LFW – Carlota Barrera, Bianca Saunders, Preen + Miles George Daniel Studio


carlotta.jpg

Carlota Barrera

 

Carlota Barrera is a graduate of London College of Fashion with an MA (2018) in menswear design. She’s from Spain but now based in London. She’s inspired by complex shapes and movements of the male body. An agender aesthetic where craftsmanship, tradition and sustainability are the unifying threads of each and every one of the designs, Barrera is one of our favorite “discoveries” this season.

“As a queer woman, I built the brand to present a modern vision of core garments through a very personal female gaze, inspired by Spanish heritage, queer history and evolving gender identities.”

— Carlota Barrera

She is known for her tailoring work and her ability to transform the stiffness of traditional tailoring into something more fluid and contemporary with hidden details to be enjoyed by the wearer. This collection included several covetable suits that are black and white with a pop of blue and orange. These contemporary looks are timeless and elegant. A few stand-out pieces would include the white tailered vest and pantsuit and the white blouse and black vest.

 


 

biancaSaunders.jpgBianca Saunders

 

Bianca Saunders presented Superimposed, a collection for Autumn/Winter 2021 that looks at positive and negative spaces, always pushing forwards the signature cuts and silhouettes of the brand. It is a collection that broadens the Bianca Saunders wardrobe, finding creativity and sexiness in both the surreal and real world. Blood of the Poet by Jean Cocteau provided inspiration for the film, with its sense of a man in isolation, as if moving photography. The collection film is directed by Daniel Sannwald.

 


 

Preen.jpg

Preen By Thornton Bregazzi

 

Preen’s inspiration was Grey Gardens and this makes sense in the time of a pandemic. We’ve all become recluses whether we like it or not so why not take cues from the Edie’s? Their collection was small – only 11 looks – and it struck me that there was a lot of coverage. Literally– long skirts, long sleeves and high necklines. But they all had a soft femininity about them through their cuts and use of floral prints. It felt protective but in a subtle inviting way.

It should also be noted that while most of our coverage is of newer designers –some just fresh out of fashion school- Preen’s Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi have been showing since 2000. There’s something to be said about longevity in fashion.

And while they haven’t always been conscious of sustainability –because, who was in 2000?– a sustainable approach is definitely something that they’ve been incorporating lately. They explained to Vogue’s Sarah Mower that when they tried to do upcycled collections in the past, store buyers resisted. Now, with the pandemic that seems to be shifting.

“The market is smaller. It’s about doing small runs—so the fact that these things are limited edition is becoming much less of an issue to retailers. I’m glad we started working that way—it’s important to what we believe in—and now things are changing.” they told Vogue.


 

george5.jpg

Miles George Daniel Studio

 

While others are just now getting on the “sustainability bandwagon” to use a rather cringe-worthy but accurate expression, Miles George Daniel began with sustainability and to a radical degree. A recent graduate of Middlesex University Daniel used only donated or deconstruct clothing for his collection. His process is to take the fabrics and drape and safety pin them before hand sewing them into place. The result is a sort of wearable art –and art forms like sculpture as well as music inform his work as well.

“The fashion industry is arguably one of the most pollutive in the world. As an emerging designer, I feel a responsibility to play a part in shifting the wasteful and environmentally damaging nature of the industry that I am a part of, to have a role in creating a universally adopted, sustainable way of making, to hopefully, one day, incite a much-needed change.” he told The FACE magazine recently.

We’re intrigued and will keep our eye on what he does next.

instagram