Fashion may not be a popularity contest, but Sophia Webster is certainly winning.
Outside her S’S/17 presentation, industry types have formed a queue, ready to climb single file up the stairs of the compact Elms Lester gallery for their induction into the designer’s latest shoe-scape. A sunny departure from autumn's Beetlejuice-drenched gothic, this season finds Sophia in a tropical paradise, where Hitchcock’s The Birds meets the Dreamgirls of the 1960s.
Inside, the 27-year-old designer is swarmed by clients, friends and front row royalty. The City alumna turned fashion week regular Olivia Palermo drops by to pass on her approval, claiming she’s ‘obsessed’ with the new collection, but from the sheer volume of requests for selfies and Snapchats, it’s clear that Sophia is the real star of the show. And having harnessed the brand-building power of social media from her label’s early days, it’s perhaps fitting that she’s now popping up all over the Instagram feeds of her fans. ‘It’s a bit weird, a bit surreal,’ she laughs. ‘I’m actually really bad at selfies!’ Having seen her navigate a sea of camera phones, we beg to differ.
This season, ‘the models are meant to be ‘60s dolly birds meets actual birds of paradise,’ the designer explains. The accompanying collection reimagines her signature styles through a kaleidoscope of rich patterns and lavish detailing. Alongside tropical takes on classics like the Chiara winged heels, there are chunky block heels and cage-style cut out sandals. In cheerful homage to bands like the Supremes and the Ronettes, Sophia’s trademark speech bubble clutch bags are embellished with vocal hooks from her favourite ‘60s girl groups.
Season after season, part of what makes Sophia’s presentation a talking point is the dramatic set. ‘We start thinking about what route to go down a couple of months in advance, but this time it was pretty clear in my head what I wanted. I thought it would be good to get a huge rotating cage,’ she says. ‘I worked with a guy called Matt Duddleston who’s been great at sourcing everything. They used to paint theatre sets here [in the Elms Lester gallery], so it’s got these amazing splattered walls and high ceilings. We’ve split the collection into the more sophisticated, pared-down stuff in one room, then the really colourful pieces in another.’
It’s not actually too hard to hunt down a vast gilded bird cage, either. ‘It was surprisingly easy,’ Sophia explains. ‘It was literally something like human bird cage dot com; the sort of thing you don’t think actually exists.’ Something to bear in mind for your next house party.
Having opened her first store on London’s Mount Street earlier this year, Sophia is now a neighbour to the likes of Christopher Kane, Roksanda and her mentor Nicholas Kirkwood - certainly not bad company to be in. ‘It’s great to be able to finally house all the different collections,’ she says. ‘I designed the store in quite a pared-back colour scheme, so this will really pop against it. I’m looking forward to getting it in there.’
She was joined by Kirkwood at 10 Downing Street earlier this month, a guest of the British Fashion Council and the Prime Minister, Theresa May. The visit was, according to the designer, ‘surreal. I was – not snooping around – but I had to get a good look. The actual place looked amazing, but the loos were pretty underwhelming. Though I don’t quite know what I was expecting from that…’
How does one decided what to wear for an audience with the PM? ‘I was going to just wear a black dress, then I thought no, I’ll go for something bright, so I wore a polka dot dress and my Chiara butterfly wings.’ It's a decision which clearly went down well with the Downing Street staffers. ‘I got quite a lot of compliments actually. I’m not sure I’m going to see Theresa in a pair soon – although she does like a dramatic shoe.’
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