Richard Quinn’s latest London Fashion Week collection showcased Fifties-inspired silhouettes, seemingly channelling the ‘tradwife’ aesthetic that has recently taken TikTok by storm.
The trend glamorises 1950s suburbia through rose-tinted glasses – and while some aspects of it are somewhat controversial, Quinn’s designs firmly steered clear of any potentially murky areas.
Instead, he zeroed in on the Fifties fashion inspirations of the trend, evoking the timeless elegance of style stars like Grace Kelly through his romantic eveningwear and bridal gowns.
The London-born designer is known for his refined and emotive womenswear collections – he worked at Dior and on Savile Row before establishing his eponymous label in 2017.
The spring/summer 2025 show was classic Quinn: the runway was littered with hourglass silhouettes, flamboyant feathers and maximalist floral embellishments.
Held against the lavish backdrop of the Dorchester’s ballroom in Mayfair, the set was full of flowers – a sign of things to come.
The clothes featured sparkling embroidery that mirrored fields of roses, with the catwalk evoking images of an English garden.
At first, it seemed Quinn pulled this collection back to bare simplicity: his gowns were not as avant-garde as we’ve previously seen, but they soon exploded into maximalism.
Feathers plumed from porcelain white dresses, ruffles rippled from hemlines, and balloon hemlines blossomed from every seam.
The silhouettes seemed to be inspired by Christian Dior’s iconic New Look, which was introduced in 1947. This was all about pinched waists, voluminous skirts and an exaggerated hourglass figure – a bold swing back to softness and elegance after the more utilitarian wartime styles.
“The clothes are to be inextricably linked with the time, place, and memory of the wearing: each piece presents its own idea of elegance,” wrote Quinn in the show notes.
“My dress is absolutely stunning, but has an incredibly tight corset,” said one of the models, Loulou Westlake.
“There is hip stuffing beneath the corset, so my body is very sculpted right now – it’s definitely very feminine.”
Many models wore veils and evening gloves – injecting a sense of traditional elegance – but it wasn’t all prim and proper.
The Quinn-tessential contemporary edge brought the looks into 2025, with voluminously rounded hemlines, pointed collars, and one pluming feather gown that virtually engulfed a model.
And while the show started with a predominantly black-and-white colour palette – like we were watching the runway on a Fifties television – splatters of red soon came into frame, followed by a blooming spring palette of buttercup yellows, sky blues and pale pinks.
MAC make-up artist Terry Barber stayed with neutral colours for the beauty looks. He said he was trying to create looks that were “beautiful and [would] appeal to someone who wants to wear those clothes”.
Former Little Mix singer Leigh-Anne Pinnock was one of the celebrities sitting front row for the show, wearing a sheer silver outfit complete with a flamboyant ruffle.
