This afternoon London Fashion Week Men’s draws to a close. The last four days of shows have been a testament to the talent of our city’s designers – there was Craig Green’s “anonymous travellers”, Martine Rose’s “American Psycho-style bankers” and J.W.Anderson’s “idea of getting lost in the womb of fashion.” These three designers – like many of London’s fashion talents – were supported in the early stages of their career by Lulu Kennedy’s scheme Fashion East.
Fresh off the back of their most recent showcase on Saturday, Kennedy and her team have opened a space in legendary department store Selfridges which will be selling goods by Fashion East alumni – past and present – for the next three months. Like a semi-permanent pop-up, the store boasts collections and one-off pieces by the likes of Kim Jones (artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s men’s ready-to-wear), Charles Jeffrey, Craig Green and many others besides.
“We've got a really nice mix of old and new people, which I think is great,” says Lulu. “From Art School and Rottingdean Bazaar who showed two days ago, and Caitlin Price, Matty Bovan, Mimi Wade and Richard Malone who showed with us in September, to some really old timers like Husam El Odeh, the jeweller, who showed with us in 2002.”
“Ryan Lo is doing a phone case, Gareth Pugh is doing some music with Matthew Stone and I got Louise Gray to do all the visuals and art direct how it looks in the store,” she continues. “Oh my god, and we’ve done Ashley Williams and Claire Barrow art prints!”
When it comes to sharing her favourite item on sale, it becomes apparent that Kennedy is not just an avid supporter of these designers, but an active customer of theirs too. “I've already got the Kim Jones archive t-shirt (I got him to reproduce them from like a million years ago at Fashion East) and the Art School earrings,” she says. “And I’m getting a new Christopher Shannon phone case and the Matty Bovan dress. Rottingdean Bazaar have got mad badges coming in, so I’ll probably get some of them too. It’s all just looking very, very yummy.”
Other items include a zine titled Boys in Pain by Charles Jeffrey, a pouch wallet by Craig Green, a chiffon top by Marques’Almeida and a t-shirt by Simone Rocha, along with iPhone covers by Christopher Shannon, Mimi and Per Götesson – and much, much more. Addditionally, several designers – including Martine Rose – will have their SS17 collections stocked inside the space.
The Fashion East store at Selfridges is open from January 9–March 31, 2017.
