F*ck F*st F*shion
My short, unprofessional observations of a fashion show during London Fashion Week sponsored by Coven
“Fuck fast fashion” scrawled in glittery gold across two strips of black duct-tape sits below the pronounced collar bones of a slender young woman in the front row of the APUJAN SS20 catwalk. She laughs casually next to her pink haired friend in a matching pink dress and cape as the blue lights dim and the white lights above the catwalk flick on. Vocalist Denver Cuss begins to sing, slightly drowned out by the funky electric bass of DJ QuestionMark and Douglas Pisterman.
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Clad in head-to-toe black, each of us with a black leather jacket draped over our shoulders, my three friends and I make our way from Soho to a Convention Center within The Grand hotel at Trafalgar Square. Two women wearing matching red corsets over their crisp white button downs, an American man with a briefcase complaining about the tardiness of the show, and two older women with “buyer” on their ticket wait with us in the lobby while a woman in black and an ear piece calls for priority and “frow” (front row) guests. Young men and women in elaborate outfits push past the line, they are the influencers.
Once inside, we sit in the third and last row of chairs before the standing guests begin lining up behind us. Seats marked by papers with bold print: “influencer,” “buyer,” “magazine,” surround us, providing us a pre-show activity of trying to figure out who these “influencers” are.
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Apu Jan’s Spring/Summer 2020 collection is called “A Strange Thief of Time,” inspired by stories about time, specifically the following three novels: Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett, The Thief of Time by John Boyne, and A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman. As some of you may know (if you read my last article), I love myself a good book. So, you can imagine my excitement when I realized the one fashion show I was able to go to during London fashion week was inspired by literature, specifically science fiction fantasy. There truly could not be something more up my alley, unless maybe there were dogs involved.
The models strut down the white runway winding between the three rows of the seated audience, stepping to the beat of the bass and the snaps of the press cameras set up in the back. The constant snaps of the flash and the opening and closing of the lens sound like rain on a window pane.
The outfits in APUJAN’s show consisted of his signature knitwear, featuring knit headpieces hanging like a lampshade over the model’s face. Other outfits included a sky-blue silk floor length dress that draped over the model’s thin frame. My personal favorite was the last model’s gown, made entirely of book pages laid on top of each other, floating as the model walked.
As beautiful as all Apu Jan’s clothing was, the most memorable part of the show was the hairstyles. Each models’ hair was slightly damp as if they hadn’t washed their hair for a week and as each model turned a corner, your eyes were met by a matted hair design on the back of their heads, which looked like each model had been “pied in the back of the head,” my friend Carley noted. Now, I understand this was an aesthetic choice in order to emphasize the theme of time travel, since the hair was sculpted into a spiral, like a vortex. It definitely gave off a science-fantasy, A Wrinkle in Time vibe.
The fashion show seemed to end as soon as it had begun -- the designer, Apu Jan, a young Asian man in glasses, soon ran out in front of the DJ booth, waved and ran back in, hunched over in discomfort (I’m guessing he’s a humble guy who would rather stay behind the scenes). The press filed out right away as the influencers, and my four friends and I, stayed behind to take our own pictures. After a semi-unsuccessful photo shoot, due to the dark, neon blue lighting of the room, we headed downstairs to the after-party.
Waiters walked around with trays of free white wine and small gluten free and vegan bites as people clumped together chatting. It felt like we had walked into a whole other world and social scene because everyone seemed to know each other. So, we stood awkwardly in a circle, trying to come up with the courage to go talk to people and get a cool quote for this article, but instead we people-watched. Although, we did exchange a few words with the two girls who had sat next to the “fuck fast fashion” girl right after we all tried to gracefully and inconspicuously dispose of our gum before drinking our free white wine. And that was the end of my glamorous fashion show experience: Grace thrusting a ripped off corner of the fashion show flyer into Catherine’s face to take her gum out of her mouth.
By Arden Schraff
Duke Student, mental health activist and resident goddess making Insta casual.