Best moments and looks from London Fashion Week

As the event closes for another season, here's a look back at some of the most dramatic highlights

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  Harris Reed offered svelte shapes topped with elongated hats. Photo: Harris Reed

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  Dramatic glamour at Harris Reed. Photo: Harris Reed

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  Richard Quinn's fitting tribute to Queen Elizabeth II - an all-black look topped with a crown. Photo: Richard Quinn

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  Richard Quinn presented looks inspired by mourning clothes. Photo: Richard Quinn

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  Veils and a melancholy mood at Richard Quinn. Photo: Richard Quinn

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  Otherworldly shapes for spring/summer 2023 at J W Anderson. Photo: J W Anderson

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  J W Anderson delivered space-age hybrid shapes. Photo: J W Anderson

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  J W Anderson built his looks up and around the body. Photo: J W Anderson

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  Glamour with an edge, as feathers mix with leather boots at David Koma. Photo: David Koma

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  David Koma gave a hardened edge with long leather boots. Photo: David Koma

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  Christopher Kane deep-dived into anatomy with looks covered with images of muscle structures. Photo: Christopher Kane

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  Erdem delivered fragile femininity for spring/summer 2023. Photo: Erdem

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  A menswear look from Simone Rocha. Photo: Simone Rocha

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  Simone Rocha mixed parachute silk with straps. Photo: Simone Rocha

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  There were trademark ruffles and embroidery at Simone Rocha's first mixed show. Photo: Simone Rocha

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  Suzi Buki, at the House of iKons show, offered a suit with a high, dramatic collar around the face. Getty Images

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  Huge skirts mixed with cropped jackets at the Molly Goddard show. AFP

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  A huge gown of gathered tulle at Molly Goddard. AFP

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  Molly Goddard's show was filled with ruffles. AFP

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  Paul & Joe gave a nod to the Queen, with a headscarf knotted under the chin. AFP

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  Edward Crutchley's show ended with a gown in vert de gris and seashell pink. AFP

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  Bora Aksu's show had a military theme, and a palette of soft pastels. EPA

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  Models pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at the Sohuman show. AFP

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  Elegant tailoring by Daniel w Fletcher. AFP

After a truly historic week, London Fashion Week has closed with a fitting tribute to Queen Elizabeth II as Richard Quinn dedicated his entire show to the mourning dress of monarchs.

The first 18 looks sent out on the runway were all black widows' weeds, adorned with feathers and jewellery and draped in heavy lace veils. Beautiful and moving, it seemed fitting that the first recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Fashion Award, in 2018, should now pay such homage to the monarch who had sat front row at his first show.

Scroll through the gallery above for some of the top looks from London Fashion Week

Amid the mourning looks, Quinn also showed his love of colour and pattern with bright moulded mini dresses that sat high around the ears, and were teamed with either thick tights or long boots. Fierce, modern and determined, they, too, nodded to the colourful outfits the queen was so famous for.

At one point, London Fashion Week looked like it may not go ahead at all following the queen's death, but the event continued, although largely scaled back. Designers had the presence of mind to offer collections that managed to carefully navigate respect and the raw, celebratory fashion that London so excels at nurturing.

At the start of the week, Harris Reed delivered a collection that shows precisely why he is the darling of the fashion set. In Dutch Hall in Austin Friars, and with a performance from Adam Lambert, who sings as part of a collaboration with rock band Queen, Reed's show channelled old-school glamour, mixing exaggerated shoulders, form-fitting dresses with mermaid hemlines and vast hats, dipped below one eye.

Harris Reed's collection channelled old-school glamour. Photo: Harris Reed

Over at Edward Crutchley, that took place in an underground car park in central London, a sea-themed show unfurled as metallic fabric formed into rounded shapes around the body, culminating in a tiered dress in shimmering tones of vert de gris and seashell pink. And, thanks to the platform sandals worn underneath, it took on a towering, Poseidon-like quality.

J W Anderson brought his trademark subversive humour to proceedings, not only staging his show in an amusement arcade in Soho, but sending out an upside down jumper as a dress, the metal clothes hanger now around the neck of the model. Then came otherworldly shapes, such as a silver shift dress that ballooned around the hips.

J W Anderson sent out an upside down jumper as dress, with the coat hanger around the model's neck. Photo: JW Anderson

Christopher Kane, too, explored a new direction, looking into anatomical drawings that were then splashed across looks. Set in the huge space of the Roundhouse in Chalk Farm, his collection was about images of limbs stripped of skin, to show muscle structures in all their intricate glory, yet far from feeling gory or gruesome, was instead more of a reminder that we are all the same underneath.

Over at Simone Rocha, — who picked the Old Bailey for her venue — menswear was offered for the first time in a show so gorgeous it got a standing ovation. Mixing parachute fabrics, webbing straps and layers of netting as veils, it was sumptuous and utterly delicious. The show was bookended with looks accompanied by veils.

Simone Rocha mixed military elements such as parachute fabrics and aviation jackets, with flowers and veils. Photo: Simone Rocha

Held amid the pillars of the British Museum, Erdem also pulled out all of the stops, delivering a show that, as with all the best Erdem collections, felt like stumbling upon the greatest dressing-up box in the world, filled with corsets, huge skirts and fragile chiffon. He delivered exquisitely feminine dresses in retro-feeling fabrics, as if cut from the most beautiful curtains in the world. With dresses pieced from halves of different fabrics, it was all unutterably lovely.

A full skirt look finished with embroidery and a veil at Erdem. Photo: Erdem

Meanwhile, on the streets of Shoreditch, David Koma staged his latest round of high-octane looks, with floor-length skirts carved away from one leg and dresses kept form-fitting. Best of all were the numerous thigh-length boots, in orange, blue and a glittering iridescence sure to be seen on celebrities soon.

In the unlikely setting of the Seymour Leisure Centre in London, Molly Goddard delivered a stunning show, in bright rainbow tones and with ruffles for days, culminating in a ballgown that seemed to be made of nothing but gathered netting, while at Chopova Lowena, the duo unveiled their first runway show. Unveiled at their studio in Deptford, it also stayed close to the heritage of the designers, as it was themed around the Rose Festival, celebrated every year in the Bulgarian village of Kazanlak. Famous for its skirts finished with carabineers, their debut outing was brimming with colour, patterns and a youthful energy, and brought a punkish air back to London.

Halpern opened its show in the Royal Exchange with a cornflower blue look of headscarf knotted under the chin, and a huge diaphanous cape that billowed regally. While definitely a nod to the queen, it felt a little out of kilter with the 1970s Studio 54 sequined looks that followed.

A model presents a creation for British fashion house Halpern. AFP

Upbeat and dynamic, the shine arrived as tight, slinky dresses and kick-flared trousers with mismatched legs, before shifting into a Barbie-themed segment, complete with huge, flicked wigs. Drawing these rather disparate elements together, the closing look was another headscarf and cape combo, this time in retro baby-doll sheer black.

Paul & Joe also used a headscarf tied under the chin in a nod to the queen, now in red gingham.