Mark Fast’s AW25 collection hit London Fashion Week with the force of a fever dream, a seductive clash of past and future stitched together with chains, corsets, and a streak of raw, unapologetic energy. This wasn’t just a show—it was a conjuring. A vision of a vampire who has seen it all, collected it all, and is still here, moving through the night with the kind of presence that doesn’t ask for attention but demands it.
The room pulsed with an undercurrent of something electric. A haze of 80s new wave nostalgia floated through the air, cut with an industrial edge—like a forgotten nightclub where the bass still echoes off the walls. The Mark Fast woman this season isn’t just a muse; she’s an enigma, a paradox draped in contradictions. She’s elegant but unruly, sentimental yet ruthless, the kind of person who wears her past like a corset—tight-laced but still breathing, still moving.
Fast’s signature knitwear took on a sculptural intensity, wrapping bodies like a second skin, each piece a lesson in tension—between softness and restriction, structure and fluidity. Corsets clung with an almost dangerous allure, boning and lacing cinching torsos while knitted straps mapped out new topographies of the body. Chains snaked their way through the collection, not just as embellishment but as a statement—binding and linking, telling stories without words.
And then there was colour. Among the gothic black silhouettes, shots of vibrancy cut through like neon reflections in a rain-slick city street. It was a reminder—this isn’t just about darkness, it’s about contrast. The push and pull of light and shadow, the way something soft can become sharp in the right setting. Velvety textures brushed against sheer layers, while tailored cuts grounded the ethereal with precision and intent. Fast played with depth and movement, layering knitted pin-tuck structures to create something almost alive—fabric shifting, breathing, evolving with each step.
Menswear didn’t linger in the background; it stood strong beside its feminine counterpart, reflecting the same dualities—strength and sensuality, edge and elegance. This wasn’t a collection that bowed to gender norms; it shrugged them off and walked past. The Mark Fast man and woman exist in the same universe, one where luxury and streetwear aren’t at odds but in conversation, where the everyday is dipped in something extraordinary.
Photography by Iker Aldama