the catwalks of London Fashion Week, fashion for fashion’s sake can sometimes feel like a lost art, so Harris Reed’s show is always uplifting. This season, Reed’s signature sculptural silhouettes were given a new sense of grandeur with opulent Victorian-inspired fabrics and finishes taking centre stage. 
From dramatically mysterious feathers designed to mask the wearer’s face to a shimmering beaded creation which looked like the model was wearing a particularly fancy harp (a nice nod to the brilliant string quartet which performed during the show), Reed’s show captured a little of the lost romance of fashion weeks gone by. Now we wait for a celebrity to brave wearing it on the red carpet.

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Harris Reed

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JASON LLOYD EVANS
The first show of the season was Preen by Thornton Bregazzi, who took their guests to the banks of the River Thames for their long awaited return to London Fashion Week (their last show was in February 2022).
Inspired by the beauty in imperfection and the life of Mary Shelly, their trademark patchwork style married feminine florals with gothic lace and square toed knee high boots.

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Heathcliff O’Malley

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Heathcliff O’Malley