- Words Ryan Cahill
- Photography Rory James
We head backstage at the Ashish show to check out his latest sequin masterpieces.
“NOTHING IS WHAT IS SEEMS” read to show notes for Ashish’s AW19 collection, and that’s basically all they needed to say. At first glance it seemed as if the Indian designer had gone in a whole new direction, this season opting for the types of nostalgic crochet that we’ve seen from the likes of JW. Anderson and Missoni. But when you leaned in a little closer, these crochet-style masterpieces had actually been made from sequins – something which Ashish has become synonymous with.
Favoured by the likes of Madonna, Miley and Victoria Beckham, Ashish’s work often featured not-so-subtle political undertones, using the catwalk as an opportunity to impart his opinions on gay rights, racism and austerity via his statement tees and shirts. This time round, big ideas were misplaced by big hair, and glamour took centre stage over political agendas. In a fashion landscape where everyone seems to doing the same thing with regards to “making a statement”, it was refreshing for Ashish to take a step back and serve up some fun. Season upon season, he remains to be one of our LFW highlights.
