London Fashion Week for the spring-summer 2023 season has kicked off, well sort of, as many brands have opted to cancel or delay their shows out of respect to the passing of Queen Elizabeth. Keeping Calm, and Carrying On as the Brits like to say is more than a specialty, it’s a sort of, a way of life. And that’s what Laboni Saha has done. She’s carried on with her brand’s L Saha’s SS22 show at the Baglioni Hotel London that kisses Hyde Park, giving phenomenal views of Kensington Gardens.

Themed ‘sɛrəf,’ the collection is colorfully hued with warm earth tones. “The color palette is influenced by the five elements as I have seen in the cartoon ‘Captain Planet’ as a child: earth, fire, wind, water and heart (I call this love). Although the emphasis is more on the element Earth and Space (Ether). We want to embody the message of being grounded while remaining receptive to higher forces. The idea of being rooted to truth while building our wings,” says Saha.

Known for her signature weaving, these elements are seen throughout, where Saha has tried to hone in on beauty, grace, humility, and innocence in the collection, all parts of the human race. “The inspiration behind the collection started with the concept of human-consciousness that surpasses the basic five sense. Aspects such as intuition, instinctive and even innocence are all very subdued in our current generation, due to ongoing and extreme exposure to outside influences, through news, internet, social media.” This weaving technique was done at the L Saha atelier in London where natural fibers and fabrics have been made in an ecofriendly way.

A gold pencil skirt is paired with a peachy weaved halter top. Mini dresses like the white one with a red vertical line from neck to hem, with a black collar gives an edged. The L Saha galaxy print mini dress gives a nod to the larger world that we live in, while the short peach dress can be workwear and evening wear. The brand has created some evening dress, tailored precisely with a bird pattern, to the feminine form. While another pencil skirt creation, a brown rusty color, matched with a mesh cream top includes the brown rust color around the upper part going into the neckline.

“As I researched human-consciousness further, the concept was clear that pre-civilization humans survived many calamities and have evolved to become who we are today because of the underlying instincts and intuition beyond the five sense. This also meant being closer to our roots (nature and natural life) is powerful in helping us get in the touch with those powers we hold within us. The collection finally evolved to be directly influenced ‘a journey – going back to our roots’ or ‘a return to innocence’ metaphorically speaking,” explains Saha.

Quite simply sɛrəf speaks to the power that each human possesses, power of mind and super-consciousnesses. “I feel we are at a point in time where many aspects in our lives, in our society and countries have reached a saturation point. There is a need for reforms, there are urgent needs to walk away from the past (and for a lack of better word) “destructive” ways that exist across many industries (including fashion). The message we want to put forward to through this collection is: to pause and revisit our individual truths (without excessive outside influence). To find ways to be authentic. Once we start being our true selves, the world around us will start healing, slowly but surely,” believes Saha.

This is a feminine yet smart collection, fun yet meaningful SS22 collection by one of Britain’s top fashion designers.

As London Fashion Week, or LFW as it’s called tip toes around a nation mourning, fashion goers can expect to see Burberry’s SS23 collection on September 26^th, the first day of Paris Fashion Week. At least there is the Eurostar train that will get fashion show watchers briskly from Burberry to Dior that day. And JW Anderson is also keeping calm and carry on this week with a very small and more intimate unveiling of their new collection.