chainmail SOUTH LONDON THEATRE knitted cape GUNDOG STUDIOS sword GIEDYMIN JABLONSKI via MOCA LONDON

‘KNIGHTLIGHT’ is a collaborative editorial attempting on a meditation on the directions fashion has been evolving towards and will continue in the near future. As it incorporates the ‘old’ (themes, silhouettes, vintage costumes), the ‘new’ (fresh designer talent from London) and the ‘futuristic’ (custom 3D postproduction and non-existent garments) ‘KNIGHTLIGHT’ encapsulates the sentiments of three different yet coinciding timescapes. While Metaverse appears to be dividing fashion world into sceptics reluctant towards participation and keen enthusiasts wanting their brands to maintain relevance, we made ‘KNIGHTLIGHT’ as the venture to reconcile both attitudes, for I believe there is enough space for them to coexist.

Inspired by the imagery of the gaming world’s classics such as the Elden Ring and Skyrim, ‘KNIGHTLIGHT’ is equally an ode to fantasy, to the childhood’s fairy tale and digital escapism as it is to the earthly, tangible trends and silhouettes from Marine Serre, Balenciaga or Simone Rocha. The editorial is a statement on my understanding of the future of sustainability – digital fashion offers solutions not only for influencers but everyday consumers who have been craving the avatar-world based perfection since the very first videogames, since the Sims, Bitmoji, Animoji, etc. while the local craftmanship of young designers is not bound to extinct. I believe, as no matter how chronically online we might be, there will always (or at least for the time being) be room for physical (not to necessarily say the ‘real’) life. Therefore, there is enough room of interest for both integrities to thrive. A great example of the current shift in the fashion world, is the practice of one of the designer collectives we collaborated with on this editorial, 886 Studio which has already adapted to various realities – their designs exist both in 3D and as physical jewellery pieces.

‘KNIGHTLIGHT’ remains a slightly utopian, yet very genuine reverie where the hauntological anemoia for medieval legends, renaissance painting, meets gaming culture, Y2K trends, as well as draincore, fairycore, sustainable local fashion, vintage theatre costumes, lo-fi tribal arabesques and non-existent meta-garments so as to create the ultimate contemporary fairy tale worthy of our times.