London’s Next Wave

Home to emerging talent incubators like Fashion East and the British Fashion Council’s NEWGEN, London Fashion Week is known for platforming some of the most exciting new voices in fashion. Bagging a slot on the schedule remains no small feat, and shows are notoriously expensive to put on, but those indie labels that do break through promise to look like nothing seen before, and are likely to land at Dover Street Market, if not on the red carpet. This season, Because has its eye on a handful of nonconformist newcomers, from the accessories architect transforming shower mats into handbags to the multidisciplinary designer rupturing the definition of ‘fashion brand’. 

A Letter

A Letter isn’t a complete newbie to London Fashion Week but, since making its debut last year as ALETTA, the label has undergone a rebrand and the big reveal is taking place in an exhibition over the weekend. The brand is the brainchild of Central Saint Martins alumni Freddy Coomes and Matt Empringham, both of whom trained under Jonathon Anderson and share a fanciful approach to craft. The Anderson influence was noticeable in the surrealist sensibility of their previous collectio, characterised by origami-like constructions that play with perspective and proportion. Having dressed the likes of Emma Corrin and Sienna Miller, the duo already have the attention of the fashion cognoscenti who wait with bated breath to see what they’ll do next – elusive hints on A Letter’s Instagram promise it will be quirky. 

GOYAGOMA

The talent incubator Fashion East plays a big part in bolstering London’s reputation as the capital of cutting-edge fashion. This year’s newcomer is GOYAGOMA, a womenswear label founded by the Bahamas-born designer Traiceline Pratt. Though Pratt came up through the Central Saint Martins pipeline, he originally studied fine art and sees himself as something of a ‘tourist’ in the fashion world which has, for him, opened up the door for a more radical approach. 

At first glance, GOYAGOMA doesn’t appear particularly radical: the clothes are sleek, wearable and capsule-wardrobe appropriate, but do a double take and you’ll notice the cleverly subtle way Pratt manipulates silhouettes and materials to offer a twist on the classic – like a khaki trench with a belt that sits at thigh-height. These suave designs have already struck a chord with stylish celebs like A$AP Rocky, who sported GOYAGOMA on The Late Show, sat beside arbiter of taste Anna Wintour. It’s unsurprising that the designer worked under fashion’s most pined-after minimalist maestro, Phoebe Philo; one can only hope that after being blown away by the upcoming collection, his pricing is slightly less extortionate.

Clara Chu

Leading the charge of upcycled design this season is fashion accessories label Clara Chu. The namesake brand has been playfully engineering everyday objects into colourful bags and keychains since 2020, proving there’s a world in which silicone biscuit trays, faux-feather dusters and plastic cutlery become whimsical fashion statements. Growing up in Hong Kong, besieged by markets overflowing with mass-produced plastic and electronic goods, Chu was inspired to repurpose the mundane, the discarded and the conventionally ‘ugly’ into something beautiful and useful. 

Running workshops from her studio, youth centres across London, and the Young V&A - where she has been a designer in residence - Chu not only designs to sell but to educate and inspire. Her AW26 presentation will certainly provide the novelty, neon and food for thought at this LFW.