Aaron Esh FW24 at London Fashion Week

Aaron Esh FW24 / Fall Winter 2024 at London Fashion Week

How soon is now?

Does the future begin when the past ends?

What makes clothes contemporary?

What do you see when you look in the mirror?

Can you desire what you already know?

For Aaron Esh, beauty is subconsciously found in the banal; reflected, refracted and observed on walks through London’s rhizomatic streets. This Aaron Esh FW24 collection is a study on the perfection that already exists in the way we wear clothes at every hour of the day, perhaps caught in the reflection of a car door or spotted from the upper deck of a bus.

The coat you saved up for is pulled over the hoodie you’ve been wearing for days, even if just for a trip to the off-licence. Your hands are anxiously reaching for pockets or protectively pulling together a jacket as you pace the pavements against the wind. A skinny cashmere scarf, worn as if it were silk, suggests having just arrived at a party, or stepping out for a cigarette cloaked by liquid warmth. Baseball caps and ‘Normal’ sunglasses conceal the shadows of that night before, the morning after.

A palette that borrows from the London skyline – its purple-flecked winter sunsets, glistening wet asphalt, and concrete spectrum of greys – issues an ode to London and its tribal similitude.

Dressing down, and then up, constantly teetering between the high and low. No other city does it quite like London. Reality here is in constant rear view, contemporary and nostalgic in equal measures. These are clothes that hit the sweet spot of being perfectly imperfect; the greatest ever outfit you’ve already worn; that last look in the mirror before you leave your flat, be it morning or midnight; that magic moment when you get it just right.

Gossamer chiffon dresses, cut on the bias, are the result of impulse and instinct – draped, cut and fitted in one take, because sometimes, you do just get it right the first time. Don’t overthink it. Get dressed. Go out. You look great.

Opulence is hinted at, acknowledged but never deferred to, dialled down for everyday life.

Sculptural gestures are borrowed from the mid-century masters of haute couture: cascading drapery elongating the silhouette of the back, architectural raglan sleeves that exaggerate the silhouette in profile, caped sleeves that still allow you to have your hands firmly placed in the pockets of your low-rise jeans. Equally revered are the hallmarks of British adolescence:

high-street-sourced cigarette jeans, beanies, slinky wool henley knits and hoodies that form the foundations to floor-sweeping skirts, tuxedo satin-collars and regimental lines of couture-grade covered buttons for Aaron Esh Fall Winter 2024.

And yet, the casual ease with which these clothes are worn belie the immense craftsmanship that are poured into them: layers of horsehair canvas in Savile Row-grade tailoring, short-haired fur and ponyskin that are in fact shaved wools, and a new line of discreetly unbranded Aaron Esh bags hoop over the shoulder with touron handles, crafted from Bombay-panelled barenia, calf, caviar and saffiano leathers and sourced from the dormant leathers and fabrics discarded from major French luxury houses.

This Aaron Esh Fall Winter 2024 collection is about something instinctual – the emotional desire to remain attached to something that we know as we traverse the ever-quickening pace of urban life. It exists within a world with weather and morning commutes and damp pavements, not an artificial reality. It’s you on a great day, getting dressed and going out, ready to experience the world, flying below the radar yet standing apart from the crowd.

At its heart, this is a collection that speaks to the emotional hinterlands of London and its unparalleled attitude. For Aaron Esh, there’s no place like home.

The show is held at the Sarabande Foundation, which has generously given residency to the Aaron Esh studio since November 2023. This is our space, our studio, our home – where the clothes are designed, crafted and finished.