The anniversary celebrations for 40 years of London Fashion Week, LFW SS25, saw plenty of beading, plumage, and history.
London-based fashion houses are often a step ahead with their seasonal mood boards, and LFW SS25 was no exception. Selecting photojournalists (Gisèle Freund for Emilia Wickstead) and writers (Radclyffe Hall for Erdem), the atmosphere of collections drew on some inspirational names. And this year, no matter the muse, each LFW SS25 show unveiled the multidisciplinary talent of the city.
Featuring collections that already have us longing for spring, these are Citizen Femme’s highlights from London Fashion Week’s SS25 shows.
The Location
Simone Rocha
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A highlight of this year’s London Fashion Week must be the social pictures of Simone Rocha’s front row strutting their designer looks through the Old Bailey’s security machines for the SS25 show. Taking place in the central criminal court of England and Wales, the Old Bailey, Simone Rocha provoked plenty of intrigue before the models even stepped onto the runway. While the court setting was formal, the collection was anything but. Inspired by the sweet-smelling carnation – a flower that is often worn by men in their buttonholes and in bridal bouquets as it symbolises devotion – there was plenty of plumage to be seen. Toying with the idea of performance too, the tutu manifested in all kinds of ways, from the obvious skirt to sleeves, bags, and on T-shirts.
Burberry
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The Southbank’s National Theatre housed Daniel Lee’s fourth collection for Burberry, after the creative director took over the British heritage label in 2022. After some experimental seasons – and a clear shift from Burberry’s previous look – the SS25 collection returned to a more characteristic approach for the label, where the brand’s plaid and trench coats came in plenty. Daniel Lee professed that “a feeling of lightness and summertime” shines over the collection, whether khaki coats are punctuated with pale feathering or dresses are adorned with sequins.
The Female-Artist Muses
Emilia Wickstead
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Of the moment and with a hint of glamour, ‘intellectual’ and ‘monumental’ define the works of German-French photojournalist Gisèle Freund, and these are just the kinds of attitudes we saw for Emilia Wickstead’s SS25 show which named the photojournalist as their muse of the season, bringing snapshots of 1930s style through large ties and pleated skirting, plus a fine-tune attention to colour. Gisèle Freund is recognised as the photographer to introduce modern colour technology to South America during her 1930 travels through Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires, permanently changing the region’s cultural landscape. The brands SS25 show took place at the Royal Geographical Society to honour this voyage, and the collection brought back rich visuals and nods towards the colour palettes of the landscapes – chocolate brown hues peppered with pale pinks, and yellow and pale blues dancing on shirting in geometric shapes. The SS25 collection is multi-faceted too, just like the work and life of Gisèle Freund. The journalist was deeply involved in the creative culture of her time, shooting portraits of notable artists, writers and poets throughout the early 20th century, including Virginia Woolf, Simone de Beauvoir, Colette, and more – which manifests in the SS25 collection through an avant-garde stance on feminine forms. Pleated skirts sat above the natural waistline to hide rather than exaggerate the shape, while florals clung to webs of diamonds hung across dresses for a flapper-esque vibe.
Erdem
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Twentieth century author Radclyffe Hall wrote The Well of Loneliness, which hit shelves in 1928 before it was banned and removed from distribution that same year. As a female author, living as openly gay with her partner Una Troubridge – and who later identified as a man named John – both novel and author were undoubtably and brazenly ahead of their time, and it’s this that Erdem’s SS25 collection wished to commemorate. The dichotomy of male and female, man and women, was playfully and creatively visualised on the runway. Female models wore box-cut blazers over streams of diamonds that take on the shape of skirts; puffed shoulder pads adorned dresses; and drop waists created a 1920s look. Male models predominately wore suits in pastel hues, including pink and pistachio, with some looks made in collaboration with Saville Row tailors Edward Sexton. Throughout the soft materials including lace, tulle, sheers and beading, and soft colours including mint, creams, and butter yellows, there was a romantic tenderness, as conveyed in the novel so eloquently. Also spotted: Erdem’s first handbag – the Bloom Bag – in calfskin leather with a hammered brass bud handle.
The Sensual Drama
16Arlington
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Although titled ‘The Heat’, 16Arlington’s spring-summer show turned the Royal College of Art into something akin to a snow globe, as white square-cut confetti plastered the runway space. The clothes took on a lighter, more celestial energy than previous 16Arlington collections, which seek inspiration in the raucous glamour of the night, for a creative defrosting in time for SS25. “Suddenly, I felt like I was facing the sun,” creative director Marco Capaldo outlined, as camel trenches hung over butter yellow shirts, which moved to sun-yellow sheers and yellow beads embroidered across skirts. To enhance this summery freshness, Diptyque scented the air with floral notes including mimosa, as ripening orange hues flitted down the catwalk. The cuts had an added energy too, with looser fits, voluminous fringe coats and 80s-like bomber jackets with 70s-style enlarged disco collars. Other fun details include blooming statement jewellery pieces by artist Jesse Pollock who also designed sculptural art work for the show setting. 16Arlington returned for SS25 with another season of good-time pieces that are effortlessly enraptured by the evanescently wild night life and crowds of London. Just a little lighter this time.
Tove
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No brand does restraint quite like Tove. Paired back –yes. Minimalist – yes. But dull? Never. For their third season on the London Fashion Week schedule, Tove continued their quiet luxury dialogue with a largely neutral colour palette throughout the collection, but there was plenty of fun to be had with the textures, shape, and styling. Topshop alumni and Tove founders, Holly Wright and Camille Perry, label their clothes as “precise but imperfect. Dressed up but worn in. Always polished, never contrived,” and that’s just how their SS25 collection felt. The female form was foregrounded but not exposed, to emphasise how the brand always bears wearability and the lifestyle of the modern women in mind. From satins in cream and glacial green that noticeably glistened under the bright lighting of Senate House, to voile fabrics made opaque, beading across minute netted tops, and crinkled dresses – there was lots to admire.
Nensi Dojaka
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Albanian-born Nensi Dojaka only launched her eponymous label in 2019, but has already become a mainstay in London’s busy fashion scene. Unveiling the brand’s Calvin Klein partnership this London Fashion Week, with an undoubtable amount of sensuality, this collection was classically, well, Nensi Dojaka. Tules flitted around the chest for unusual necklines, while this SS25 saw the added drama of frills.
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Lead image credit: ERDEM Spring Summer 2025 – Photographed by Jason Lloyd Evans – Backstage – 17
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