Tatler’s fashion correspondent Rosana Lai captured glamourous yet respectful moments at the event, which took place just after Queen Elizabeth II’s death
It was meant to be London Fashion Week (LFW)’s comeback. Even before the pandemic, international fashion show attendees have bemoaned the lack of star power on the LFW schedule. This season, which took place from September 16-20, was meant to mark the return of British designer Jonathan Anderson, who had been showing in Paris for the last few years, as well as cult favourite Raf Simons, who is also co-creative director at Prada.
That was until the country’s beloved monarch of the last 70 years passed away.
News of the Queen Elizabeth II’s death on September 8 brought the British capital to a standstill, as the nation grieved—and for event organisers, scrambled to understand how to manoeuvre royal protocol that would unfold and how they would be affected. The initial uncertainty on the exact date of the Queen’s funeral led to several brands pulling out of LFW—Burberry was the first to announce its exit “as a mark of respect”, with Raf Simons following shortly. For a moment, there were fears that LFW was to be cancelled, before the British Fashion Council later announced that events that were not on the official LFW calendar—such as Kate Moss’s 40th birthday bash with Diet Coke—were to be cancelled, while shows and presentations slated for the day of the funeral were to be rescheduled.
In case you missed it: The Best Runway Looks From New York Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2023
When the time came for fashion week, a handful of designers chose to pay tribute to the late Queen. Some, like Bora Aksu, held a moment of silence, while others created one-off looks for the occasion: Halpern did with a billowing powder blue cape-gown with a headscarf—a nod to the Queen’s most iconic look. Erdem and Richard Queen dressed some of their models in all-black, complete with somber black veils.
But despite the heavy cloud that hung over the city, the LFW runways were filled with joyful bursts of colour and plenty of sex appeal, like a buffer to the chaos just outside the walls, or a hopeful reminder to keep calm and carry on. From slinky, cut-out dresses to colour-blocked frocks, below are highlights of the season that made us smile.
