Elsewhere, outerwear leaned into quintessentially British toggles and fastenings. At Labrum, Mithridate and Fashion East’s Mayhew, coats were fastened with oversized Paddington-style closures — a traditional detail reworked in a subtly exaggerated way. It was fitting, as Paddington Bear himself graced the red carpet at the Baftas, coat and all.
Knitwear skewed decorative rather than cosy. At Mario Arena’s debut show for Joseph, white cashmere was punctuated with 3D-printed metal quills that swished as the models walked. Chet Lo crafted dramatic evening gowns and jackets from his signature spiked knit material, and Pauline Dujancourt leaned into craft with intricate hand-crocheted floral embellishments on dresses and skirts.
Knitwear at Chet Lo and Joseph.Photo: Umberto Fratini / Gorunway.com and courtesy of Joseph
From the Adidas and Gola collaborations to the equestrian rosettes at Simone Rocha, the “sportsmart” trend finally showed up on the runway this season, as performance dressing received a high-tech and elevated update.
Government support
Along with the changes at the BFC and the sign of support from King Charles III, the government is also deepening its support for the UK fashion industry, which is worth almost £30 billion and employs over 800,000 people, according to the Department of Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS). As part of its Creative Industries Sector Plan, the British government is investing £380 million to support initiatives including the BFC’s NewGen scheme, which has received a £1 million grant from the DCMS.
“If we fail to value and invest in this industry, we risk shutting the door on the next generation of world-leading designers before they’ve even had the chance to find their feet,” says Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy. Part of this initiative involved decentralizing access to creative industries like fashion. Mayors from across England will also be investing £150 million in local creative economies, including fashion.
Nandy emphasizes that, while the government has not been “able to move on” the reintroduction of VAT-free shopping, it has “heard loud and clear the strength of feeling across the industry” on the subject. “This is a genuinely difficult global environment — trade pressures, access to finance, the impact on industries that rely on exports and tourism,” she says. “We’re actively looking at what more we can do to support the sector, and that work is ongoing. The industry deserves honesty from us, and they deserve to know that we’re working on it.”