Digital fashion weeks are great. You can watch shows just in your undies, have Loose Women on in the background and by the time a show has finished, you can simply go back to bed if you want to. Although we’d be lying if we said we didn’t miss the hustle and bustle of it all. Frantic trips to Pret between shows, public transport meltdowns and rather sweatily arriving at venues in the nick of time after travelling from the opposite side of the city. Kiko Kostadinov was able to unite the best of both worlds with a password-protected online showcase. Like a rather exclusive show invite, everyone had their own unique log-in. Once inside, you could only view the film once, no pausing or rewinding allowed. A frantic juggle between taking notes and filming for Insta made it feel like we hadn’t left 180 The Strand at all.
Proceedings kicked off with a group of lads in some funny wigs who repeated a chorus of chants based around consumerism. “It’s terribly important to watch TV,” was one, “shopping is the model for all human behaviour,” another. Then began a more traditional catwalk film, lensed by Spanish director Robi Rodriguez. Set in the hallowed halls of Strawberry Hill House, a “Gothic Revival” home that’s plotted somewhere in outer London, models wore Renaissance-inspired fashions adorned with varsity stripes. Kiko staples were all there: innovative trousers, complex jackets. But now futuristic aesthetics were pulled back a few centuries. Sporty tunics were particularly terrific, as were ruffled over-shoulder bags and a series of deflated jester hats. The usual Kiko x Asics trainers were swapped out for some cracking square-toe marquetry boots, the black leather spliced with hints of turquoise. Clothes came wrinkled here, pleated there and wrapped to offer the garments a sense of ambiguity. Was it a cape? Or a windbreaker? Who actually cares? These are brilliant clothes with nothing dated about them.
