LFW AW25 - NOM!NAL LONDON - Velvet Underground: Artistry and Innovation
Nom!inal London offers a harmonious balance of innovation and artistry, elevating both casual wear and show-stopping couture to new heights of style, creativity, and bold colour choices.
Nom!nal London is a fashion brand that is acclaimed for its daring and pioneering vision in fashion. Co-founders Krisztina Kalman and Sean Solomon continually strive to reinvent and elevate the realm of fashion with daring, visionary ideas. Marking their return to London Fashion Week, last Thursday the brand launched an exclusive capsule collaboration with musician BackRoad Gee who found success with his breakout single, ‘My Family’, a feature on Pa Salieu’s album, ‘Send Them To Coventry’, in 2020. The collection, a myriad of expertly constructed looks, pays homage to the drill artist’s heritage.
The designs presented aspire to redefine the bridge between fashion and music, a vision that was perfectly encapsulated in this show, seamlessly blending the two distinct concepts in harmony. Nomin!nal’s co-founder, Krisztina, articulated her brand’s vision as a fusion of global influences, bringing “together the different facets of the world”. Held at South American restaurant INCA London, the launch party radiated an electrifying atmosphere, brought to life by an energetic live DJ set and captivating performances. This immersive experience perfectly embodied the brand’s vision of seamlessly blending the worlds of high-fashion streetwear and dynamic music, creating a fusion of style and sound that resonated with the crowd and highlighted the cultural synergy at the heart of the collection.
Inspired by the historical Congolese fashion and cultural movement, La Sape, each piece is thoughtfully crafted to reflect the movement’s ethos of individuality and cultural pride, merging classic elegance with daring innovation. La Sape, an acronym for ‘The Society of Ambiance Makers and Elegant People', movement that started in the 1920s as a response against colonial superiority. The collection’s centerpiece is an exceptional, unconventional hat which transcends traditional fashion and makes a bold statement about the power of creativity and defiance. This collaboration exemplifies a harmonious blend of high fashion, artistic rebellion, and cultural significance reflecting how the movement was a way for the Congolese people to express their identity and heritage amidst colourism, economic stability and conflict. La Sape sends a powerful message to the world that, despite challenges, humanity, dreams, along with aspirations remain unwaveringly determined.
An innovative collaboration that happens to coincide with another Nom!nal launch, their London Fashion Week Autumn-Winter 2025 collection, Velvet Underground. Here, the brand presented thoughtful designs that act as a canvas for both sophistication and self-expression.
The collection blended together crushed velvet items with ostentatious accessories, perhaps to further this legacy of Le Sape. A standout piece from the collection features a striking contrast between blue crushed velvet with subtle green accents and bright crimson elbow-length gloves. To complete the look, it is accessorised with bold red glasses adorned with silver spikes and eye-catching silver statement jewellery. Another look, a blue crushed velvet skirt and corset top accentuated with a silver waist chain, was paired with a plum-coloured knitted fluffy cardigan. The result provided a soft contrast to the structured nature of the corset. The look is completed with silver statement jewelry and a bold scarlet red lip. The juxtaposition of plum and red enhances the overall visual impact by creating a striking balance of warmth and depth. There is an element of dynamic tension to the ensemble.
Perhaps the standout look of the collection was an artfully androgynous ensemble that, to me, truly encapsulates the essence of La Sape the brand is clearly prioritising. It features a crushed velvet open blazer in burnt orange, paired with taupe tailored trousers, and is accessorised with a thick, bold silver chain necklace. The piece creates a striking contrast between the plush, tactile richness of the velvet and the sharp, industrial edge of the chain, symbolising a tension between softness and strength, refinement and rebellion. This look, along with the others in the collection, speaks to a deeper narrative - one of merging disparate elements to challenge conventions, blending sophistication with bold individuality, and embracing the fluidity of self-expression which defines the movement of La Sape.
Velvet Underground embodies a striking fusion of vibrant, streetwear apparel designed with unwavering self-expression. It features daring statement pieces such as bold coloured accessories and delightfully audacious jewellery pieces, carefully crafted to command attention, alongside ensembles that effortlessly combine high-fashion aesthetics with performance-ready functionality. Each design is a testament to the harmonious balance of innovation and artistry, elevating both casual wear and show-stopping couture to new heights of style and creativity. The blend between history and culture with high fashion is emanant within this collection and attests to the importance of self-expression and identity even if there are hardships. This collection ultimately unifies bold colours and different materials harmoniously, as co-founder Krisztina Kalman said, “Nom!nal is always about bringing together different aspects of London, different subcultures, different backgrounds of people.” This, coupled with their bold collaboration with BackRoad Gee, marks yet another successful and innovative fashion week presentation for Nom!nal London.
Delve Into The Nom!nal World, Here:
Nom!nal London @Nominallondon
BackRoad Gee @backroadgee
Written by Claudia Limaverde Costa
Edited by Daisy Packwood, Fashion Editor
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