“I want it to be an absolute blast of sex-positive, body-positive, joyful celebrations everyone. That was actually the assignment. I was like, ‘Don’t be shy, to enjoy It. Feel the joy, feel the moment.’” So said Ashish about his pre-show pep talk before his first runway in four long, barren, Ashish-less years ran out. The models, drawn from a mix of agencies and open casting, met the brief to put on a show that was among the most fun and uplifting in London this season.
“Everybody Is a Star” was written on the wall of the Nobu Hotel ballroom. Beside it was a large crescent moon, upon which sat a beautiful Ashish night nymph, dressed in long, dark, sparkling robes. Below her in a bed with a swan headboard slept a handsome man with a mustache, occasionally tossing and turning so showgoers could catch a glimpse of his glittering, scanty nightwear.
The first model sneaks around in the collection’s eponymous piece, a flowing chiffon dress with embroidered glass beads. Jem Stevens, who sported a pair of pineapples in Look 4, wore a dress that combined the designer’s sequins with a fluid knitting technique. The Look 6 set was dressed in collage pieces that Ashish put together from samples and scraps that his team in India produced while developing this collection, made in the same way as the quote-unquote jeans worn by Herbie Mensah in Look 13. “No- one Likes Us” and “And We Don’t Care” can be read on the back of the two sequined biker shirts the couple wore in Look 19.
In both the floral colors of Look 9 and the tiger stripe of Look 30, Michele Ronson delivered a powerful and Pat Cleveland-esque interpretive walk. The first model Rittika, who walked into Ashish’s open casting just minutes after declaring that he hoped to find an Indian beauty to wear the show’s closing sari, was all he had manifested. The Look 32 model remained anonymous in his sequined crochet balaclava and tiger stripe jockstrap. Linder Sterling, the first artist to wear a meat dress and Ashish’s recent collaborator, both modeled (floral pajamas) and helped propel the thought process behind the designer’s sequin dream sequence. With that be-yourself blessing from the designer, the models were free to let their personalities shine; Ashish’s shimmering kaleidoscope craft further enhanced them. This was a show for everyone.
