T Magazine: London's Fashion Rebels

T Introduces: London’s New Fashion Iconoclasts

As much as it prides itself on upholding tradition, England is actually at its best when breeding rebellion, allowing for a renegade spirit — along with the sense that the impossible might be imminent — that has long informed its fashion. Think of Mary Quant’s scandalously short miniskirts and shift dresses, which came to symbolize ’60s youth culture, or the S&M-inspired outfits that Vivienne Westwood began selling at the King’s Road shop Let It Rock in 1971, just as London was getting its first taste of punk. By the end of the last century, there wasn’t one prevailing aesthetic, but many, from goth to dandyism to sportswear, converging on the street and in underground clubs — all important reference points for that era’s iconoclast designers, most notably John Galliano and Alexander McQueen. Then, in the early 2000s, Christopher Kane, Jonathan Anderson and Simone Rocha arrived on the scene and electrified the city all over again.

Now that those former newcomers are the well-known faces of established brands, yet another generation of U.K.-based designers is upon us. Matty Bovan, A Sai Ta and Dilara Findikoglu each have their own distinct style, especially for being so young (at 30, Ta is the oldest of the group), but they share an aesthetic daring and an unwillingness to compromise. What also unites them is their conviction that craft and sustainability are forms of resistance in an increasingly digitized world. In an effort to eliminate overproduction, both Ta and Bovan make their demi-couture all in-studio and in limited quantities. “I’m not in this to make a thousand dresses. There has to be a reason I’m putting something into the world,” says Bovan, 28, who, in 2015, left a coveted apprenticeship at Louis Vuitton to launch his own label — an artful collage of knits, DIY printed fabrics and handmade jewelry — out of a garden shed at his parents’ home in York. He often acts as his own fit model, and is keeping his line afloat by moonlighting as a lecturer, illustrator and stylist.

These designers are also leading the diversity charge. Ta, who is British-Chinese-Vietnamese and spent his childhood moving with his six siblings between council estates in South London, never forgets that “this city becomes a second home for a lot of people,” casting mostly models of color and mining his own mixed heritage for inspiration. His collections pair chinoiserie and embroidered dragon motifs with Western staples such as cowboy boots, frayed denim and even a tongue-in-cheek take on the Burberry check (“there’s something so typically Asian tourist about it. My mom’s obsessed with Burberry”). Dilara Findikoglu, 27, meanwhile, grew up in a conservative Muslim family in Istanbul, before moving to London in 2009 to study at Central Saint Martins. “I felt like an outsider, and it pushed me to imagine all these fantastical things,” she says of her gothic-inflected dresses and punk rock jumpsuits. While not inherently opposed to growth, she is determined to stay thoughtful about it: This summer, Findikoglu expanded her label with a collection of bridal looks for straight, same-sex and nonbinary couples.

The three also share some of their predecessors’ flair for provocation — the models in Bovan’s first solo runway show in February wore headdresses made of balloons, and an occult-themed presentation that Findikoglu staged in a church last fall caused the alt-right Infowars host, Alex Jones, to denounce the production as a “satanic orgy.” For others, they represent something more like hope. At a time when Brexit looms, the middle class is shrinking and arts funding has been obliterated, they are proof that London, while not what it was, is still the birthplace of fashion’s most important rebels. “There’s a consensus to keep being creative,” says Bovan. “If I can express my vision and it inspires even one person, it’s enough.”