Tommy Hilfiger brought the party to London Fashion Week last night when he brought his latest star-studded TommyNow extravaganza to Tate Modern.
‘I love London,’ Tommy told Grazia this week in his London HQ. ‘It’s an amazing city. I’ve always loved it, since 1975 when I first came here. There’s a lot of energy here: the fashion scene, the music scene, the arts scene, the restaurants, the shopping’. (He always swings by Sloane Street, Bond Street and Harrods when in the capital). ‘More than anything else I just love to see what everyone else is doing’.
The London pitstop was the latest in his travelling TommyNow roadshow (last season he was in Harlem for the Zendaya collaboration; he was last in the capital for a show at the Roundhouse in 2018, for which he joined forces with Gigi Hadid). ‘We’re out on a world tour, it doesn’t hurt to come back to London,’ he explained.
Unsurprisingly, he put on one hell of a show. ‘You’re going to see an inclusive show with an amazing cast,’ Tommy promised yesterday (a mission he’s been on since 1969, when he opened his People’s Place shops, he points out: ‘it’s always been that way to me… It was about being for the people’). He didn’t disappoint. Naomi Campbell, Winne Harlow, Karen Elson, Alessandra Ambrosio and former Grazia cover star Halima Aden all walked; as did Lottie Moss, Pixie Geldof and Lennon Gallagher. The show took in unisex pieces from the ‘three-way collaboration’ between Tommy, Lewis Hamilton, and musician H.E.R. as well as designs from the Tommy Hilfiger mainline. Street-inspired mood with lashings of neon gave way to Tommy’s signature preppy Americana.
The TommyNow show comes at a time when the industry is questioning whether we really need catwalk shows at all. This might have been an all-singing, all-dancing (there was a choir performing hip-hop tunes) joyous two-fingers up to that notion – but that’s not to say the man himself doesn’t think shows have to evolve with the times. ‘It has to be disruptive, interesting, exciting. Fashion shows, as we knew them, are a thing of the past. Sitting in an audience just watching models walk back and forth is a bit boring, even if the clothes are nice. I really believe the experience has to be new and fresh’.
While throwing a party of such epic proportions might stress most of us out, Tommy is well versed in fashion week survival tactics. ‘Try to get some rest. Not too much caffeine. Stay calm, know that that any obstacles will be overcome,’ he says. And how about the post-show decompression? ‘A glass of champagne’. Cheers to that.
SEE: The Highlights From London Fashion Week
SEE: The Highlights From London Fashion Week
1 of 18Richard Malone and Emily Adams Bode are recognised by the Woolmark Company
Monday night ended on a high - with the announcement of this year's Woolmark Prize winners. Both Richard Malone, the Wexford-born womenswear designer who won the International Woolmark Prize, and Emily Adams Bode, who was awarded the inaugural Karl Lagerfeld Award for Innovation, have been recognised for putting sustainability and transparency at the heart of their businesses. Richard works with weavers in Tamil Nadu, India, and uses plant-based dyes instead of traditional chemicals, while Emily works with deadstock fabrics found in abandoned factories.
2 of 18Riccardo Tisci presents a stellar line-up
Riccardo Tisci pulled in the big guns for his AW20 show, with the stellar line-up including Irina Shayk, Kendall Jenner, Joan Smalls, the Hadid sisters and, making his debut, Sade's son Izaak Adu. With a whopping 108 looks, it was new-gen Burberry at its best.
3 of 18JW Anderson brings back the shoulder pad
JW Anderson's shoulder-pads, which shimmered on checked coats, blanket capes, sequinned frocks and ribbed sweaters, are sure to turn heads in September.
4 of 18Erdem had a major headwear moment
The ultimate Insta-bait moment at Erdem's AW20 show was the headdress of giant plumes attached to this model's head. As long as the doorways you're walking through are as lofty as the National Portrait Gallery's, you won't have a problem.
5 of 18Simone Rocha says yes to the dress
Simone Rocha's AW20 collection was a meditation on 'birth', 'life' and 'loss' - and had plenty for the 21st century bride to bookmark. Can you imagine getting married in this lace-veiled and flower-crowned ensemble for starters?
6 of 18Roksanda brings a hit of colour to The Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Roksanda's colour-filled AW collection, a collaboration with the British-Bangladeshi visual artist Rana Begum, fitted the pomp and circumstance of The Foreign & Commonwealth Office to perfection. This ruffled number's drama is pushing all the right buttons.
7 of 18Emilia Wickstead gives us bloomin' lovely florals
Emilia Wickstead majors in chintzy fabrics that somehow steer clear from saccharine territory - and AW20 had plenty for print lovers. The matching frock, cape, gloves and pointed pumps on this model had a butter-wouldn't-melt kind of beauty.
8 of 18Victoria Beckham makes a case for ladylike dressing
The mood was set to modern bourgeois at Victoria Beckham, with fluid black dresses cinched with leather belts, boots that came scrunched to the leg and the kind of outfit-making outerwear that real women will clamour to wear come autumn.
9 of 18Richard Quinn brings in the big guns
The Peckham-based designer Richard Quinn is fast-becoming one of the hottest tickets on London's packed schedule. His AW20 show was styled by the ultimate French editrix, Carine Roitfeld, with a live rendition of 'Dancing Queen' that proved almost tear-inducing next to the 'working-class couture' clothes. Ah, the clothes, which encompassed modern day pearly kings and queens, whose entire bodies were covered with minute embroideries and the mantra, 'God Save The Quinn', dreamy ballgowns that wafted down the runway and his exuberant-as-ever florals.
10 of 18A.W.A.K.E Mode makes the clothes we all want to wear
A last-minute venue change didn't stop Natalia Alaverdian delivering an on-point collection of real women's clothes. On our wishlists for autumn include the jumbo quilted coat, the pleated shirt dresses with elongated point collars, the zip-tops, the checked skirts, the leather separates, oh, just about everything.
11 of 18Rejina Pyo makes a top-notch trouser suit
Rejina Pyo puts out the kind of collections where you immediately want everything, and we mean everything off the catwalk. For autumn, we'll be channeling the woman wearing the cobalt leather trouser suit. Fierce, no?
12 of 18Molly Goddard is the new mistress of layering
The drum 'n' bass soundtrack was a fitting contrast to the froth at Molly Goddard. This season, the designer layered her signature tulle over wearable separates to delicious effect. A semi-sheer peachy top was popped over a Fairisle cardi and checked trews, while chunky striped sweaters sat underneath millefeuille-skirt pinafores. The beanie hats bedecked with taffeta bows? The cherry on top.
13 of 18Matty Bovan makes a case for carrying your own set of curtains
Matty Bovan doesn't do shows, but rather spectacles. Last night's 'Off World' collection, a science fiction term that means being in space, included reject garments from Fiorucci and Liberty cushions that were used to make his doorway-sized skirts even more sumptuous. The brilliant final flourish was three looks that came with their own curtains. Clever, no?
14 of 18Shrimps pays homage to Her Maj
As a nation obsessed with The Crown, it made sense that Shrimps's Hannah Weiland was inspired by Her Maj's hobbies and wardrobe for AW20. Cue a regal collection of floor-sweeping faux-fur coats with matching muffs and knitted sweaters with built-in balaclavas. The icing on the cake? The fittingly coiffed hairdos.
15 of 18Richard Malone makes high-concept clothes with a conscience
Richard Malone's makes look-twice shapes and textures look effortless. The designer's collection was heavy with sustainable credentials - he used upcycled felt and regenerated econyl - thanks to his partnership with The Woolmark Company.
16 of 18Lena Dunham brings star power to proceedings
Lena Dunham made a surprise appearance at 16 Arlington's debut catwalk show. The actor is a famous fan of the design duo - she wore a sequined and feathered creation in fire colours to the Once Upon A Time In Hollywood premiere last July - and it's not hard to see why. The collection, inspired by Chinese photographer Ren Hang, was a joyful celebration of out-out dressing, from the peekaboo party tops to the body-hugging pencil skirts. Fetish at its finest.
17 of 18Ashley Williams suggests making adult socks into toddler leggings
Inspired by some of the silver screen's greatest characters - Scarlett O'Hara, Rose DeWitt Bukater and Jessica Rabbit were just three listed - Ashley Williams's AW20 offering was a typically playful mix of shift dresses, bearing the blown-up photographs of dogs and cats, frou-frou party frocks and her signature good-time girl hair accessories. She upcycled old samples - and even provided a helpful suggestions list of how to be more sustainable on her show notes. Favourite entries included, 'Use a cheesegrater to display your jewellery,' and 'Transform adult socks into toddler leggings.'
18 of 18Yuhan Wang makes a stunning debut
For her debut solo collection - she showed as part of last season's Fashion East collective - the Chinese designer Yuhan Wang looked to the rituals of mourning and funeral ceremonies in the Victorian era. The results were an exquisitely rendered collection of 'walking suits' in a frayed, tapestry-like fabric, Sunday-best coats, buttoned-up boots and hats like looked like part of a bee-keeper's uniform. The Atonement green dress, worn with a cascading necklace of pearls, is crying out for a red carpet moment.