One of the freshest and most fun presentations of Autumn/Winter 2014 designs during the latest edition of London Fashion Week was the one created by footwear designer Sophia Webster in a pop-up space located in Covent Garden’s King Street. The dynamic staging of Webster’s collection celebrated a revival of 1990s girl power by turning its core messages into a silent quasi-statement of ‘who needs men when you can have shoes?’
With an ambiance provided by late-90s R&B anthems by the likes of TLC, Destiny’s Child and Kandi, the presentation embodied an unashamed new-feminist Grrrl Power through a line-up of sulking girls confined to their rooms inside a fictitious ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ where Prince Charming, Romeo or any men (ideal or not) are blocked at the door. To reinforce this sentiment, guests to the presentation followed the succession of tableaux vivants assuming a voyeuristic role and were requested to remain silent (as stressed in the messages printed in the flash cards held by the moody models). A far cry from being a celebration of feminism, the colourful presentation cherished all things girly and the feel-good feeling allowed by indulging in carefree shoe shopping.