As we prepare our mind, body, and soul for the chaos that is the AW20 season – with shows kicking off in London on January 4 – the schedules have begun to trickle in. Among them is Fashion East, which just revealed it is dropping from the menswear line-up and going co-ed with a show combining womenswear and menswear taking place at LFW in February.
“At Fashion East, we’ve never been concerned with standard gender rules on the catwalk, so it is natural for us and the progressive designers we support to make this format switch up at the start of our 20th year,” Fashion East’s founder and director, Lulu Kennedy explained of the decision.
Showing twice a year since it was founded in 2000, the fashion initiative will showcase a number of designers, with two newcomers joining the line-up this time around. Along with experimental footwear designer Ancuta Sarca, who presented her work with Fashion East for the first time this September, and Gareth Wrighton, who made his Fashion East debut in February, joining for AW20 is London based menswear designer GOOMHEO and Albanian womenswear designer Nensi Dojaka.
Presenting idiosyncratic sportswear in the form of leotards and subversive knitted bodysuits, Dazed 100-er Goom Heo won the L’Oreal Professionnel Creative Award for her MA collection at CSM, where she graduated in February. Another CSM graduate, London based designer Nensi Dojaka gained industry attention for her ultra-feminine aesthetic, with her SS20 presentation showcasing sheer patchwork dresses decorated with spaghetti straps. Also returning to the AW20 line up is menswear designer and RCA graduate Saul Nash, who presented his SS20 show with Fashion East this summer.
Revisit the SS20 Fashion East shows below.