Brand: Alistair James
Designers: Nicholas Alistair Walsh and David James Wise
Founded: 2016
Showing at: The British Fashion Council Designer Showrooms
Backstory: Walsh and Wise met while working at Alexander McQueen and launched their label last year. Born and raised in West Yorkshire, England, Walsh grew up in a family with fabric in its blood. His father worked at a textile mill that made drapes for the theater, while his grandfather worked as a fabric dyer. Walsh graduated in 2014 with a B.A. in Women’s Wear from the University of Derby, and honed his skills at Gareth Pugh and McQueen. At Pugh, he was a studio assistant and created show pieces and installation projects, while at McQueen, he was stationed in the couture department, working on bespoke pieces.
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Wise, who grew up in London, studied fashion promotion at Ravensbourne College, specializing in fashion photography. He graduated in 2010 and since then has worked for a range of fashion houses. At McQueen, he started as an intern then became a textile designer. He has also freelanced as a textile consultant and retoucher for Hugo Boss and Dries Van Noten.
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The designers said their brand offers a “romantic aesthetic, referencing English sensibility, craft, charm and literature,” and call their woman a “playful dreamer, bewitching, esoteric and spirited.”
For fall, they looked to the book-loving Brontë sisters — Charlotte, Emily and Anne. “The Brontë sisters lived and worked in the village of Haworth, a short distance from Nicholas’ own home,” said Walsh. “This season, our girl is lovesick, consumed by her infatuation, coming apart at the seams.”
“We continue to explore shirting,” added Wise. “But we’re also looking at deconstructed tailoring and exploded sleeves with seams tied together with velvet bows. We’re working with broderie anglaise, printed cotton, silk and velvet, Yorkshire-woven wool and patent leather.”
Prices range from 350 pounds, or $440, for a printed satin-stripe, bell-sleeve shirt, to 2,940 pounds, or $3,680, for an embroidered silk satin evening coat.
Where it’s sold: Exclusively at The Shop at Bluebird in London’s Chelsea.
Brand: Roberta Einer
Founded: 2015
Showing at: Einer will host a London Fashion Week presentation on Feb. 17 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Backstory: Born and raised in Estonia, Einer moved to London and graduated in 2015 with a B.A. in Fashion Design from the University of Westminster. She was the winner of the Saks Fifth Avenue Emerging Designer Showcase in 2016. Einer interned for Mary Katrantzou and Alexander McQueen before heading to Paris for a job as an embroidery and print design assistant at Balmain. She said that her time at Katrantzou and McQueen had a “clear influence” on her aesthetic and she learned an “awful lot of print” at the latter.
With a focus on textiles and classic couture techniques, her designs are fun but never kitsch, she said. “It’s important for me to create modern, luxurious women’s wear that makes the wearer feel special, and helps her to express herself” without the clothes being overwhelming. “Sometimes it’s just all about details, about some funny writing embroidered on the back of the skirt that you really notice only when you really look, or embroidered illustrations that are inspired by my childhood.”
The 24-year-old designer will be incorporating print and tailoring into her collection for the first time. “We have spent a long time hand-drawing and developing prints in-house,” she said. “So it almost feels like an even more complex process than beading. Fall is my second season working with Swarovski, so I’ll be experimenting with different ways of using crystal for four show pieces.”
Prices range from 250 pounds, or $313, for a crochet bralette to 4,500 pounds, or $5,635, for a hand-embroidered denim and leather jacket.
Where it’s sold: Saks Fifth Avenue, I.T in Hong Kong and Super in Milan.
Brand: AWAKE
Designer: Natalia Alaverdian
Founded: 2012
Showing at: A presentation at London Fashion Week from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., Feb. 19.
Backstory: The Russian-born, Belgian-raised and London-based designer named her label as an acronym for All Wonderful Adventures Kindle Enthusiasm. The 35-year old designer studied at Istituto Marangoni Milan, and worked at various publications doing styling, art direction and photography before starting her collection.
Alaverdian, who splits her time between London and Moscow, said her key designs include classic shirting, tailored coats and dresses that are influenced by characters from art, history and film. She loves sculptural silhouettes, tailoring and a feminine mood, and said her fall presentation will have “some really fun” visual effects.
“We are making these apronlike multifunctional dresses with a lot of fun, asymmetric elements,” she said, “and some strangely shaped belts I feel quite passionate about, as well as skirts with oversize, detachable jellybean-shaped asymmetric pockets that can turn into clutches. They were a bit of an experiment.”
In addition to moving into a new studio and expanding her team, the designer plans to launch men’s wear for fall and accessories for spring 2018.
Her range retails for 67.50 pounds, or $82, for a belt to 1,066.50 pounds, or $1,299, for a faux-leather cape jacket.
Where it’s sold: Browns in London, Moda Operandi and Fivestory in New York and Aizel in Moscow.