News feed
By whichever metric you measure these kinds of things by, Nensi Dojaka has had a very good year. Last September, the Albanian-born British designer took home the coveted LVMH Prize and made her London Fashion Week runway in the same fortnight. She’s racked up a quarter of a million Instagram followers, nabbed orders from every premium retailer on the planet, and counts Zendaya, Bella Hadid, and Rihanna among her celebrity fans. Camille Charriere practically broke Instagram when she wore a bespoke slinky emerald green creation from the brand to the 2021 Fashion Awards.
All of which is to say that the turnout to Dojaka’s fall winter ‘22 show in London this afternoon was large and enthusiastic. Staged in a dark room inside a disused storage space in the Old Selfridges Hotel in central London, FW’22 was groundbreaking on multiple fronts. Due to the rules of the LVMH Prize, Dojaka had already unveiled her SS’ 22 collection when she staged her runway show last season—so this was the first time the fashion crowd were seeing a brand new collection on the runway. Secondly, Dojaka took on critical feedback from last season and embraced a more size inclusive cast—a very welcome change, and a reminder that fashion’s outdated rules about who gets to be sexy are just that: outdated.
Dojaka is a designer with an instantly recognisable signature aesthetic (sheer, body-hugging, with cheeky cutouts and errant ties), and she stuck to what she does best for FW ‘22. The colour palette was a monochromatic blend of blacks, rusts, dark blushes and nudes, as well as a newly-introduced colour ‘Hawthorne Rose’, set to become a new house signature. The collection was inspired by Irving Penn’s Flower series and swatches of nude lipsticks, apt references for a collection drenched in discrete, sexually-charged femininity.
As for the clothes, we saw Dojaka’s signature lingerie dresses with delicate bralettes that, as the designer puts it, “blossom like petals”. They looked particularly great on supermodel Paloma Elsesser, who stole the show in a knee-skimming black iteration, styled with low-heeled leather lace-up sandals. Elsewhere we saw the introduction of new silhouettes: outerwear in the shape of cropped puffer jackets and beautifully tailored blazers. Speaking of blazers, suits—including an enticing creation in the aforementioned shade of Hawthorne Rose—features trousers cut close to the body in easy stretch fabrics, with suggestive straps at the hips. They were worn with little bralettes of course—if it’s by Nensi Dojaka, it’s not intended for the office. The show ended with a stunning appearance by veteran runway model Maggie Maurer, resplendent and heavily pregnant in a fully sheer sequin embellished gown. It was a reminder that sexiness isn’t about the male gaze, it’s about owning one’s sexuality in all its glorious complexity.
