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London Fashion Week always fills me with a fever sense of inspiration, the urgent desire to pick up my things and move across the pond — where everything feels fresh, futuristic, five hundred steps ahead. And I mean this aesthetically and creatively as much as psychologically and sociologically. London was one of the first and foremost places to forge ahead in sustainability, in raising young and forward-thinking talent up and amplifying the voices of those trespassing the boundaries of our age old ideas surrounding "fashion" and the foreboding, at times morally confused "Industry" of it all. 

One of the pioneers in the London scene, who has always been poised at the very pulse of LFW and the city's creative movement, is Leanne Elliot Young. Alongside Cattytay, she has founded the Institute of Digital Fashion which is, for lack of better words and at risk of repeating myself: the literal future of fashion. It's a reaction and response to the industry, and the "pain points" it's experienced in it's modernization or lack thereof. For this London Fashion Week I took the time to sit down with the co-founders and discuss their activation for the season, what inspired it, what it's doing for us, and how we, too, can be involved. 

What is the importance and purpose of joining "IRL and URL”?

We always want the irl x url to work in unison. At IoDF we do not negate the physical world, but layer it with digital. Our whole launch is about this, a sustainable future that incubates both the physical and digital and doesn’t harm the planet. We want the fashion and tech community to be united, at the moment there is a fragmented space where tech and fashion crowds collide and it’s awkward. We wanted this launch to be open beyond the web3 community, so we launched at London Fashion Week alongside our fashion community. For instance, having a physical activation is just as important to us as an allowlist launch URL. We have billboards and campaigns that blur the lines of the physical and digital and the avatars and the renders look as much IRL as do the physical ones. These are metaphors for the times we are living within. We have also decided to reach out to people to meet IRL give them the Ltd Edition 001 IoDF launch tokens. For us, it’s not about one metaverse but a place where IRL work together, that’s where genuine engagement happens but also the genius and innovations.

Where do you feel fashion or culture has failed on this, and how are you working to join them?

Brands we hear from generally want to replicate the physical world in digital or just drop an NFT, yet for us, the space is about legacy and building a business around that. In regards to creativity, it’s a whole new creative playground. The design teams are different, there are new skills needed but that’s what we love about this boundless place of creativity which still feels daunting and complex to so many brands. Fashion is notoriously slow to change but we are here to put a rocket in that and start blending realities, realities with purpose which are conscious of the environment.

What do you feel are fashion's “key pain points”? 

Sustainability, beyond green washing. diversity and inclusion, beyond tokenism. And finally, just being afraid of web3 . There is a change coming and it’s one that puts transparency and community at the heart of everything. The new audience do not consume, they cast judgement, integrate and collaborate . It means a new way of thinking beyond the hierarchical structures.

I feel like London has always been more focused on futurism and standing out, pushing boundaries. In your opinion, how does LFW differ from the rest, and why? 

It’s like a small bird with a strong heart beat. London's pace is intense and hyper critical, the wheels spin fast and the carousel of subcultures seem to bubble up stronger here. It’s one of most diverse cities and with such a failing in the political structures that we see real discord emerging which is radical and hungry for change. We also have Fashion East’s Lulu at the helm pushing for new ideas and thinking/ making on a cultural level alongside csm who really pushes critical thinking . That alongside the rise of groups on Instagram and Discord that are asking big questions in their micro groups. 

You say we need creativity, not clothes. How do you define fashion outside of clothes themselves? 

Fashion is the culture of our times, we want to embrace this and look beyond the structure we know at the moment. Our 001 launch is a chance to enter that! Right now, the planet needs to come first, the world is in a sociopolitical environmental crisis 360, but we need to still express ourselves. Being ‘fashionable’ is that expression and creativity. Digital fashion is a chance to do that without harming the planet, we can sell a digital garment. Digital garments produce 97 per cent less CO2, and saves 3,300 litres of water per garment on average versus physical garments. Our LFW launch will mark the beginning of the change starting with the question ‘at the end of the world do you need more clothes?’ Calling on our community to take action and subscribe to a new future. Digital fashion is shifting the structures of consumerism. We are asking audiences to reevaluate their need for physical consumption. If we can balance the drive and need for newness and creative expression with the usage of a digital asset rather than a physical then we are driving change.

How can those outside of LFW engage with your project?

It’s about exactly that calling for collective action which is why we launched through so many channels: Billboards, fly posters; our campaign; a solar panelled electric van rolling through the streets, drones, Discord, Twitter, Instagram and IRL meet ups. We want this to be a hand raise to a new future and a diverse inclusive one : Not just limited to one fashion week but a legacy of change.

How are you a part of the change, or difference? 

We stand for change and are here for build a new ecosystem that’s what 001 allow list is, so subscribe.

American Swedish sportswear brand GANT joins forces with Wrangler for a collection that will satisfy all your John Wayne cosplay needs. Directed by Nadia Lee Cohen, the campaign is an ode to Americana and the aesthetic glamour of the wild west.

Featuring a 30 piece capsule collection including jeans, apparel and accessories for men and women, the line merges together traditional Western sensibilities with East Coast preppy. The capsule includes standout pieces like bootcut jeans with collegiate patches, a varsity jacket with a western embroidered motif, and a faux fur lined denim jacket. Out now, the limited collection is for sale in GANT and Wrangler channels worldwide. Out now, the limited collection is for sale in GANT and Wrangler channels worldwide.

Nadia Lee Cohen comments: “I’m so happy to be a part of this special merging between GANT and Wrangler, the collection has just enough equal parts from both brands to create a perfectly glamorous take on traditional Western wear. My dad learned English from watching old Westerns and they’d always be on the TV as a child. Being subjected to those desolate technicolor backdrops and leathery sun soaked skin was probably the catalyst behind my love of cinema and Western culture. I wanted to approach the films and still images like traditional Hollywood screen tests and really project a sense of artifice within the setting and poses.”

PUMA has returned from a years-long hiatus to the New York Fashion Week calendar, presenting their FUTROGRADE runway experience. The show served as both a retrospective look at the German brand's rich heritage and a preview of its vision for the future. With an exciting range of planned collaborations and exclusive collections for the brand, FUTROGRADE put PUMA back on the map and cemented its position as an innovator, not only in sportswear but also in fashion at large.

In anticipation of the show, PUMA's Chief Brand Officer Adam Petrick shared that "returning to fashion week for the first time in several years is significant for us because we knew we needed the right combination of factors to be present… we're excited that this can be the moment to bring [the collection] to life."

PUMA Creative Director June Ambrose led the presentation itself. office caught a moment with Ambrose before the show to discuss her inspirations for the collection, coming back to New York Fashion Week, and bringing FUTROGRADE to life.

How did you come up with "Futrograde"?

We were all sitting at a table putting a description of what we were trying actually to cover and accomplish. It was past, present, and future for the brand. I always play around and say, ‘Oh, you're in the Juniverse.’ We’re in Mercury retrograde, so I think about that, and I think about how retro is so much a part of what we see now. It’s the conversation that's driving everything as we creatives are pulling their point of reference, and I was a big part of retro moments that are being referenced now. This was definitely a moment for me to celebrate my contribution to the culture and also introduce Puma in a space where they could have a more amplified voice in streetwear.

Streetstyle is a universal expression now, and I wanted to celebrate how individuals are in urban environments. We have a section called ‘Beyond the Bodega,’ and it's about how we, as a culture, have gone beyond our environments and we have broken through many stereotypes quite successfully. We're pioneers. I wanted to give context to the fact that where this came from and celebrate that voice [streetwear] is the number one voice in fashion right now. Street sports style is eclipsing most conversations right now around high fashion brands; who would never think about making a sweatpant or anything that was leisure– yet they had to get on board. I've been playing with taking leisure sports out of context since the late 90s. I was doing luxury jogging suits and all that stuff, so this is an aha moment.

This is a fresh idea, and when I was starting, I referenced things; from the people who came before me. We all reference each other. It's about reimagining things and reinterpreting. It’s really an art form. It's all about expression and individualized interpretation. For me, it’s about telling that story. I'm a huge storyteller. So I've developed characters; I literally gave each model their character, their personality. When you look at each look, you can tell what kind of person they are and what they’re thinking. They don't take themselves too seriously. They're bold. They're playful. They're sporty. They're sophisticated. They're retro. They’re all these adjectives that come to play.

I love it. What made you want to stray away from the usual runway show? This was such high production.

The brand has been in conversations with the company Future for a while, and when I came on, they had quite a bit of visual context. I helped to put it into a frame and help to tell that story a little bit more cohesively, really breaking it out into sections, with ‘Beyond the Bodega,’ and Future was how I had to conceptualize it to make sense. Then I had to figure out how we merge existing products and create new products that would give us enough for a fashion show because we didn't want a traditional show.

We have existing select products that we wanted to introduce to the marketplace and amplify the fact that we're in this space and show our select retailers what we're focusing on. Taking the virtual reality of NFT's and how we mix tech and reality is really important. This is a space that’s happening, and we just want to be part of the conversation. So, we had to do a non-traditional show because of how we’re approaching it. Also, I think it's our point of view. It's our authentic intelligence. It's authentically speaking to the space. There’s nothing artificial about what we're doing tonight.

I think that you'll see that there's so much authenticity, and that's why I started the conversation off by talking about the layers of urban culture and how urban culture has eclipsed every genre of style. We own that. Without putting color into it, but putting a persona into it. It’s putting, ‘who are these people that are so creative, so brave, so bold, so brazen, and so non-apologetic.’ I talked to my models, and I told them to break through every obstacle that comes their way; everyone has said that for every door that was closed, you've chosen another; for every obstacle that was put in your way, you found a way through it.

Today we celebrate your strengths, your resilience, and what we've all been through in the last couple of years in this perfect setting. It is a powerful scene if you think about it in a very emotional, methodical way. We want the show to be emotional and provocative. We want the audience to sit here and feel like they're not just watching clothes, but they're experiencing something that is happening around us in our community. I think it's inclusive in a way. The casting was very intentional, I worked with Boom production and Raj in his casting, and that was really important that we captured what our society looks like and that we normalize inclusivity.

How was it designing the CO brand?

It was fun because there were no prerequisites. Even though it was collabs that I remixed some of the pieces, no one said to me. I couldn't touch this; they were actually excited that I was gonna go at it. And you know, I said to them, ‘They're gonna see me after the show, and either hug me or slap me.’ I got to launch my own first collab with the brand and my first co-branded collaboration with Puma, and I get to launch that tonight, which is exciting. I get to pay homage to someone within my capsule that I feel very proud of, that I've always wanted to grow up and be. I want her to know that she is seen and that she's enough. I celebrate her tonight on the stage.

You'll have to watch the show and see. I know your relationship with her is really close. She walked through the door, and I just started crying. I'm so emotional, but I needed her to be here because my son, he's in charge of all my BTS as a filmmaker, and I just to kind of have their support. My husband called me this morning, and he said, ‘I'm so nervous.’ I get emotional. It’s an emotional day.

With heavy hitters like Dapper Dan on the runway! How are you feeling about that?

Dan’s not walking the show, but his collab is. I got a chance to really interpret his collaboration pieces and put a twist on them. It’s a great honor, he's an icon, so we greatly respect his contribution. You know, that's my guy. Yeah. It was really planned out. I look forward to seeing him and seeing what he thinks about it.

It's gonna be amazing. Last question, what is the inspiration for the show? I know you kind of shared that, but more focused on this question, what is it that you want people to take away from this show?

I talked earlier about the inspiration, that we’re in a retrograde, talking about everything that's happening. The world feels like we are being thrown back and thrown forward, and we have to be present. I want people to stop thinking about anything else other than what they're experiencing right now. No social media, no comparisons. No critics, just experience. What you're seeing and absorb it. Take some time to think about yourself and what manifested this; why is this the way it is? I think that we don't take a pause.

We took a pause during the pandemic, and we started to collect the people around us. We talked about what happened to us, what was happening to us, what we were grateful for, and what we were looking forward to. I want people to have that same experience tonight. I want them to be here, they belong here, they were chosen to be here, and that we see them, that we are a community, and that they matter—their opinions matter. We want them to take what they see today, tell a friend and tell someone they feel could be part of this Puma posse and grow the audience.

Tonight we have receipts that we want to read; we're reclaiming our space in opposition. In sports, curated select fashion, there's a consumer that we know that we can adopt. There's an existing consumer that needed to know that we see them. We want to develop and grow that muscle. That's my goal. That as a creative director and designer for the brand, I want to grow this audience, and I want to grow my customer so they know I'm working on developing their character. Style and design is always my point of view. That's what I want them to take away, that they’re in the Juniverse.

On hiatus for many New York Fashion Week seasons, Gauntlett Cheng decided to come out of its hiding with a sultry, romantic, and dramatic fashion show. The scene sets with guests walking onto a runway — an airport runway. A mix of anticipation and delight is on the face of a few audience members. There’s a full moon, and a brisk wind that makes watching the models float down the runway an engulfing experience.

Designer-duo Jenny Cheng and Esther Gauntlett concluded that after this show, they would come back for more next year, “We only ever want to do spring shows. No showing in February. It was just like, 'okay, it's September, here we go.'”

This collection was more about them and the people they surround themselves with, as they made clothing for their loved ones. They decided that even though growing up is hard to do; they were ready to ‘be grown’ this season. “We're making it for ourselves and the people around us. I made a coat for my mom this season. I made two of them. The mom coat was this kind of somber gray. Then I made a cheetah version, which was the baby coat, which is us.”

The longevity of Gauntlett Cheng is not to be ignored, as they’ve been able to stay afloat sans fashion weeks. The designers had a radiant positive energy about them even amidst the show running late and the security kicking us out as soon as it was over. A guard began moving metal gates, he accidentally hits Gauntlett in the leg, and she goes, “I didn’t even feel that.”

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