Jawara Alleyne’s Meticulous Maximalist Construction
Review of Jawara Alleyne Fall 2025 Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Splicing and shredding, Radical repurposing, Subverting simplicity
A meticulous method of constructing a maximalist (without obviously appearing so) viewpoint is setting Jawara Alleyne up for a long career in explorative design that will influence what we wear everyday.
The last time I watch his show for the fall 2022 season of Fashion East I wondered allowed how he would develop his shredded and pinned up garment-making technique to create a viable design language that could be worn in an everyday setting. Today for fall 2025 the designer is continuing to formulate an even clearer answer to that question as thoughtful experiments in construction merged with the utilisation of a deeper range of fabrics and graphic prints. Here spliced vertically as if they had been fed through a shredder and layered, perhaps a nod to the life that is still left in the universe of fabric play that Alleyne works with every season.
Thinking commercially this collection may be a particularly challenging exercise for only the most experienced of forward-thinking retail buyer to solve. Even so, we know that these collections aren’t just presented as showcases to sell clothes. There is the need to keep reaching back to that initial spark which inspired a career in fashion and keep the lines of creativity open. That is one of the key reasons that global buyers often make the trip to London in the first place.
This season the designers method of layering and reworking also made the case for re-purposing via reinvention. His ‘haute’ takes for fall produced shirts that had been reversed and flipped upside down to tailored shorts worn over flared jeans, strips of multi-coloured jersey fabric twisted and gathered while lace was secured to the body via a simple tie. This signature technique is one that will align with how the next generation are creating a lane for themselves when it comes to personal style, and this is a collection they will instantly ‘get’ for its dismissal of the perfectly cut pant or cuffed hem, its imperfection with impact. Here’s to his dedicated stockists, celebrity fans and industry supporters continuing to see the potential in the brands method of mashing-up the norm.
THE DIRECTION
THE WRAP UP
Having already achieved more than most young designers could hope for – outfitting Shakira and her dancers for her most recent tour, becoming one of Rihanna’s favoured brands, having their work featured in an exhibition at the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands, and most recently becoming a Graduate Fashion Foundation ambassador – Alleyne is on a mission to hone his craft and continue building his world around technique. So much so that in the near-future you could be presented with a look from the brand and it will be instantly recognisable, a task which he is already part-way through completing.
