Even though the Turkish-British designer Dilara Fındıkoğlu is not religious, she finds churches to be a “super safe” space.
The designer returned to the London Fashion Week schedule after canceling her show last season in order to save funds for her business.
Fındıkoğlu continued as she meant to go on, showing corset bodices in pale yellow; bright red leather balconette bras; deconstructed Victorian skirts flung high to show the mechanics of the undergarment; and black or red leather dresses with silver hardware.
The models were instructed by the designer to be “intimidating and bewitching” as they prowled across the eerie halls of Mark Street Garden, also known as St. Michael’s Church, with keys and personal items stashed in their stockings or bras.
“I am really into the female form and as a female designer, I just need to celebrate the body,” Fındıkoğlu said backstage, dressed in red and carrying a pair of scissors when she took her bow.
The last four gowns she showed were as if they were caught in movement, a technique where the fabric is dipped in resin that the designer used eight years ago for her graduate collection at Central Saint Martins.
Fındıkoğlu’s quirky collections may not be understood by everyone in the audience, but she always has a way of keeping their attention for her 20-minute-long show.
