Bringing gale-force winds and transformative fashions to a dimly-lit crypt beneath Trafalgar Square, Matty Bovan’s FW22 collection was a self-confessed fever dream.

Slicing through a nation divided by fact and fiction with layers upon layers of excessive consumption, Bovan’s collection riffed on a lifelong kinship with American pop culture – through lavishly woven (and wearable) blankets, chunky flight jackets with surplus sleeves and a glowing spirit of consumerism prevalent in the mix of Bovan’s own diffusion line with upcycled offerings from Calvin Klein, Vivienne Westwood and Alpha Industries.

It takes a few days to take in the gravitas of such a show, with its visions of TV-show high schools with their high-stakes sports shows, electrifying pep rallies and spirited cheerleaders – “which always felt so exciting, yet so far away.” But we suppose that’s the point, to unpack the swirl of puffy rhinestone sweats and knitted trench coats, blown up with linebacker shoulders, one detail at a time. 

As models paced in customised Diemme boots – “traipsing through my fever dream landscape,” said the designer – functionality was far from the point in Bovan’s ballooning denim jackets, slumped to the side with sleeves comprised from folded jean legs, or in Adidas tracksuit bottoms that form voluminous gowns in sunshine yellows. Instead, the designer hopes to create a coven of hope and strength within the gripping dystopias he and his designs can no longer resist exploring.