Rain dominates London Fashion Week, inside and out

Relentless rain did nothing to dampen spirits at London Fashion Week, which was opened yesterday by chairwoman of the British Fashion Council Natalie Massenet.

She said the British fashion industry, which employs more than 800,000 people, is worth a record £26 billion (€31 billion), up 20 per cent since 2010. “We are truly the global capital of creativity,” she said adding that the council had raised £250,000 in funding for scholarships.

Joint speaker for the BFC, investment banker Jonathan Goodwin, credited with helping to expand the business of Jimmy Choo and fashion website Net-a-porter, announced a fashion forum in June to bring together “the brightest stars and global leaders to promote further growth and to encourage and demystify investment for British business”.

This is good news for the UK industry and for young designers based in London like the first three who showed yesterday: Jackie Lee from Seoul, Bora Aksu from Turkey and Jean-Pierre Braganza from Canada.

Lee, whose show was supported by eight sponsors referenced “torrential rain and muddy terrain” in her collection which, given the current weather, was a bizarre twist of coincidence.

Her sweeping navy funnel neck coats, chunky black watch mohair dresses and track print knits were roomy and elegant. Her creamy wool separates, cleverly delineated with inside out seaming, had a softness and fluidity that illustrated her rigorous approach to structure.

The best parts of Braganza’s take on chiaroscuro were sleek black coats inset with embossed satin and A-line skirts emblazoned with imagery from the early baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi.

Though his proportions were occasionally off kilter, Bora Aksu drew from his mother’s boarding school letters and photos for a collection that was both prim and playful with Peter Pan collars, ruffs and see through capes.

Off the catwalk, however, yesterday’s most desirable fashion items were Christopher Raeburn’s hooded rainproof ponchos on LFW staff.