Outrageous moments in the history of London Fashion Week

London Fashion Week is one of the Big Four fashion weeks, along with New York, Milan, and Paris. The popular clothing trade show is very significant to the United Kingdom, for it brings £269m income to the capital.

The London Fashion Week started in 1984, with its inaugural event taking place in West London car park. However, despite its relative youth, London made great progress in a short time and now it is regarded as one of the most prestigious events of all. It even launched the careers of many famous designers, including John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, and Stella McCartney.  

1- Christopher Kane 

Nowadays, nobody raises an eyebrow when high fashion crocs are featured in a show. In London Fashion Week people’s true colors came out. In COVID secure appointments designers managed themselves to show the creativity they have. While Christopher Kane reverted to painting with multi-coloured glitter as he was doing in his childhood that’s got him back to who he is.

However, the situation was very different back in 2016 when Christopher Kane sent some models down the runway with some Crocs. At that time, people were aghast by the mixing of ugly shoes with high-level dresses.

2- Hussein Chalayan

Hussein Chalayan is one of the most famous designers in the world, with the Turkish Cypriot genius receiving the MBE in 2006. He also has the distinction of winning the British Designer of the Year twice.

Chalayan really created headlines in the fashion world when he turned a coffee table into a skirt on the runway. He was known for his experimental work, but he took that to the next level for AW00.

The famous designer showed four chairs and a coffee table at the start. And then, he sent the models on the stage who put on the chair covers as dresses. The most memorable part came when another model used the coffee table as a crisp tiered skirt.

Chalayan also created quite a buzz when he sent models onto the catwalk wearing black chadors in various stages of nudity.

3- Vivienne Westwood 

Vivienne Westwood is one of the most influential fashion designers who is known for making bold statements about world issues. Whether it is the climate emergency, Guantanamo Bay, or anti-fracking demonstration, Westwood likes to share her views through fashion.

The famous fashion designer is greatly credited for bringing modern punk into the mainstream. She used the runway as a platform to raise her voice against those in power, with slogans like “politicians are criminals” and “culture is the enemy of consumption.”

4- Alexander McQueen

Alexander McQueen is one of the biggest names in fashion who became famous for his ground-breaking shows and outrageous outfits. The London-born couturier was the darling of the fashion world who won 4 British Designer of the Year awards.

Highland Rape is one of the most controversial shows of McQueen’s career – he showed models running down the catwalk in torn clothing, posing in a distraught way. Many critics branded him as a misogynist for portraying women in that fashion. However, he claimed that the Highland Rape was intended to make a historical reference to England’s rape of Scotland.

One of the most shocking items of clothing in the show was the notorious bumsters – trousers that were revealing even the hip bones of the models.

McQueen also grabbed the attention of the fashion world when he showed a model wearing a beautiful white dress being spray-painted by robots. The strong visual was supposed to be a commentary on the rising power of technology, a force that is influencing every industry nowadays from the sporting field of football leagues and competition to the musical landscape of pop and rap.