Francesca Lake SS27
Wake Town
Writer: Evie Summers
Wake the Town
Stepping down to the basement of 180 Strand, to the stage of Francesca's Lakes scene, we are enveloped in a darkness until now not common to Lakes' work. Lowly lit and cut/sectored by long, draping cream hues. This collection has something to tell the audience. It is a presentation adorned with reverence, reference and ruefulness.
Lake's most recent collection, her Spring 2027 READY-TO-WEAR collection, opened London Fashion Week this Thursday. The show entitled ‘Wake the town’ truly cemented the Kingston-born designer's Vogue-ordained status as one to watch.
Lake has always aimed to expand, with her work, our understanding of Jamaican culture through a lens that is much more academic and honest than the nation has previously been afforded. Her debut collection, Church and Dancehall, explores the complex relationship between sexuality and religion, two respectively huge parts of Jamaican society. She grapples with the inchoate and seemingly porous relationship between these two concepts in her world. Much of her work remains grounded in these ideas, specifically religion as both practice and life stage.
Jamaica has always had a unique relationship to faith through its past and present; it is a country of diversity that extends to belief systems, an amalgam of spiritual practice and organised faith (festivals and celebrations often carrying huge significance and offering opportunities to express vibrancy). It is hard to overstate the significance of its traditions. Wake the town begins to explore such traditions not just in life but in death. A play on the idea of a wake, something still commonplace within Jamaica.
Lake presents lovingly the opulence and grandeur that exists within Jamaican culture, first the vibrancy of it in life (church and dancehall) and now in memoriam.
As we move through the space, weaving between benches subtly arranged in the shape of a cross, each room offers something different. Sculpture and models dot the stage. On closer inspection, some of the models reveal themselves to be mannequins placed eerily between, disguising themselves. I think the word that feels most appropriate on my walk-through is gravity. There is a great gravity, a weight that permeates the show; it feels obvious instantly that this is a scene that holds more than is immediately obvious.
This work is a visual departure from aforementioned collections not just in garments but in framing. While the grandeur remains, the silhouettes and colour palette are considerably more restrained. We are enveloped in a parade of ivories and blacks, with sparks of mustard orange and now and again a splash of neon pink in the form of a bang that pops out of large feathered navel hats.
For me, this collection feels darker than previous, but that is not a note of discouragement; it feels dark in a probing and profound way. In a truthful way. Lake has always explored and revered Jamaican within her work, displaying, with light, its contradictions and friction; this feels like a natural and mature continuation of that motivation.
The cat walks procession adds more intrigue, and we begin to feel multiple stories are being told here. One is Jamaica's relationship to death, but a second layer reveals itself through pieces like the black-and-white ball gowns, which feel like a sharp departure. There, it feels as though we are investigating the making of these traditions, the leftovers of colonialism explored through antibellam silhouettes.
Lake's work features ever-present motifs, and one that stays with me is her use of accessories to reframe a design. Hiding the face can completely recontextualise each garment, and in this show one particular design uses only a line of lace to cover the eyes of a model fitted in the black ballgown. For me, this is the standout piece; its likeness to widow’s weeds, paired with the identity-obscuring aspect, feels just so striking. I can only speculate, but it truly feels like grappling with a nation whose identity is inescapably marked by the British and colonialism. Though it is, as always, a celebration, I find moments of pause and reflection that reveal what was endured and its lasting impacts. We are constantly discussing, dissecting, and reassembling our identities; Lake draws our eye back- forces us to remember those who have never been afforded such a luxury.
It's an important note that, in London specifically, much of our culture has been a misshaped result of immigrants, in particular those from the Caribbean. We are in a shameful moment politically, and we have turned our backs on those whose culture we have taken. Designers like Lake, in moments like these, demand that we remember the uncomfortable, unpalatable truth on which our nation is built. And personally, this is what fashion week is for me: as we lose grip on our identity, our politics, our humanity, moments like this provide us the opportunity to regain our sanity.
To be art is not always a vehicle to questions; it is not the attainment of a final solution, but a method for asking better questions. That is what Lakes's work does: she provides context, encouraging you to ask better questions about Jamaica, about faith, and about our relationship to culture, past and present. This collection is a fascinating allegory that begs you to look deeper. Be curious, not settle for easy views of the world - and celebrate when you can, how you can; if her work advocates for anything, it is enjoying the vibrancy of life.
