Digital LFW 2020: A reset and revolution
When cancellation of London’s Men’s Fashion Week SS21 became unavoidable, the British Fashion Council came up with an alternative. Given the severity of Covid-19’s impact on the creative industry, it comes as no surprise that showcasing new collections was not possible. With the UK in lockdown since March, creatives have experienced a total upheaval that has brought the fashion world to a grinding halt. Every facet of the industry has been affected, from studio to supply chain. But rather than accept defeat, fashion has embraced this new snail-paced agenda, coining the hashtag #LFWReset. And last weekend highlighted a new frontier for fashion. On June 12 2020, the first-ever digital LFW was kickstarted. In place of the capital’s usual catwalks, presentations and after-parties, we saw a gender-neutral and entirely virtual fashion week. How very 2020, I must add.
At first, I was disappointed by the official LFW website’s offerings. I thought a hidden message on accessibility may have been lost in the deluge of content. This was the first time that members of the public had unobstructed access to the exact same content as the press or industry professionals. But as I worked my way through the weekend’s schedule, I realised that this digital alternative was about so much more than the pandemic and industry openness. This was not just a reset but an opportunity for a revolution. This LFW represents the changing face of the fashion landscape.
Like many, I believe that this year has been a significant one. From a climate change crisis to a health pandemic to a sweeping anti-racism movement, it will be hard to forget the year we all stayed home. But with this upheaval of our ‘normal’ lives, we have seen a lot of positive change. And with one of the largest followings in the world, what if the fashion industry started using their platform to champion such change? The fashion world has always been progressive, but digital LFW symbolised a shift from covert to direct activism. So, though Ahluwalia’s virtual reality exhibition and Xu Zhi’s CG catwalk video were exactly what I had expected from this digital fashion week, perhaps they failed to utilise the opportunity corona had provided.
Over the weekend, content spilt across multiple platforms, mostly available via YouTube, Vimeo or Instagram’s IGTV feature. Without the ridiculously priced tickets or exclusive invite-only shows, this fashion week was open to the masses. And there was something for everyone. Brands like Roksanda Ilincic and Marques Almeida offered viewers an insight into their creative processes, whilst others reverted to the archives for polished fashion footage. Others made short home videos of collections they were producing in lockdown. Some hosted discussions on the importance of collaboration and sustainability in fashion, whilst others passed the mic to minority voices. There was poetry, dance, conversation, art and an overriding call for social action. But what tied it all together? Fashion.
From Erdem’s puffy shapes to Robyn Lynch’s sports silhouettes, we were granted unrivalled access into the creative mind. More than just polished final collections, designers showed us their human side. Intensely awkward IGTV broadcasts contrasted the seamlessness of prior fashion weeks. In stunted video calls, designers spoke openly about the trials of working through the pandemic. Grainy greenscreen videos blessed our screens with eccentric, fever-dream tapes that showed a world of creative minds holed up indoors. It felt like seeing your prettiest friend without makeup for the first time. And with all laid bare, brands are being forced to be more honest with consumers.
Moreover, this reset has the potential to incite long-term change in fashion. The entire industry has been forced to slow down, which is an opportunity to move away from the fast-fashion mindset. Osman Yousefzada’s submission, ‘Her Dreams Are Bigger’, highlights the disconnect between the production workforce and consumers through offshoring. He asks women in Bangladesh to imagine who wears the clothes that they make. There is a heart-breaking truth to one woman’s statement that “everyone holds dreams they can afford”. But the immediacy of fast fashion transcends high street brands. High fashion has been forced to rethink the current mode of seasonal collections. Designers like Daniel W. Fletcher are addressing this, and attempting to move toward a ‘see now, buy now’ model. Sustainability was a prominent theme throughout the schedule, with many designers using lockdown as a time to consider their impact and how this can be minimised. Some exhibited the use of deadstock to create new pieces, others looked at minimising waste. A discussion hosted by the BFC and Google Panel identified raw material as fashion’s greatest contributor to environmental impact. Along with representatives from Stella McCartney and WWF, the group looked at holistic approaches to address not just sustainability, but the need to diversify fashion.
Given the momentum of the BLM movement at present, race was an obvious discussion point. It became increasingly evident that there needs to be a greater focus on improving access into fashion for BAME communities. In Bianca Saunders’ panel, she discusses the “shared realities of blackness” with Jess Cole and Joshua Woods. They identify white supremacy in education and their experience as Black creatives in the fashion world. One of the University of Westminster MA Menswear graduates offered his space for thought, demanding anti-racism action in fashion education. Charles Jeffrey utilised his evening slot to amplify artists of colour in a fundraiser for UK Black Pride. And when it comes to addressing the issues faced by society, no one in the fashion sphere does so better than Black queer poet, model and activist Kai-Isaiah Jamal. Their poems, performed for both Charles Jeffrey and the Late Night Conscious Campaign, highlight commitment to progressive fashion and activism. In Jeffrey’s slot, Jamal’s performance speaks of “transcendence” and “a moment of one thing passing into another”. This serves not only to champion queer and trans visibility but to remind the audience of the pivotal moment of change that this year represents. In the LN-CC’s slot, another poem illustrates the brand’s unisex, sustainable “progressive retail concept”. Jamal asks the viewer to treat the Earth as a “collective mother’s house”, to “take off not your shoes but your footprint”.
As Gordon Richardson aptly put it in his conversation with Lou Dalton, “the whole COVID-19 thing” has caused “all sorts of unrest”. But amidst these “unprecedented times” is an opportunity for real change. Maybe, LFW 2020 was what the industry needed all along – time to breathe, reflect and remember what fashion is about. Because, as Teatum Jones’ Relove Part One highlighted, with everything society faces at present, maybe “fashion could be the answer instead of part of the problem”.
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