LFW AW26 - Poet-Lab: The Revenge Dress’ Revival

Simon Nora-Dreyfus
Apr 1
3 min read

Friday, February 20, Brushfield Street, Spitalfields

On this second day of fashion week, an interesting crowd dressed in their most extravagant attire gathers as passersby look on, intrigued. For the former, it must be a freak show; for the latter, it is a laboratory of self-expression and a contest judged by street photographers. Who came to discover the creations, who came to be seen? If you ask the guests, they don’t know what to expect from the show. After all, it is only Poet-Lab’s third collection; the brand was founded in 2023 by Giuseppe Iaciofano, a promising creative whom Strand had the pleasure of interviewing. For this season, the Italian-born designer didn’t want to be in the London Fashion Week calendar, denouncing the industry's self-segregation. As he says, ‘Why do you have to pay? If you have something to present, you can do the show, you just need a good PR (Public Relations agency)’. And just like that, the collection walked down the runway - not just once but twice as the venue couldn’t accommodate everyone!

First look, the designer’s muse, Elton Ilirjani, appears in a whirlwind of layers: pale blue, black, polka dots, feathers, lace, nothing to guide us to a defined silhouette except for the plunging neckline and a semblance of a slit skirt. But it seems that Poet-Lab is all about embodiment, and the slow-paced, hip-rolling walk that the model served gave all its character to the dress. The model is an LGBTQ activist and flew from New York for the show: ‘For me it is a privilege’, Giuseppe told Strand. Bridgerton actress Genevieve Chenneour also joined the lineup, wearing a dazzling sheer polka-dot blouse.

Look n°4 captures the designer’s ambition to fuse utilitarian tailoring with a more poetic, narrative gesture using tulle to suggest rupture. The construction suggests a work in the process of refining its vision, hinting at an ambitious technical approach that is gradually coming into its own. Far from the simplicity that fashion strives to convey, Giuseppe’s journey into fashion was fraught with financial difficulties. To fund his first show, he confessed that he had to resort to Scientology. The experimental nature of his early creations reflects a brand in the process of scaffolding its own distinct identity. A standout piece on the runway was look n°11, a sparkling dress whose intriguing material gives the impression of dripping, like a silver lake at night. The fascinating construction recalls John Galliano’s era at Dior with a fresh twist.

The brand’s identity is deeply connected to its designer’s life. Growing up, he witnessed his closest friends’ rejection from fashion castings because of their trans-identity, age or simply because they were ‘bizarre’. Today, while the industry claims to be inclusive, Giuseppe responds that it’s a mere façade. Conversely, the designer actively promotes diversity, selecting models that connect with his brand, disregarding homogeneity: “I feel they are all my best friends now”. An older model with natural white hair enters the podium to the psychedelic music. She is wearing a black cape, open at the back, over a black hooded dress. Here, sensuality is present, without performance.

According to Giuseppe Iaciofano, the collection is inspired by Lady Diana. “One day, I passed through her garden in Kensington, and I saw this statue and all the dead faded flowers surroundings.” Moved by this visual experience, the creative director tried to reproduce the darkness of her story and the tension between restraint and personal emancipation. The reference is particularly explicit in one of the looks, reproducing the Princess’s iconic revenge dress and its train, worn by the American drag queen Elliott with 2 T’s

In a setting constructed around white veils, the spectacle offered by Poet-Lab resembles a ghost’s revival. While the reference to Diana is both clear and perfectly balanced throughout the show, I found one too intricate to interpret. Look n°13 is a brown leather suit that completely engulfs the body and imitates the texture of chocolate with its ruched construction and glossy material over the cap. Welsh drag queen and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK contestant Tayce closes the show in a dramatic black wedding gown that stands as a reinterpretation of Princess Diana’s wedding dress, running through the catwalk like a ghost taking back its rights.