Emerging fashion designers from around the world will showcase their collections on the off-schedule catwalk of Fashion Scout during London Fashion Week AW2024 on Saturday, February 17, 2024.
[photos by Fashion Scout]
Three promising brands –Alenkie, Safarah and Sergazi Firenze– were selected by Fashion Scout to showcase their latest creations under the Ones To Watch umbrella catwalk, while Fashion Scout China and Barrus will present their own respective runway shows at the same venue in Shoreditch.
The collections to be revealed at the off-schedule event during London Fashion Week revolve around modern interpretations and revivals of local traditional clothes-making techniques and also sustainability.
Sustainable fashion from Armenia
First up to open the Ones to Watch catwalk for Fashion Scout is Alenkie, the winner of Fashion Scout Armenia best emerging talent competition, which took place in partnership with Fashion and Design Chamber of Armenia.
Specialising in utilising deadstock fabrics and upcycled vintage materials, Alenkie’s designs are dedicated to sustainable fashion.
With a commitment to reducing waste and protecting the environment, Nana, the founder of Alenkie, designs clothes from recycled ocean bottles, fishing nets, organic cotton and tencel (lyocell) in a bid to make the world a better place.
Clothes-making tradition from Anatolia
On the other hand, Safarah, a Turkish brand that incorporates traditional techniques into modern designs, strives to reflect the harmony arising from cultural diversity that has existed in Anatolia since the Mesopotamian Era.
By combining Eastern and Anatolian traditions with Western modernism, each design illustrates the harmony of heritage and new streams, keeping the culture up to date with a fusion of the past and today.
Artisanal fashion from Kazakhstan
Last, Sergazi Firenze, a new luxury brand from Kazakhstan, highlights the dramatic dependence of humankind on time and pays tribute to artists of different geographical and intergenerational backgrounds who have explored time, reflecting the cyclical nature of a human’s life: the beginning, the ending, and the beginning again.
Sergazi Firenze designs are made by the best artisans in Central Asia who create unique handcrafted pieces.
Ancient Sumerian weaving reborn
Later on Saturday, fashion brand Barrus will present its own show on the catwalk of Fashion Scout.
Barrus’ new collection is a ballad composed by the designer, Neslisah Yilmaz, to pay homage to the lands where fashion started; the Sumerian civilization of Mesopotamia, which developed advanced weaving techniques during the third millennium BC.
Bas-reliefs dating back to the Sumerian civilization show figures wearing skirts and dresses composed of woven cloth and tufted fabrics.
The wrapped and draped clothes then influenced the dress of Greeks and Egyptians. Inspired by the chic Sumerian royalty, the designer used the materials and top-level workmanship of the same lands to create Legend Reborn – Sumerian Royalty for the catwalk of London Fashion Week.
Furthermore, the recycled fabrics used in the collection give new life to thousands of PET bottles collected from the ocean, as the designer hopes that the sustainability efforts will enable the next generations to enjoy “legends reborn” through many millennia.
An empowering platform at London Fashion Week
Fashion Scout is a leading international platform and consultancy for nurturing, empowering and showcasing emerging fashion and accessories designers from around the world.
With 20 years of experience in the industry, Fashion Scout creates and delivers bespoke mentoring and capacity building programmes for designers and organisations around the world. Through those programs, the consultancy enables designers to adapt and build sustainable businesses in these challenging times, whilst also provides them with the opportunity to showcase their work to the international market.
Most recently, Fashion Scout delivered highly successful programmes in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Senegal for the British Council and also worked on projects in Rwanda, Estonia, Armenia and many more countries across the globe, making an impact for sustainable business growth in the respective creative ecosystems.
