Inside London Fashion Week's new exhibition spotlighting South Asian designers

For this year’s June edition of London Fashion Week, the British Fashion Council is taking an off-kilter approach. The traditionally menswear-centric affair has been expanded to spotlight the work of three groups that have been integral to building London’s world-class fashion scene: the Black community, the queer community and the South Asian community.

Brand consultant Simran Randhawa, an online fixture since the Tumblr era, has been charged with co-curating the event via the South Asian lens. And to do so, she has turned her gaze on the contemporary ingenuity of textile work and craftsmanship amongst British South Asian designers. Her role, as she sees it, is to “tell the story from a view that does justice to the contemporary fashion landscape right now”.

“South Asians working in fashion [in the UK] isn’t a new concept,” Randhawa tells Vogue India. “We obviously had trailblazers like Ashish, and we’ve had people working behind the scenes for a long time. But now there's a really exciting contemporary new generation of young British South Asians working in fashion. Designers, photographers, curators—you name it. And I feel passionate about visibility for us from the entire industry, not just within our own circles.”

Randhawa’s centrepiece is an exhibition (7-9 June) taking place at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts, where many of the rest of the weekend’s events will also unfold. A series of key garments will be on show, each of which Randhawa has chosen to spotlight because of the unusual and artistic ways they employ fabric. An all-denim look by British and Indian-Nigerian designer Priya Ahluwalia will be one of them—an ode to her creativity with sustainable fabrics—as will a piece by Harri, the breakout Kerala-born designer whose clever work with latex has made him a hot commodity in London and beyond.

Up-and-coming designers will get a look in as well: Hadiyah Hussain’s atmospheric, screen-printed designs add a novel element to the line-up, while LahoS, a brand by Sukh Sohal (it’s named after his surname, in reverse) melds together streetwear and traditional suiting. On the walls of the exhibition, Pakistani British photographer Tami Aftab will present Threads, a photography collection that weaves around the theme of fabric and interrogates her roots.

While South Asia has a long affinity with textiles, from the rich symbolism woven through saris to the long and storied history of weaving, Randhawa’s focus is assuredly contemporary. Most of the designers featured are not working with the techniques that South Asia is traditionally identified with, such as intricate beadwork or handwoven materials. Randhawa wants to create a space where a piece doesn’t have to be identifiably ‘South Asian’ for its creator to have a platform. “You can just be a South Asian designer showcasing and telling your story.”

Her determination to give a space for all kinds of expression from diaspora artists—not just a prescribed one—stems somewhat from her own experiences. “I remember when I was doing a campaign for…” she hesitates here, smiling secretively, before continuing, “I’m not going to name them, but the styling direction was very…stereotypical. More like an idea of what they wanted a South Asian person to look like. I think we’ve come a long way in fighting past that representation and moved into an era where we can just be seen as we are.”

But the focus on textiles, while not directly translating as aesthetic reproductions of traditional wear, draws from Randhawa’s heritage. “We all have those memories of going to the fabric shop and getting a suit or a sari fitted, right?” she says. “So I thought of how I could take that and make it feel contemporary to the conversations that we're having currently.”

“Everybody relates to their culture in different ways—music, film, food… People take the presence of fabric within the home for granted. Whether that means having a traditional Punjabi manja in the house, or embroidered pillowcases or tablecloths. It wasn't necessarily something I had to sit down and learn, it was just always present in my life.”

As part of the packed schedule for June’s London Fashion Week, Randhawa will also appear on a panel (along with journalist Maliha Shoaib, multidisciplinary artist Darkwah and presenter Lea Ogunlami) about diversity in the UK fashion industry. The panel aims to expand the conversation, touching on whether there’s a ‘right’ kind of diversity and pushing against points where the panellists feel that the industry’s understanding of diversity can be limited. I query gently whether Randhawa ever feels a sense of ‘diversity fatigue’ when it comes to these kinds of events. She nods emphatically. “One hundred percent. I just really strongly feel like now it’s time for action. You can sit and do a panel talk every week, but what is actually happening past the panel talk in terms of structure and action?”

“And I think this week, this exhibition is a really great manifestation. That’s what I really believe in: action and visibility.”

Photographer/director: Tami Aftab
Production company: Amelia Studios
Director of photography: Anand Singh
Lighting Assistant: Joshua Hippolyte
Textiles Supplied: Jess Maybury
Hair and makeup: Nisha Gulati
Visual Consultant: Jahnavi Sharma
Styling Assistant: Hunter Mitchell
Set Design: Dalini Sagadeva
Models: Ace Rahman via Brother Models, Maneesha Pere Gallage via MC Barnes
Guest curator: Simran Randhawa

Also read:

Is London Fashion Week the new hub for Indian designers?

The Vogue India X Jimmy Choo party celebrated South Asian excellence in London

Ambika Mod knows you cried a lot while watching One Day. And it makes her very happy