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Ashley Williams, the British designer known for her tongue-in-cheek take on fashion, is returning after a two-year hiatus with a London runway show in September, supported by talent incubator Fashion East’s XLNC programme.
The XLNC programme, funded by Ugg, was introduced by Fashion East in 2022 to offer fresh support to alumni showing at London Fashion Week; its inaugural prize last year went to British brand Knwls. Ugg will provide Williams with a £20,000 grant and “significant investment” (undisclosed) into the production costs of her Spring/Summer 2024 catwalk show, featuring exclusive Ashley Williams x Ugg runway styles.
When Williams debuted in London 10 years ago, she was one of the buzziest young designers on the schedule thanks to her bold accessories, slogans, and color palettes, which preceded the current trends for Y2K or satirical fashion. Her hair clips that spelled out “anxiety,” “ugly,” and “cool” went viral in 2018. She had over 40 stockists including Browns, Nordstrom, Galeries Lafayette and Dover Street Market New York/LA, as well as her own e-commerce site at her peak. However, Williams, like many young designers, was struggling with manufacturing and cashflow, and in 2021 she halted production for personal reasons.
Now, she’s rebuilding the business from the ground up. Originally, she was going to start with a small collection and lookbook for this season, but when she told Fashion East founder Lulu Kennedy and head of projects Raphaelle Moore about her plans, they were keen to help fund a bigger comeback. (Williams, a University of Westminster graduate, made her debut at London Fashion Week in 2013 as part of the Fashion East group showcase.)
“Ashley’s presence at LFW has been hugely missed in recent years, so it makes perfect sense to support her comeback,” says Kennedy. “The fact that it’s on the 10-year anniversary of her debut with Fashion East makes it all the more poignant. Designers of her talent must always be supported and protected.”
Williams is aiming to gradually regain the trust of her former stockists. “Over the next two years my goal is to rebuild our wholesale accounts and re-establish cash flow,” she says. “If I was doing a lookbook it would feel like less of an event. Whereas coming back with a full show helps to really reestablish ‘we’re back, and we’re doing collections’. It’s more of a statement.”
She will use the XLNC funding to help fund sample creation, improve production, find good reliable suppliers and hopefully avoid delays. “As a small team, making a good product at a good price, with a solid supply chain, is always difficult,” she says.
Williams decided to show off-schedule on the Saturday night during London Fashion Week, which will take place from September 15 to the 19. “You need so much support running a brand, but at the same time, you don t need to fit into traditional formulas,” Williams says of the move. She is keen to escape the expectation of a show every season, she adds. Other London designers have pulled away from showing twice a year, to reduce costs.
Fans can expect a more evolved version of the brand, Williams says, with a slightly new direction. In 2019, a sperm-printed fleece from her AW19 runway made headlines globally for being transgressive and even appeared on a US talk show. Today, among Isamaya Ffrench’s penis lipsticks, JW Anderson’s Michael Clark-inspired show and phallic shapes at Loewe, it wouldn’t quite feel as shocking. “It’s true, at the time that went crazy,” Williams laughs. “But now, it does feel like everyone is doing stuff like that.”
She says her personal tastes and preferences have changed. “I’ve learned a lot and been doing way more personal research, getting into new things, and having more free time than I did before. That has informed what I’m doing. But also, things that are core to the brand [like fun accessories and statement motifs] and also to me as a designer, are definitely going to stay on too.”
“[Ashley] leads, others follow,” says Fashion East’s Kennedy. “She has always known exactly what the girls want to wear, how to make us feel cute, and she nailed the power of a fab accessory from the get go. She has built a really loyal global customer base. It’s almost impossible to find any garments from her previous collections on sale — her sellthrough speaks volumes.”
“I’m over the moon to have Ashley Williams as the newest addition to the XLNC program,” says XLNC advisory member Ida Petersson, who is buying director at Browns. “One of my all time favorites in London, Ashley has the ability to know what the fashion crowd wants to wear before they even know themselves and she translates this vision into fun but wearable clothes.”
In addition to this season’s award, Fashion East and Ugg are also launching a mentorship program for young talents, harnessing its XLNC advisory committee. The program aims “to offer meaningful access to a new generation of young fashion talent from all corners of the industry”, according to Fashion East, with more information revealed in the run-up to LFW on how to apply.
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