Fashion East is still the coolest scheme in London

It’s no secret that London Fashion Week has been having a hard time recently. Last season, the British Fashion Council did away with a dedicated men’s week, and several homegrown talents scaled back their approach – dinners in lieu of catwalks. For some pundits and designers, this felt like a welcome shift in the traditional format, but for many, it was a sad sign of the times.

On the brighter side, the BFC is now under the new leadership of ex-Selfridges creative director and ES magazine editor Laura Weir. With that, participation fees for designers have been waived, investment in international guests has increased, and plans to introduce young people outside the capital to the industry have been put in place.

Nowhere was that optimism more felt than at Fashion East’s SS26 show on Friday afternoon. Held in the East End’s Old Truman Brewery, the hallowed talent incubator unveiled the latest chapter in its 25-year history, pulling together three designers – Nuba, Jacek Gleba and Mayhew – for a rich sample of UK design.

For Nuba – headed up by CSM-educated Cameron Williams – this was the last of three collections under Fashion East, and he continued a draped yet calculated approach to tailoring rooted in Afro-Caribbean diaspora. LFW newcomer Jacek Gleba took inspiration from the diaries of ballerina Vaslav Nijinsky, creating delicate, intentionally unfinished silks. For fellow newbie, Louis Mayhew, formerly a construction worker by day, this season included a heavy-duty, trade-inspired capsule and it marked his introduction to womenswear.

That the SS26 show aligned with a major milestone – a dedicated Fashion East retrospective at the ICA – is a testament to the unwavering support of founder Lulu Kennedy and her team. Ahead of the show, we booked in a chat with newbies Louis and Jacek, while Nuba designer Cameron dished the details of his final Fashion East collection.

Hey guys! How do you guys feel showing at this particular moment? No right answers.

Louis Mayhew: It’s a dream, but it’s all new for me and Jacek. Making the collection, doing it all. But we know we’re in good hands.

Cameron Williams: Doing Fashion East in London, it’s almost a rite of passage. It’s the only route, really, unless you’ve already found a way to become established. Lulu sees the magic in what people do. You can still be underground and rough around the edges.

Cameron, this is your swansong for Fashion East, right?

Cameron: Yeah, so it’s kind of sad and exciting. I mean, I’m sure I can always reach out to Lulu and ask her for help. With some of my other friends that have done Fashion East – even though it’s years, years later – Lulu still helps them out.

Tell me about SS26.

Cameron: Everything that I do is always built around the ideas of resilience and adaptability. This season, it’s going to be more expressed. It’s resilience that’s expressed through the elegance of women I capture on the street. A lot of our references are just pictures of women that I take on my phone or my little point-and-shoot. Afro-Caribbeans or West Africans always carry an [element] of their own culture – that has a resilience [to it] within a metropolitan context.

Wise words. Jacek, much like Cameron, your work has a fragility. There’s also a sense of care, desire and this exploration of Eastern European queerness. How did you develop on these themes?

Jacek Gleba: I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of delicate versus fragile. I want to portray a person that has delicateness, but that is not fragile, easy to break. There’s a strength in the delicateness. My previous collection was inspired by Nijinsky – a Polish dancer in 1910s Paris – and for this collection, too. I continued developing his character, seeing how it can morph into its own thing, as well as my character. For my degree collection, I referenced this performance called the Afternoon of a Faun, where the [main character, played by Nijinsky] is enamoured by these nymphs but too shy to speak to them. One of the nymphs drops a scarf, he picks it up and dances with the scarf, ending the performance by ejaculating on the scarf. I really like the idea of the scarf as a symbol of his longing.

Your work has a diaristic element, no?

Jacek: Absolutely, yes. Nijinsky kept a diary, and that inspired me to keep my own diary when I was making [my graduate] collection. So every season has these diary entries inside the clothes. It’s an understanding that the clothes come from a person – and not a brand – if that makes sense.

Since working with Fashion East, have you picked up any important lessons?

Jacek: Yes, they’ve really helped with building a network. I think that’s something that they’re so good at – connecting people.

It is a huge community – a real family affair. Louis, you graduated from LCF in 2023 and in the time since have continued to push a hardwearing, industrial look. How will it evolve?

Louis Mayhew: It’s like Cam said, I’m really tapping into that creative freedom. I’m not trying to worry about selling at the moment. I just want to have fun with it, piecing together these unorthodox materials and processes to create stuff that’s visually unique. We’ve gone more into a chic womenswear aesthetic this season, as well. I’m happy. I’ve always wanted to do that but never had the gall.

So, what are your references this season?

Louis: I’ve worked in manual labour for over half my life. I’ve taken 1000s of photos. I look through them, and then I’m like, ​“I like that. I like that.” Then I piece it together. The references also come from found objects and materials. I have many hobbies – mudlarking, just finding treasure, fossil hunting – that guide me.

Do you still work in construction at all?

Louis: A little bit, but I’ve just stopped because I wanted to concentrate on this.

The functional modifications in your work, you call them ​“shortcuts”, right?

Louis: Yeah, it was inspired by research I did at work. I looked at my colleagues and how we hacked our clothing to better perform its function, for comfort, even aesthetics. During my masters, it turned from research into more of an ideology. At first, I was quite rigid – function has to be functional. But then I had a teacher tell me, ​“You know, there’s a spectrum of functions.” I’ve become less het up on making the perfect zip or pocket, and started thinking, ​“How can I subvert this?”

Interesting. What have you taken from Fashion East as a community so far?

Louis: Well, it’s good to hear advice from Cameron and also, I have a friend, Luke Stevens, who did Fashion East. He gave me great advice: ​“Know what you want from it.” At first, I didn’t. I wanted it because it’s that aspirational, cool enclave of London fashion that I’ve always wanted to be a part of. When you actually get it, though, you’ve got to sit down and think, ​“How am I going to sort of use this to my best advantage?” I’m still finding that out.

Back to all of you… Nervous? Ready to bolt?

Cameron: There’s always pressure every show, but now, for me, it’s pressure to make the last one good. There’s a little bit of excitement in there somewhere. I just need to find it. [Jacek and Louis nod in agreement.]

Cameron, do you have any parting words of wisdom to offer to these guys as FE newcomers?

Cameron: Just be as creative as you can because you don’t know if you’re going to get this type of platform again. Don’t worry too much about the business side because Lulu’s there to give you that advice. But also, keep all of your language, all your rawness.