Prototypes’ London debut didn’t just show clothes; it staged an exorcism. “In Loving Memory of British Culture” was less a catwalk than a funeral, resurrection, and carnival of dissent all rolled into one. Taking on the most loaded uniforms of British subculture. From the flight jacket thug to the football hooligan and the Union Jack zealot, the collection flipped fascist signifiers inside out, mocking their rigidity and repurposing their power.
The first standout look set the tone: a blacked-out silhouette, camo cargos, leather gloves, and boots polished like riot shields. At first glance, it read like a Daily Mail fever dream of a skinhead march. But in the candlelit gothic church nave, it felt theatrical, a costume stripped of menace. By aestheticising the far-right uniform, Prototypes neutralised it, showing us that symbols of intimidation can be emptied and restyled into parody to the beat of a hard techno-laced drum.
Then came a pink trench, candy-coloured and dripping with irony. Across the chest, chains glinted like armour; across the face, a balaclava wrapped in the Union Jack. This wasn’t nationalism, it was satire. The absurdity of wrapping yourself in a flag until you can’t breathe. By queering and feminising the look in bubblegum pink, Prototypes dismantled the brittle masculinity at the heart of far-right style. It was punk drag for a nation stuck in a Brexit hangover that never ends.
And just when the room thought it had the measure, out came a football jersey turned micro-mini, part Germany, part England, cut with shoulders sharp enough to start a pub fight.
On one level, it was hooligan chic socks, studs, tattoos, tribal loyalties. But stitched together on an empowered body strutting in stilettos, it became a camp remix of the beautiful game. What if football culture weren’t weaponised in the service of racism and xenophobia, but reclaimed as a playground of queer joy?
This is Prototypes’ provocation: that British identity, so often hijacked by thugs, nostalgic imperialists, and the politics of exclusion, can be taken back, broken down, and rebuilt. The collection insists that riot gear, police codes, and hooligan uniforms aren’t the sole property of those who wield them with violence. They can be fierce, theatre, ritual. They can belong to everyone.
Series09 doesn’t mourn the past; it lampoons it. By stitching fascist archetypes into high camp, Prototypes turns fear into farce, intimidation into inclusion. It’s a political gesture disguised as a fashion show, a reminder that the battle for culture isn’t won on the streets alone; sometimes it’s fought on the runway, in pink trench coats and pointed heels.
Words by Lewis Robert Cameron
Creative Directors: Callum Pidgeon and Laura Beham
@prototypes.ch
Hair: Michael Delmas @michael.delmas
Make Up: Stephanie Kunz @stephaniekunzmakeup
Casting: Denise Hu @denisehu_
PR: Agency Eleven @agencyeleven
Music & Sound Design: Varg @varg2tm
Production: Agency Eleven @agencyeleven
Lighting Design & Technical Production: Hydra Design @hydradesign
Special thanks @reebok
