Mark Fast SS27 at London Fashion Week: crochet and bandage knit inside Ambika P3, the university's old concrete-testing hall
Mark Fast staged SS27 at Ambika P3, the University of Westminster's basement gallery under Marylebone Road.
The way in is a metal gate beside a ladies' lavatory, past bike racks and bins, down into 14,000 square feet built to stress-test concrete before anyone hung art on its walls.
A room engineered to break concrete spent an afternoon dressed in crochet and second-skin knit instead.
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The post, as it ran
01MARK FAST JUST SHOWED SS27 AT AMBIKA P3, THE CONCRETE HALL BUNKERED UNDER THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTMINSTER'S MARYLEBONE CAMPUS.
02CROCHET LED THE SEASON: BODY-CONSCIOUS STOCKINGS AND BANDAGE SEPARATES, SECOND-SKIN, WITH WOVEN DRESSES AND SEPARATES AROUND THEM.
03THEN LONGLINE SUEDE BERMUDA SHORTS, COWBOY-STYLE FRINGING AND FRINGE SKIRTS.
04THE HALL WAS BUILT TO TEST CONCRETE FOR SPAGHETTI JUNCTION AND THE CHANNEL TUNNEL. IT REOPENED AS A GALLERY IN 2007, NAMED FOR AMBIKA, THE DAUGHTER OF THE UNIVERSITY'S THEN CHANCELLOR LORD PAUL.
05THUMPING BASS FILLED THE BRUTALIST SPACE FOR THE SHOW.
06FAST LAUNCHED THE LABEL STRAIGHT OUT OF HIS CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS MA IN 2008, KNITTING LYCRA BLENDS BY HAND ON DOMESTIC MACHINES. HE IS CANADIAN, BASED IN LONDON EVER SINCE.
07RIHANNA AND BEYONCE HAVE BOTH WORN HIS KNIT, RIHANNA ON A NIGHT OUT, BEYONCE IN A MUSIC VIDEO. THE SAME HAND-KNIT TECHNIQUE WAS BACK ON THE RUNWAY.