The best shows at London Fashion Week, from Burberry to Simone Rocha

Creativity is certainly the word that comes to mind at London Fashion Week. The diversity and global outlook of the designers showing in London are pretty much unparalleled: from someone quintessentially British like Richard Quinn, who held an intimate show that harked back to the golden age of haute couture, to rising creators hailing from Asia, the Middle East and beyond who proudly call London home, such as New Zealand-born Emilia Wickstead, known for her female-friendly clothes.

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“I feel that London is still the global city in spite of us leaving the EU, which makes us very sorry,” says Rush. “It is incredibly diverse and the best place to start a new brand. And because of colleges attracting international students, that talent stays in London and there’s a great ecosystem to develop.

“I think it’s been 30 years that we’ve supported emerging talent, and it’s great to see those designers who started in London and are now creative directors [of luxury brands] like Kim Jones, Stuart Vevers, Jonathan Anderson, who still shows at London Fashion Week.”

A jumper paired with an embellished skirt at Emilia Wickstead’s autumn/winter 2024 show. Photo: Emilia Wickstead

Here are five shows that caught our eye.

Erdem

Canadian-born, London-based, British-Turkish designer Erdem Moralioglu is the ultimate romantic, so it’s no surprise that the late opera singer Maria Callas was the Erdem founder’s muse for autumn/winter 2024.

Born in the US, Callas was of Greek descent and best known for her performance as Medea, the Greek anti-heroine she played on stage and in a film directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini.

A floral-patterned coat with flower appliqué at Erdem’s autumn/winter 2024 show. Photo: AFP

Moralioglu celebrated Callas’ “Greekness” with a dramatic show, aptly held in an ancient Greek gallery at the British Museum. Opera coats, cocoon jackets and separates embellished with ostrich feathers vied for attention with pyjama sets and printed cocktail dresses. References ranged from Salvatore Fiume’s set designs for La Scala opera house in Milan to Italian composer Gioachino Rossini.

Cleverly conceived, the show had just the right amount of drama while staying true to the feminine and rarefied elegance that has earned Erdem legions of fans on the red carpet and beyond.

Molly Goddard

Goddard has built a strong following thanks to the doll-like ruffled dresses and skirts that have been her label’s signature from day one. They often come in bright colours such as pink, yellow and fuchsia, and have become instantly recognisable, helping to put her brand on the map. Season after season, she builds upon that foundation to evolve her creations, but never strays too far from her madcap approach, which has proven to be a winning strategy for her still-young label.

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For the autumn/winter 2024 season, Goddard looked back at the couture shapes of 60s Cristóbal Balenciaga and Christian Dior gowns, swapping corsets with elastic waists to suit modern-day wearers.

Aside from all that tulle and all those ruffles, the show also featured vintage-inspired shirts with a cowgirl vibe paired with denim trousers or polka dot skirts, and beautiful rose-embellished knitwear – a category that the designer has been developing with success.

A cowgirl-inspired look at Molly Goddard during London Fashion Week. Photo: @photobenphoto/Instagram

Simone Rocha

Irish-born Simone Rocha, whose father hails from Hong Kong, is one of the most talented designers of her generation. At first glance, her clothes may look like pretty frocks for shrinking violets, but dig deeper and you’ll notice the dark undertones that give her work a subversive edge.

This collection was the final part of a trilogy that started with the spring/summer 2024 show and then continued with a blockbuster gig as guest designer for Jean Paul Gaultier’s latest couture range.

A look from Simone Rocha’s autumn/winter 2024 collection during London Fashion Week. Photo: @photobenphoto/Instagram

Named The Wake and inspired by the mourning dress of Queen Victoria, the show had a morbid feel to it. It took place in the cavernous crypts of St Bartholomew the Great, a church in East London.

Models walked along the pews clad in black nylon dresses and parkas, angelic tulle confections, lace-up corsets and tailoring with faux fur panels. Some of them carried stuffed animals, which lightened the mood or made things even more sinister, depending on how you see it.

A mourning-inspired outfit from Simone Rocha’s autumn/winter 2024 show during London Fashion Week. Photo: @photobenphoto/Instagram

With its sombre theme, the collection had a slightly perverse vibe but also hints of sexual tension. Rocha brought it all down to earth with a series of punk-inflected Crocs that she created for her second collaboration with the mass shoemaker.

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JW Anderson

Northern Irish designer Jonathan Anderson is one of the few creators who has managed to successfully balance his role as creative director of a major global brand – LVMH-owned Loewe – with running his own label, JW Anderson.

Founded in 2008, JW – as industry insiders refer to it – started out in menswear, but Anderson blurred the line between genders from day one, long before androgyny in fashion was a thing.

A sportswear-inspired look with knitwear separates at JW Anderson’s autumn/winter 2024 show. Photo: JW Anderson

The designer held his autumn/winter 2024 show at the Seymour Leisure Centre, a recreational and fitness centre dating back to the 1930s. Outfits featuring tank tops paired with drawstring shorts had a decidedly sportswear vibe, but the highlight of the collection was the outstanding knitwear. Anderson has long been a fan of texture, both at his own label and at Loewe, and for this range he knotted, folded and pleated knitted dresses, treating them almost like sculptures. The cosy vibe extended to the footwear – sensible shearling boots – while some models sported curly, grey-haired wigs that evoked cute grandmas.

More knitwear at the JW Anderson autumn/winter 2024 show. Photo: JW Anderson

Burberry

Since designer Daniel Lee took over Burberry in 2022, the company has been revamping its image by emphasising its British roots. Lee is a veteran of Celine under Phoebe Philo and, before joining Burberry, he had a successful – if somewhat short-lived – stint as creative director of Italian leather-goods house Bottega Veneta, which he revived with his keen eye for desirable accessories.

A menswear look from the Burberry catwalk show during London Fashion Week. Photo: Reuters

For his third show, Lee moved away from the darker palette of his two previous collections with a line-up of looks in natural hues that played to Burberry’s strength: outerwear meant for the great outdoors.

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Models, some of them carrying umbrellas, walked down a runway of fake grass clad in leather trenches, shearling jackets, coats with faux fur trims and duffel coats. The men’s looks had a luxe swagger reminiscent of 90s and 2000s hip hop – the camel coats and the check trousers with zip cut-outs looked just fabulous. The womenswear was a pure celebration of all things British and a nice throwback to Burberry’s heyday under the creative direction of Christopher Bailey.

A fluffy coat at the Burberry autumn/winter 2024 show during London Fashion Week. Photo: Reuters

Plenty of girls will want to wear those sequinned dresses nonchalantly worn beneath aviator jackets while those statement dresses in fringed knitwear will delight fashion editors and stylists.

The casting – a who’s who of British top models ranging from Karen Elson to Lily Cole, Lily Donaldson and Naomi Campbell – was another homage to Britain and so was the music, which featured songs from the late Amy Winehouse.

A menswear look from the Burberry catwalk show during London Fashion Week. Photo: AP

While Lee’s accessories are still a work in progress, with this collection the designer has defined – and refined – his vision of Burberry as the ultimate British luxury brand – a promising development at a time of major changes, and great scrutiny, for a brand that represents so much for Great Britain and the world.

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