Lulu Kennedy’s emerging talent initiative, Fashion East, is the stuff of London legend. An instrumental force in discovering and nurturing the greatest minds to come out of the city’s many creative pockets, Kennedy’s prophetic eye has caught the likes of Kim Jones, KNWLS, Wales Bonner, Jonathan Anderson, Mowalola and countless other prodigious inventors before they shot off into the fashion big leagues.

With Maximilian and Chet Lo both readying themselves for such a journey, the former taking up the reigns at Salvatore Ferragamo while the latter is now showing under the British Fashion Council’s NEWGEN umbrella, that leaves roster-mate Jawara Alleyne and his punky, pinned creations to welcome two newcomers to the fold. 

The first of this season’s new batch is Standing Ground designer Michael Stewart, who undoubtedly caught her eye through his shapely, seamless gowns. With faint gathers and minimal rouches, Stewart’s meticulously draped concoctions are sparse save for a bumpy neckline or a tidal wave jutting down from the hip, accentuating the body’s curves in cloaks of stone grey and sandy brown. Graduating from the Royal College of Art in 2017, the Irish designer established his label earlier this year, making it one of the freshest debuts to hit the Fashion East catwalk since Gareth Wrighton’s back in 2019.

Karoline Vitto is another who places the body at the centre of the design process, opting not to conceal folds of skin, curves and bulking waists but design around them, giving them a spotlight through circular cutouts, wiry metal clasps and severe slip-cuts. Eschewing both constriction and symmetry, the resultant pieces fall somewhere between mummification and athleisure, with a well-received injection of sexiness crafted into each laddered knit and draped bandeau.

Find out what else is going down at London Fashion Week SS23 here.