It was a case of location, location, location at London Fashion Week this season. The biggest news was, of course, the British Fashion Council’s decision to move its main show space from tents outside Somerset House to the Art Deco Brewer Street Car Park in Soho, which brought the shows ‘closer to retail’, said its chief, Caroline Rush.
Across town, many a storied landmark was commandeered for the occasion. Here we bring you the highlights, from historic buildings dripping in gilt to concrete subterranean lairs.
BFC show space
Light poured in through the trussed roof of Soho’s 1929 Brewer Street Car Park – designed by architect JJ Jonas – which served as the official home of London Fashion Week this season. Showgoers could also take a breather in the adjacent BFC lounge, designed by The Store, with furniture by the likes of Ettore Sottsass and Pierre Jeanneret.
Roksanda
Roksanda returned to the Grade II-listed Seymour Leisure Centre – originally designed in 1930s by Kenneth Cross – for its Spring Summer 2016 show, produced by Blonstein. Set designer Gary Card lined the runway with modular MDF structures, while Nick Gray used stage lighting to cast bright colours over the space.
Christopher Kane
Production designer Michael Howells built a Memphis-style set inside the Sky Garden, atop Rafael Viñoly’s Walkie Talkie.
Jonathan Saunders
Angular mirrors and blue panels brought the London sky into the tented show space of Jonathan Saunders, outside Central Saint Martins.
Burberry
Monochrome magic inside the Burberry show space in London’s Kensington Gardens.
House of Holland
The subterranean Collins Music Hall – hidden beneath Islington Green – provided a concrete backdrop to Henry Holland’s latest collection.
Simone Rocha
Simone Rocha opted for the gilt surrounds of St James’ Lancaster House – a Grade I-listed, 19th century building now in the hands of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Mary Katrantzou
A sea-blue runway swept across the atrium floor of the Central Saint Martins campus – housed in a former granary and two transit sheds, overhauled by Stanton Williams in 2011. Katrantzou charged Bureau Betak with producing its temporary fashion week makeover.
Thomas Tait
Thomas Tait tasked producers My Beautiful City with enhancing the raw, concrete shell of the Frederick Gibberd-designed 180 Strand – also the location for Louis Vuitton’s Series 3 exhibition.
Julien Macdonald
Smithfield Market – the UK’s largest wholesale meat market – provided a succulent setting for Julien Macdonald.
Versus Versace
The gleaming white Versus Versace runway in Bloomsbury’s Victoria House also came courtesy of My Beautiful City, who recessed lights into the arches for added drama.
Topshop show space
Topshop chose the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster for its show line-up, which included Osman, who planted a lone tree at the end of the catwalk.
See more London Fashion Week spaces on Instagram via our hashtag #LFWspaces. Heading to Milan and Paris? Use #MFWspaces and #PFWspaces and we’ll post the best images online.
