Organisers announced that London Fashion Week would go ahead as a business-to-business event, while observing royal protocol and holding tributes for Queen Elizabeth II who died on September 8.
Shows featured all-black opening looks, models holding a picture of the queen, and garments embellished with her image as tributes to the late monarch, with creators and followers of the latest fashions paying their respects during the national period of mourning.
Shows for the day of the queen’s state funeral, Monday September 19, were rescheduled, along with parties and other events. Fashion Week went ahead as the business-to-business shows and presentations, where designers show their collections to international media, retailers and stylists, are part of the global fashion calendar and are not able to be moved. Many small labels and independent businesses had committed their fashion week spend and the British Fashion Council made sure to support them in being able to continue.
Bigger brands such as Burberry and Raf Simons, who were among the most anticipated shows for the season, pulled out of the September 16-20 event.
Designer Daniel W. Fletcher held a minute’s silence before his show’s first model was sent out in a black suit and black armband.
Spanish sustainable brand Sohuman ended its Friday show with models holding pictures of the 96 year-old queen and drawings of the crown, their eye makeup smeared as if crying.
Elizabeth once sat front row at a London show, and a book of condolences from the fashion industry is planned. Fashionistas joined in a national moment of reflection - one minute silence - on Sunday evening ahead of the Christopher Kane show.
