To kick off fashion month in London, Westfield has teamed up with the British Fashion Council and two of the city’s leading designers to create a pair of free public installations in the heart of its Stratford and Shepherd’s Bush sites. Westfield Days: The Sound of Style sees Priya Ahluwalia, winner of the prestigious Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design in 2021, and Tolu Coker, this week named as breakthrough designer of the year at the Elle Style Awards, design their own listening rooms and programme exclusive live performances, shopping experiences and panel talks until September 20.
Launching last night as part of the BFC’s wider Fashion Britain initiative to connect British fashion to new audiences, Katie Rawle, the council’s director of designer development, explained it was a chance to “bring together fashion, music and culture and put fashion out in the world for everyone to participate in”.
Ahluwalia has curated the Stratford installation, which kicked off with a performance by Kelis and a conversation between rapper Knucks, stylist Alizeě Demange and singer Greentea Peng. “I’m not trend-led,” the designer explained. “I’m quite single-minded about creating a world I’m interested in.” Visitors can also shop an edit of archival Ahluwalia pieces.
Over in W12, Coker’s site, with ready-to-wear pieces to browse, was welcomed with live sets by singers Ego Ella May and Lianne La Havas while a London Philharmonic Orchestra harpist kept things mellow inside the cosy carpeted listening room which she based on her parents’ living room. “It’s about connection and the different worlds that influence and inform us,” she said.
Across both sites there are more DJ sets and live performances to come from rising acts like Sol & The Gang, The Compozers, Mercedes Benson, Wilfy D and Oluwa as well as panel talks from creative voices including composer Tom Tripp, creative agency founder Ebi Sampson and more.
Westfield Days; The Sound of Style is at Westfield London, curated by Tolu Coker, and Westfield Stratford City, curated by Priya Ahluwahlia, from September 11–20.
