A woman who does things her way. One that gets tired of his own and tries new ones. A woman who takes possession of her body and, with it, control of her life. A woman who protests. A woman who draws strength from weakness. A woman waiting. A woman who has stopped waiting. Women we have been, women we will be, women we would like to be.

All of her stories have been told on the catwalk at the latest edition of London Fashion Week. His industry, despite being known for the irreverence of its young talents and the theatrics of its proposals, has shown that it has its feet on the ground at a time when the United Kingdom does not seem to be able to identify the limb that causes its limp.

British-Turkish designer Dilara Findikoglu watched Mahsa Amini, arrested and tortured by Iranian police for failing to wear her headscarf correctly last November, set fire to her winter collection, titled Not a Man’s Territory. During the show, one of the models cut her hair to make it part of her outfit in an exercise in freedom, while another put herself in the role of a modern Joan of Arc in an armor dress made from silver knives.

They were not the only weapons that paraded those days. Yuhan Wang, whose work is influenced by Asian beauty ideals, celebrated the resilience traditionally associated with women. Instead of patiently or prudently, yes, this time theirs overcome adversity, katana in hand, with clothes that wink at Kill Bill’s Modern Bed Designs.

Central Saint Martins grad Talia Lipkin-Connor took that renegade woman idea a little further with her proposal under the Talia Byre label. Selfish, greedy and petty women make up a catalog of anti-heroines who wear tight two-pieces, tailored crop tops and hoods. The color palette was also rescued from the painting Jacob’s Ladder (1958) by the expressionist Helen Frankenthaler. If there is an area in which the role of women has been relegated to that of a muse more in fashion, that is art.

Feben continued his path of exploration of black identity and the cultural amalgamation that has shaped his personality with a collection that revolved around a devastating question. Who is stronger: the woman who dares to show herself vulnerable or the one who lives protecting herself? Her firm began as part of Fashion East, the non-profit talent incubator that Lulu Kennedy established in 2000 and which for the first time in a long time only included proposals aimed at women (and those who she feels are women). ). One of them, that of Karoline Vitto, will be released in sizes from 10 to 20 (38-48) faithful to her motto: “Accentuating the curves and celebrating the folds”.

After many seasons promoting diversity, the international industry seems to have decided to recover the unique ideal of thinness that we assumed had been surpassed. Vitto and Feben are not the only exceptions seen in London. Simone Rocha had models of different sizes, ages and races to present a collection inspired by Lughnasadh, the Irish harvest festival. The Greek Dimitra Petsa (Di Petsa) used Persephone’s ordeal to talk about female growth and transformation, and in her parade she had a pregnant woman and a dress that simulated pregnancy. Not all of us are born to have pregnant bellies.

There was room for more familiar and practical styles. Emilia Wickstead, known for dressing both the Duchess of Cambridge and the Duchess of Sussex, ignored her tendency to go out at night to focus her proposal on daytime looks. Tove, the firm – still a secret for many – created by Holly Wright and Camille Pierry, designed a complete wardrobe for the woman who lives on the run.

Fashion week is an event that many still perceive as detached from reality. Is there anything more real for a firm than its clients? Roksanda Ilincic counted on one of her faithful, the poet Arch Hades, to recite a composition that urged women to mentally detach themselves from the complications of feeling observed. Some suits and dresses, in fact, veiled the faces of the models. “In a world that sometimes judges us, our costumes can change how we want to be seen and who we are meant to be,” actress Florence Pugh said at the Harris Reed presentation. We do not travel those paths alone.