For his second season on the LFWM catwalk, Edward Crutchley once again looked to how the past and present can transcend language and convey ideas in the modern world. 

Heritage, spirituality and tradition have always been key motifs in Crutchley’s work. For AW18, the designer looked to “Journey to the West”, a great work of Chinese literature and its modern film revival in which a legendary pilgrimage leads one out of his own culture and into the unknown. Celtic mysticism, philosophy and mythology as well as Grecian classicism all informed the offering. 

Bringing things starkly back Into the twenty first century came a collaboration with emojii, a contemporary brand that allows us to convey concepts and ideas with images, patterns and stickers. Visual communication is the most traditional of all forms of communication - going as far back as ancient China, Egypt and America. 

For autumn, Edward Crutchley explored graphics across different textile media to create a contrast of texture and a sense of richness. Artisanal craft techniques were considered and a a silhouette that was developed last season was expanded on, with volume and drape used to create space and movement. This is power dressing for the modern age, with YSL’s “Scandal” collection, “Creep” by TLC and early 1980s Armani all in the background. 

Explore further at Edward Crutchley.