'Utopia' Emerges at London Fashion Week

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As emerging designers create new looks for an ideal world, Thomas More’s Utopia is being reimagined through fashion. As part of London Fashion Week’s International Showcase, Fashion Utopias sees imaginative clothing and accessories curated into country-based installations, speaking volumes to global interpretations of place and future ideals. Participants from 24 countries—from Egypt to the Philippines—showcased young talent, blurring the lines between fashion and art in an inclusive platform much in line with the ideology of cultural exchange.

“London is one of the capitals of fashion,” Portuguese designer Estelita Mendonca tells The Creators Project. “This is a new platform to show my work in a different way.”

Mixing Utopia with themes of sustainability, Mendonca and four other fashion designers included in Portugal’s BLOOM installation, used recyclable materials to emphasize the wasteful makeup of today’s textile industry. As one of Europe’s biggest manufacturers of clothing, Portugal’s young fashion creatives inspire an environment-focused future where their country is recognized for more than just low-cost assembly.

“This is a great opportunity to show what the young designer scene is within each country,” says Mario Quina, project manager for Portugal’s exhibit. “It’s very interesting to see how well these designers are connected to their country’s roots.”