Designers Vin and Omi put Great British Bake Off star Dame Prue Leith on the runway in a reworked parachute to kick off London Fashion Week
Fashion duo Vin and Omi enlisted Great British Bake Off legend Dame Prue Leith to strut down the catwalk in a reimagined parachute as London Fashion Week got under way. The eco-minded design pair teamed up with King Charles to craft revamped pieces and organic materials made from red barked dogwood – a woody shrub gathered from the Sandringham estate.
The 85-year-old culinary icon was accompanied by Loose Women star Jane Moore, environmental advocate Jo Wood, and Raf Beeny, the son of Sarah Beeny and musician with The Entitled Sons. Prue sported a reworked crimson parachute as she walked the runway, complete with coordinating red accessories and spectacles.
“Deep down inside, Prue (Leith) is a punk – she’s not all Chantilly cream and Victoria sponge,” designer Omi told PA Media. Broadcaster Jane Moore, 63, appeared virtually unrecognisable, sporting a jet-black towering wig and serpent-print latex outfit.
Former model and television figure Jo Wood, 70, also showcased a low-cut ebony latex creation constructed entirely from plant waste. Omi added: “It’s so chaotic you couldn’t just design something light and fluffy – we didn’t want to be tone-deaf to what people are facing.”
That chaos is central to ‘Dysphoriana’ itself – the title of this season’s collection. “It’s very, very confronting – we’ve created chaos within beauty and that juxtaposition makes you sit down and question,” Omi continued.
“Each piece is almost like a manifesto coming down the runway. It’s not meant to provoke; it’s meant for people to think.” While Vin and Omi have long been advocates for environmental sustainability, this season they’ve also drawn inspiration from other social causes.
Three pieces were specifically designed to support a worldwide anti-bullying charity. Speaking of the fashion industry, Omi went on: “Models we’ve known have killed themselves along the way because of bullying…It’s really, really important.”
Even their Royal collaboration is seen as a means of discovering ‘little beauties’ amidst broader chaos. “Amongst all this dysphoria and chaos, this collaboration with the King is about showing people there are still little beauties you can find,” Omi said.
Nonetheless, he added: “The only two things we have in common with him are the environment and humour – everything else we’re not interested in.”
While the runway showcased latex gowns and parachute dresses, the designers argue that their approach is the real rebellion. “Fashion isn’t curing cancer,” he added. “We’re a service industry, problem-solvers.
“We can’t fight everything… but what we’re good at is infiltrating big organisations and making them think about the environment.” For Prue Leith, striding out in a red parachute rather than a kitchen apron, it was a chance to upend expectations.
For the Vin and Omi audience, it was proof that style and sustainability can coexist, even at London Fashion Week.