Disclaimer: the interviews with these London Fashion Week designers took place before the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

London Fashion Week (LFW) returned this week with emerging and established designers presenting their spring/summer 2023 collection from September 16 to twenty, 2022. After 2 years of disruption following the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, London Fashion Week’s on-schedule designers faced renewed challenges with the event coinciding with a national period of mourning in the UK following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Industry heavyweights like Burberry and Raf Simons, who was resulting from make his LFW debut, announced show cancellations and plans to reschedule. But for emerging talent, who typically lack the pliability gained from big budgets and huge teams, the displacement of shows offers a latest hurdle for the season.

As BoF recently reported, the British Fashion Council — London Fashion Week’s organising body — directed attendees to still frequent the scheduled shows “to support designers each in attendance of shows and in coverage of shows within the context of business, creativity, and the stories of the designers behind the companies who’ve experienced a period of maximum adversity, facing into more difficult times to come back.”

Indeed, in recent seasons, designers have needed to adeptly navigate consumer expectations on speed-to-market, supply chain blockages, a climate crisis, a pandemic — all with the backdrop of a bleak economic outlook.

Despite such challenges, emerging design talent have been “punching well above their weight”, as Susie Bubble wrote on BoF following the February shows. An incubator of talent, spearheaded by the likes of the Latest Gen showroom and Lulu Kennedy’s Fashion East, London consistently produces latest names to know — however the challenges they face in launching a business proceed to grow.

Here, BoF sits down with design talent from the style capital to higher understand how they’re overcoming market challenges and evolving for fulfillment to make their fashion brand work today.

SS Daley

LVMH Prize 2022 winner Steven Stokey-Daley founded his menswear brand, which utilises deadstock fabrics, after graduating from the Westminster Fashion Design BA in 2020. After working in menswear at Alexander McQueen and Tom Ford, his graduate collection was featured in Harry Styles’ music video Golden and in titles resembling British Vogue and i-D. SS Daley is sold through the likes of MatchesFashion and Ssense.

How has your small business model evolved?

Shortly after my graduate collection, I discovered myself at home in Liverpool, starting the brand, just using what was around me. My grandma had a cabinet stuffed with embroidered linens and curtains, which we made into shirts. We floated them online, to see if there was any reception for them, and so they were super popular. Today, we upcycle tea towels into shirts, which we showed in February and can go into stores next month.

Already, we’ve been on a quick track. I studied a design degree and I needed to quickly chameleon into being a business person. We now have been focussing on constructing a wholesale model within the last couple of seasons, which is a big opportunity to develop the community. From winning the LVMH Prize, what we wanted to take a position in was our platform with customers, so we’re starting this strategy of reinvestment.

What does London Fashion Week mean to you?

Our first experience with fashion week paved the best way for what we do now. My partner studied dance, which he stopped doing commercially resulting from lockdown. Then, I’m lucky enough to have had a business that began and grew exponentially in that very same period — it was two completely different realities of that point.

If a whole bunch of individuals are travelling in from different countries, how will we make that worthwhile within the context of today?

So, our first show was about the fantastic thing about a British live event, for which we partnered with the National Youth Theatre. From that moment onwards, it’s been about what a live event means for SS Daley, what does theatre mean in the style context. It’s also about asking why we’d like a live event. If a whole bunch of individuals are travelling in from different countries, how will we make that worthwhile within the context of today?

We now have had conversations in regards to the schedule recently and if that works for us, and we’re planning to shift into our own idea of what the schedule looks like next 12 months. Up until now, we haven’t had a likelihood to do in-person events apart from the Fashion Week shows, after which that feels limited to the group of editors and journalists who’re invited. So, we’re organising just a few physical, in-person, almost pop-up events for the start of 2023.

What key challenges and opportunities have recently arisen for your small business?

Sustainability with scalability — it’s essential to maintain those two things moving, and there’s few resources right away which provide deadstock fabrics in much larger quantities. We now have tackled that by offering garments ordered by one retailer as exclusive colourways for them.

For the primary time, we’re talking in regards to the brand in a world context. Recently, we have now seen a surge in sales in Japan. All of our Japanese retailers sold out the last collection inside the first day of the drop, with a queue of individuals waiting round one among the shops, and we had no idea. So, I’m going to Japan for the primary time in October.

Nensi Dojaka

Dojaka established her eponymous brand after graduating from Central Saint Martins, along with her experience in lingerie identifiable in her mini-dresses and intimates. In 2021, she won the LVMH Prize, along with her signature black mini dress rating in Lyst’s Top 10 Hottest Products. Nensi Dojaka stockists include Farfetch, MatchesFashion and Luisaviaroma.

What does London Fashion Week mean to you?

London is the one place that actually spotlights and provides a likelihood to imminent brands. I’m lucky to be here for that reason. It’s nurturing. People connect with the brand higher once they see things on Instagram, on models — it’s easier for people to wish to buy something or want to interact with something once they see it on other people.

How has your small business model evolved?

At the beginning, it was a much smaller scale and I used to be working only on the studio. Now, I work with a factory in Italy and far of the event is finished there. I do the designs, the drapes and every thing, after which they may create the primary prototypes. So, there are more people involved and it’s just a unique way of working.

[For] the event part, I still do lots on the mannequin, but then […] all of the patterns before production are digitised and all of the grading and every thing is finished digitally. It makes things quicker and more accurate, and now that the production is larger, [technology] is crucial.

What key challenges and opportunities have recently arisen for your small business?

Covid began just after I established the brand, in order that was a difficult period. Then there was Covid mixed with Brexit, and now we have now inflation. As a young brand, you possibly can’t really increase prices as easily. [However,] the fundamental problem for me is counterfeits — there are loads of them — but that’s just going to occur.

KNWLS

Charlotte Knowles and Alexandre Arsenault first founded their label in 2017 after meeting at Central Saint Martins. The brand has expanded its offering from underwear and corsetry to incorporate womenswear, accessories and footwear, and rebranded from ‘Charlotte Knowles’ to KNWLS in 2021. The brand first showed at London Fashion Week in 2018 as an element of Fashion East, and counts Ssense and Farfetch as stockists.

What key challenges and opportunities have arisen for your small business?

AA: We decided to trademark quite early on within the brand, and we encountered problems with trademarking in America. We needed to rethink how the brand was going and if we wanted it to be nearly Charlotte’s name. The team is as essential as us, so we didn’t want it to only be about Charlotte or [me].

CK: I also didn’t realise, after we began the brand, what it will be to have an eponymous brand, to have your full name attached to something that has the potential to grow quite big. We were super scared to alter the name, as we didn’t know what effect it may need on the business and on the brand, nevertheless it ended up being a very good thing.

AA: Within the last couple of seasons, production was [also] a nightmare, and like all the time, brands and designers are taken advantage of or misunderstood. Stores don’t understand why you’re delivering late: they wish to cancel orders; they don’t want to simply accept late products. The factories are telling you they’ll increase their prices. We’re now attempting to move quite just a few production processes to Portugal for price and sustainability, because the standard and their environmental perspective is sort of ahead.

How has your small business evolved in recent times?

AA: It has evolved quite lots since we began the brand, maturing and understanding our customer, understanding where the world goes, trying to distinguish ourselves. The brand began off inspired visually by underwear and we have now expanded the range, every season adding a latest category. Everyone seems to be doing underwear now, which remains to be core to the brand, but we don’t want the brand to be stuck on this movement.

What does London Fashion Week mean to you?

CK: It’s a culmination, a celebration and a closure to that season, and it’s a tremendous option to promote the garments in person. With a fashion show, you construct up this energy and individuals are enthusiastic about it, and more prone to post about it after.

AA: We’ve done photo shoots twice now and it’s just not the identical. You never have the identical impact or the identical closure. People can see it in person and there’s just a greater interaction on social media — there’s so many brands, a lot noise, on social media.

Chet Lo

Lo is a 2020 graduate of Central Saint Martins BA Knitwear course and former intern at Proenza Schouler and Maison Margiela. Showcasing this season through the Latest Gen showroom, Lo’s work has featured in Vogue, L’Officiel, W, Dazed and more. He recently won the Perfect Emerging Fashion Award by Perfect Magazine.

What does London Fashion Week mean to you?

It’s form of every thing in the meanwhile. I wish I didn’t have to point out on-schedule since it’s so fast-paced — I feel like I even have barely been capable of finish last season — nevertheless it’s essential from a business perspective. All these young designers need the exposure physically, not only online, to have the showrooms, the buyers and press see your stuff. It’s a lift for large and small firms.

I’m excited to point out and create this collection — it’s well-rounded. The spikes were fun and every thing, but I can’t really imagine a lady wearing it to go grocery shopping. I’m attempting to fit the needs of my client and create garments in order that they can wear them not only at a celebration but to fulfil every aspect of their life.

How has your small business model evolved?

I began off making every thing myself in my bedroom. I’d go to a knitting studio, knit the panels, bring them back home, stitch all of them up — it was chaotic but I believe it was the happiest time of my life.

All of us learnt easy methods to do things ourselves — you shoot the garments yourself, you market yourself. I graduated, and nobody was hiring, so I made a decision to only do it myself.

The pandemic was rough but I believe all of us learnt easy methods to do things ourselves — you shoot the garments yourself, you market yourself. I graduated, and nobody was hiring, so I made a decision to only do it myself. I made a bunch of jumpers, put them on Instagram to pay rent, and it took off from there. We got offered this beautiful residency at The Standard, and now, it’s a studio.

What key challenges and opportunities have recently arisen for your small business?

It was a cute idea to start out a business and really scary to really make it. Hastily, I needed to register my company, create a business account, get a bookkeeper, create money flow projections every month. Production is a nightmare, especially with lockdowns in China. I would like to order yarn and [the store] hasn’t received the raw materials from China. I even have five stores waiting for this product.

I make my fabric myself. I always feel behind. But I realised I even have to relinquish control. If I can’t meet the deadline, I can’t meet the deadline and it is going to not be my fault because I’ll push as hard as I can. That’s all I can do. It’s about learning to think in your feet and adjusting easy methods to make stuff, nevertheless it’s been really fun.

Chopova Lowena

Emma Chopova and Laura Lowena met at Central Saint Martins in 2011, and commenced collaborating on a joint master’s course in 2015. The designers launched the brand in 2018, inspired by Chopova’s Bulgarian and Lowena’s English heritage. The brand seeks to modernise traditional textiles and crafts, and employs female artisans in Bulgaria. With sustainability at its core, the label is carried by stores like Browns and Farfetch.

How has your small business model evolved?

EC: In a way, it’s very much the identical and completely different. We now have an amazing factory that’s solely dedicated to our brand, and every thing is assumed through and made nicely. We feel prefer it’s essential to look back, to enhance the core product — the skirt — to make sure that it’s well-made, that it’ll last. I try this every season on the factory.

A very important a part of the best way that we wish to do business is introducing categories slowly, after we feel it’s right and there’s an area and a necessity for them. We also wish to take heed to the feedback from buyers and we have now had just a few mentor-like figures on the buying side.

LL: [At] Saint Martins, you will have the liberty to do whatever you wish and you’re encouraged that the crazier, the higher. [But] it needs to be wearable and it has to last. Otherwise, what’s the purpose of doing it? It’s a tough reality check, determining easy methods to balance that. Nevertheless it is a challenge we enjoy, and we still design crazy things.

What key challenges and opportunities have arisen for your small business?

EC: Sustainability is our biggest core value. It’s harder as you scale, but we still attempt to do it with every latest thing we introduce. We take into consideration ethical production and […] upcycling, using recycled fabric, cutting down on shipping. We attempt to get recycled fibre textiles from Europe, from Turkey, from places near Bulgaria to have some likelihood at making something which is definitely sustainable.

What does London Fashion Week mean to you?

LL: We now have done a few shoots, lookbooks and videos, but the prospect to bring everyone together in a single space and truly see the garments goes to have a very different feel. Our show also gives us the chance to do the pieces which aren’t super wearable but that we actually need to do.

EC: Our house is London [and] it has definitely defined the aesthetic of the brand as well. [Fashion Week] is more about your small business and the best way that your brand is perceived. It brings us on to a unique form of platform, and to point out people [our work] in a more personal way.

In fact, I care about what’s going to come back out of fashion week. But I believe that, always, each day, you care about everyone else and what everyone’s going to love. We now have each wanted a fashion show our entire lives, and now we get to have one, I would like it to be exactly what we wish.

Richard Quinn

Quinn worked at Christian Dior and Savile Row before launching his eponymous womenswear label, specialising in printed textiles and progressive fabrications, in late 2017. Quinn won the inaugural Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design in 2018. His brand is stocked at MatchesFashion and Farfetch.

What does London Fashion Week mean to you?

I all the time just like the atmosphere and the moment of the show. We obviously do the shows as they give the impression of being beautiful online and offline, nevertheless it’s attempting to [create] that live experience, whether it’s a set, a smell, the lighting — an emotional style of thing.

I also love seeing the garments go from a show to the red carpet. The reach of that overarcs any show we have now done before, especially in America or Asia. If an iconic person [wears the brand] that many individuals look as much as, people suddenly grow to be obsessive about you. Like Cardi B — if she wears anything, you should have an enormous traction of individuals stampeding into our pages.

How has your small business model evolved?

Initially, it began with me organising the textile side of the corporate. We still seek the advice of for other people and print production runs and samples — we do big houses in London like JW Anderson and Burberry, and we do a print service for anyone who wants it.

We sourced all this great technology from Epsom, with state-of-the-art machines that you simply are inclined to only get within the textile districts of Italy. We are able to do things so quickly, like strike off onto fabric in 10 or quarter-hour. You don’t must wait weeks for samples to come back forwards and backwards. To check things and react quickly is sort of a luxury.

This was principally the arrange for my very own company. We were utilising every inch of the space that we had, in addition to creating all these collections, and it grew from there. Then the wholesale, and our collaborations, grew alongside the print side and so they run in tandem now.

The brand hits many differing kinds of individuals — some will contact us who desire a bespoke sofa or homeware, or they arrive for our bespoke made-to-measure service as well. Then, our private client business is a big marketplace for us — dresses that folks would never know we have now made are on the market, especially within the Middle East. There’s an enormous market there that we’re attempting to cater to, and in the long run, there’s perfumes. The general goal at the top — the life-style.

What key challenges and opportunities have recently arisen for your small business?

You have got all of the buzzwords, especially within the pandemic, with people attempting to determine how individuals are going to live their lives. […] We adapted, did latest product categories.

We now have just moved to a latest space with separate departments, which is far larger, so it’s easier to develop ideas without having to pack them away day by day. So now, we’re equipped to tackle all of the opportunities that we have now had before, [like] our own online e-comm. We would like to do it right and I feel like we’re nearly there with that.

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