International Fashion Showcase opens in London

By

Cajsa Lykke Carlson

Published
Feb 20, 2015

The fourth edition of the International Fashion Showcase opened on Thursday night in the Brewer St. Car Park in London, a space that is increasingly used for fashion events - last year saw illustrator Quentin Jones show with set designer Robert Storey here.

Storey also created the set design for the IFS' Brewer Park space, which showcased a lot of exciting design from the 25 designers showing there. South Africa's space, curated by Foxall Studio with interactive design by Universal Assembly Unit, had the theme "Futraspective" and showed works by Akedo, MaXhosa by Laduma and Adriaan Kuiters + Jody Paulsen.

Jo'burg-based Akedo designer Eleni Labrou's beautiful pieces used traditional African mediums, like beading and intricate details, subverting them to create a modern, contemporary silhouette. "It's my fist time showing abroad and it's been an amazing experience so far," she said of IFS.

Another country that impressed was Portugal, which showed under the BLOOM moniker for the second year in a row. BLOOM showcased five emerging designers in a space that was designed Miguel Bento in collaboration with NU.AS Architects. Designer Hugo Costa's dark, moody pieces with interesting surface treatments were among the many assured designs on show. Costas said he had already made some good contacts, and hoped that the exhibition will promote Portuguese fashion in London.

The variety of the designs on display and enthusiasm of the designers makes iFS a great way to discover tomorrow's global fashion stars.

Outside the Brewer St. Car Park, Japan, Korea, Romania, Switzerland will show in satellite exhibitions. IFS is on from February 20-24 and is the only LFW event that is open to the piblic.