A myriad of long trailing dresses, visually tactile fabrics and asymmetric drapery folds: Hector MacLean’s Spring/Summer 2025 collection presentation was held on in mid September just off Trafalgar Square, in the open courtyard of St Martin-in-the-Fields (bold choice for a fickle mid-September London weather, as someone from the crowd remarked).
Titled Into the Gloaming, the collection is a blend of avant-garde romanticism and modern innovation, continuing the brand’s persistent commitment to sustainability, with an emphasis on the use of recycled fabrics to create ethereal garments. Rooted in the rising British designer’s creative upbringing, both MacLean’s collections and their presentations tend to ‘have a whimsical quality, combining romance and radicalism, disorder and elegance’ for London Fashion Week.
Echoing the thematic exploration of his SS24 collection, Orlando in Opulence, which explored themes of gender fluidity, transformation and time travel through fashion, directly influenced by Virginia Woolf’s Orlando, MacLean once again draws inspiration from one of the key female literary figures. Loosely based on Christina Rosetti’s Goblin Market, originally published in 1862, Into the Gloaming reinvents one of the most celebrated Victorian poets’ story of two sisters, Laura and Lizzie, encountering goblin merchants selling enchanted fruit.
"Rossetti wrote Goblin Market while volunteering at the St Mary Magdalene ‘house of charity’ - a refuge helping women to escape prostitution and addiction." shared MacLean. "This gives a deeper meaning to the poem’s depiction of goblin’s tempting fruit, symbolising dangerous desire. We tried to reflect this duality across the collection, creating a visual ‘yin and yang’ to suggest the choice that everyone faces in life."
Exploring themes such as temptation, choice and redemption, as well as keeping the overall collection cohesive, almost every look was completed with a logical pair, similar colour-wise, yet different. In fact, the presentation opened with the first two pieces, appearing side by side, reminiscent of Gucci’s iconic SS2023 Twins Show. The two models (real-life twin sisters) walked out holding hands right before splitting apart and wandering in separate directions across the winding paved pathways of the church courtyard-turned-catwalk. ‘The symbolic meaning behind it was all the different routes one can take, - explains Maclean, - ‘The fact that, at the end of the day, we all have a chance to be redeemed even if we make mistakes’.
Images courtesy of The POP Group
Taking place in the fleeting moments of the post-golden hour city slowly descending into the dark, the collection adopted a serene colour palette, dominated by the twilight shades: starting off from striking glimmering total-gold looks and dusty olive greens (arguably the it-colour of the season?) and slowly sliding into soft greys, deep burgundies and, finally, glossy blacks. Each look, almost always monochromatic, is reminiscent of Old Masters’ colour palette, like a solitary brushstroke detached from a nature morte to exist independently within the darkening backdrop. Be it a delicate asymmetric dress in subtle blush pink, tender and romantic in its lightweight fabric and frayed edges, or a trailing sculptural piece, which blends dramatic silhouette structure with fluid draping - the collection gave the dramatically red carpet-worthy, Haute Couture interpretation of materials not traditionally associated with luxury garments. As Maclean himself explains, everything is made using non-synthetic, fully recyclable fabrics which are deadstock, saved from landfills.
Images courtesy of The POP Group
As if translating Rosetti’s vivid and sensuous language into a visual form, MacLean weaved a rhythmic, musical quality into the show, turning it into an almost theatrical performance. This theatricality was amplified by a diverse lineup of models, representing a rich array of sizes, skin tones and ethnicities, all further enhanced by thoughtfully created makeup looks by Jo Sugar. Transforming from girls into bugs, creatures, and goblins, the clothing itself morphed into insects-like silhouettes and shapes. But such transformation extended beyond just garments - carefully choreographed movement equally played a key part, resulting in an immersive tale of dynamic metamorphosis. Rather than simply conforming to conventions of cat- or recently popularised horse walk strides, models seemed to embody the characters, to whom the look might have belonged be it a costume design for a Pre-Raphaelite-inspired fantasy play. Flirting with the audience, they met and responded to the direct gazes with soft, flowing gestures - a captivating, non-linear narrative unfolding with every move, with each figure fluidly morphing into otherworldly creatures through both costume and motion.
Even more so, the unconventional seating arrangement that turned the space into a literal labyrinth of rows, stone-paved floors and camera flashes, evoked a sense of exploration. The audience was urged to turn their heads, following each model to catch an evanescent glimpse of an intricate piece from every angle, as it disappeared and appeared again, slithering in and out of the shadows cast by the dark church corners. Really leaning into that fantasy musical vibe, the finale featured a live performance by a singer and musician Ana Sky. And as if on cue to enhance such cinematic experience, the casually prophesied rain has started.
Images courtesy of The POP Group
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